OBAMA CHANGES POLICY ON CONDOLENCE LETTERS
Starting this week, the White House will send condolence letters to families of troops who commit suicide in combat zones, which include Afghanistan, Iraq and some other areas that provide combat support services. But families of military personnel who kill themselves in the United States and at foreign bases not considered combat zones will not receive the letters. "This decision was made after a difficult and exhaustive review of the former policy, and I did not make it lightly," President Obama said Wednesday. The policy of no letters was based on concerns that recognizing such deaths would encourage more suicides. But Obama said that, instead, the new policy might prevent suicides by reducing the stigma and promoting mental health counseling.
TEXAS
Fort Hood killings a capital caseMaj. Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist charged in the November 2009 Fort Hood rampage that left 13 dead and 32 wounded, will be tried in a military court and face the death penalty if convicted, Lt. Gen. Donald Campbell, the commander at the military post, announced.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Long commutes may fatigue pilotsOne in five airline pilots lives at least 750 miles from work, according to a study by the National Research Council, raising concerns that long commutes to airports could lead to fatigue in the cockpit. The calculations were based on home addresses of more than 25,000 pilots. The council acknowledged it is difficult to determine the safety risk associated with long commutes without more information about the practices of individual pilots.
BRITAIN
A modest Afghan troop pullbackPrime Minister David Cameron set a modest target for early troop withdrawals from Afghanistan, deferring to British military commanders who had cautioned against an accelerated schedule more closely parallel to the U.S. withdrawals announced by President Obama. As part of what he called a "hard-headed" approach to the war, Cameron told the House of Commons that the pullout would be limited to 500 troops in 2012, on top of 460 being withdrawn this year. The British plan will leave a force of 9,000.
SYRIA
Amnesty urges U.N. to actAmnesty International said that Syrian security forces may have committed crimes against humanity during a deadly siege of the town of Talkalakh near the Lebanon border in May, citing witness accounts of deaths in custody, torture and arbitrary detention. Amnesty called on the U.N. Security Council to refer the case to the International Criminal Court.
LIBYA
Rebels to be tried in absentiaMoammar Gadhafi's government announced that it would try 21 rebel leaders in absentia for treason. The announcement of capital charges against the rebel leadership was largely symbolic. The insurgents control most of eastern Libya, far from government reach. Prosecutors said the accused rebels, including the leader of the National Transitional Council in Benghazi, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, face charges that "amount to treason of the homeland of Libya," according to government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim.
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