At Least 37 Injured in Philippines Blast
At least 37 people were injured in a grenade blast during a circus performance in the Philippines on Sunday, the Associated Press reported.
According to preliminary police reports, the unidentified attacker targeted soldiers guarding the circus halls in the southern city of Davao.
Several people were hospitalized, including three who were in critical condition as of Sunday night. Police have not yet established a motive.
The Philippines has struggled for more than 40 years with Muslim terrorist groups operating in its remote southern islands in a conflict which has claimed more than 150,000 lives and has produced around two million refugees.
NATO Suspends Training of New Afghan Recruits
NATO has suspended the training of new recruits for the Afghan security forces until a vetting process has been completed. The decision comes after a string of attacks by Afghan security forces on coalition troops.
The temporary training freeze will affect some 1,000 new police recruits, while the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) investigates Afghan troops for links to the Taliban-led insurgency.
According to the The Washington Post, some 27,000 current members of the Afghan security forces are being re-vetted for links to the insurgency.
The training halt will mostly affect the Afghan Local Police (ALP), a 30,000-strong police force sponsored by the US that fights the Taliban in the remote areas of the Afghan countryside.
“We have temporarily suspended all new Afghan recruits until Afghan soldiers are investigated for ties with the insurgents,” ISAF spokesman James Graybeal said. “We are concerned about insider attacks and we are in the process of vetting Afghan troops.”
“It is an attempt by ISAF and our Afghan partners to reduce the number of insider threats,” Graybeal added.
The training suspension comes after a string of attacks by numerous Afghans in uniform against their erstwhile NATO allies. At least 45 coalition troops have been killed in such “green-on-blue” attacks in 2012 alone.
Some 130,000 NATO-led ISAF troops are currently serving in Afghanistan. Most of them are scheduled to withdraw from the country by 2014, a deadline set by US President Barack Obama.
The training of local security forces is key to the withdrawal timetable, which assumes Afghan troops and police will be able to take over responsibility for the country’s security.
Obama Kicks off Campaign Tour Ahead of Party Convention
U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday kicked off a tight-scheduled campaign tour in key battleground states to warm up for next week’s Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Obama started his “Road to Charlotte” tour with a rally before 10,000 people in Iowa, touting his success in cutting taxes, expanding health care, delivering education assistance and bringing U.S. troops back from decade-long wars.
Obama rebutted the “It’s Obama’s fault” argument that had been frequently used by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his fellows during their party convention in Tampa, Florida over the last week.
“I will offer you what I believe is a better path forward — a path that grows this economy, creates more good jobs, strengthens the middle class,” said Obama, highlighting his acceptance speech slated for next Thursday at the Democratic party’s convention.
The four-day campaign tour included visits to Iowa, Colorado, Ohio, and Virginia, all of which are battleground swing states “we feel will play a pivotal roll” in a close election, said Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki on Air Force One en route to the president’s campaign rallies in Iowa.
She said the presidential race has been “pretty steady” to date and still “in a pretty similar place following the party’s convention,” which is usually believed to bump a candidate’s support.
“We think it’s going to be close to the end. That’s why we have such an active schedule,” said Psaki.
Obama’s events will be sandwiched by a visit next Monday to the storm-damaged state of Louisiana, where Romney took a detour Friday, right after he accepted the party’s nomination Thursday night.
Via PL