Middle East

Taliban Conflict
The US government has wasted $30bn (£18bn) in contracts in Afghanistan and Iraq over the last decade, according to a bi-partisan spending commission.

The commission on wartime contracting blamed an over-reliance on contractors, poor planning and fraud for the waste.
It had evidence of lax accountability and inadequate competition, it said.

Residents say Syrian tanks are pushing into the town of Hama as part of a crackdown which has killed scores, as the UN meets to decide its response. Syria forces in Hama push as crackdown continues Footage purportedly showing attacks in Hama has appeared online
Syrian forces are pushing towards the centre of the town of Hama as they continue an offensive in which scores of people have died.
Residents told the BBC many people were fleeing to nearby villages, believing the army would gain full control.
On Monday, security forces cracked down on protests in towns around Syria, often after prayers on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Nearly a dozen civilians die violent deaths in Iraq every day.
A top US adviser on Iraq has accused the US military of glossing over an upsurge in violence, just months before its troops are due to be withdrawn.
Iraq is more dangerous now than a year ago, said a report issued by the US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, Stuart W Bowen Junior.
He said the killing of US soldiers and senior Iraqi figures, had risen, along with attacks in Baghdad.
The report contradicts usually upbeat assessments from the US military.

Some suspect the army of using Mubarak-style tactics after weeks of mainly peaceful protests, Egypt's post-revolution crisis is entering a more violent phase of confrontations.
For two days running, demonstrators have marched from Tahrir Square to the headquarters of Egypt's military rulers, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, at the defense ministry.
There have also been angry confrontations in the second city of Alexandria and in the canal city of Suez.
Witnesses estimate that as many as 20,000 people joined the Cairo march on Saturday. By moving on the defense ministry they were challenging an unspoken "red line".

Hosni Mubarak is currently in a hospital in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh
Egyptian authorities say the trial of deposed President Hosni Mubarak will be moved from a Cairo convention centre, for security reasons.
The trial, due to open on Wednesday, will now be held at a police academy further from the city centre.
Mr. Mubarak, 83, has been under arrest at a hospital in the coastal resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh since April.
He is charged with corruption and ordering the killing of protesters before he was toppled in February.