Official: U. S. casualties in military mission
American and Afghan military personnel were fired upon while conducting an operation in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province, the U. S. military said Saturday, and one official said there were U. S. casualties.
Several U. S. personnel were either injured or killed, but the exact number and other details were not provided, said the U. S. official, who agreed to discuss the incident only on condition of anonymity.
A U. S. military spokesman, Col. Sonny Leggett, said in a statement that both Afghan and U. S. personnel were “engaged by direct firing.”
“We are assessing the situation,” Leggett said, without providing any information on possible casualties or other details.
The Taliban and the Islamic State group affiliate both operate in eastern Nangarhar province. The incident comes as Washington seeks to find an end to Afghanistan’s 18- year war, America’s longest.
GERMANY Governor elected with far- right help resigns
A German state governor installed with the help of a far- right party said Saturday he is resigning, three days after his election shook the country’s politics and stoked new tensions in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government.
Thomas Kemmerich’s announcement came as leaders of Merkel’s governing coalition, meeting in Berlin to discuss the fallout, demanded that he go and the legislature of the eastern state of Thuringia “promptly” choose a successor. They called for that to be followed quickly by a new regional election.
Pro- business politician Kemmerich’s election was only possible because the farright Alternative for Germany, or AfD, supported him in a vote in the state legislature — as did the regional branch of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, against the wishes of its national leadership.
Kemmerich’s acceptance of AfD’s votes appalled left- leaning parties and many in his own center- right camp. Merkel called his election “inexcusable.” The politician from the small Free Democrats — a party that is in opposition nationally but it is a traditional ally of Merkel’s CDU — announced a day after he was elected that he planned to step down, though he left unclear when.
That wasn’t enough for many, including the center- left Social Democrats, the junior partners in Merkel’s governing coalition. The Thuringia mess was the latest in a succession of events that have periodically cast doubt on whether the government will last until the end of its term in late 2021.
CHINA Virus cases increase as preventive measures taken
The rate of increase in new cases of the virus in China rose again after a brief respite, as the death toll rose to 722 on the mainland and countries around the world enforced stricter measures to contain its spread.
A U. S. citizen died of the virus in Wuhan, the city at the center of the outbreak, in what was apparently the first American death. A Japanese being treated in Wuhan who was a suspected case also died.
Almost all of the new fatalities were in and around Wuhan in central Hubei province. Another 3,399 cases were reported, bringing the total to 34,546, although some of those have recovered. More than 320 cases have been confirmed outside mainland China, including two deaths in Hong Kong and the Philippines.
Three more cruise ship passengers were diagnosed with the virus in Japan for a total of 64 on board the ship.
China’s ruling Communist Party faces continuing anger and recriminations from the public over the death of a doctor who was threatened by police after trying to sound the alarm about the disease over a month ago.