Bomb kills 6 U.S. troops in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan, July 8 (UPI) -- An improvised explosive device blast killed six U.S. soldiers in eastern Afghanistan in a weekend of deadly attacks in that country, a U.S. official told CNN.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force had earlier reported the deaths but had not disclosed the victims' nationalities. CNN reported quoted a U.S. official as saying later that they were U.S. soldiers serving with NATO.
Other details about the incident were not immediately available.
The victims were among eight NATO troops killed during the weekend even as delegates met in Tokyo to discuss Afghanistan's future, which would include about $16 billion in international aid to that country in the next four years, CNN reported.
In other weekend developments in Afghanistan, at least 26 people died in various roadside bombings. Among them were 14 people, including women and children, who died when an explosion struck their truck in southern Afghanistan.
"This is the act of the enemy of our people who are restlessly trying to kill our innocent people," a police official told CNN.
Militant violence continues to escalate in Afghanistan as U.S. and NATO forces plan to complete withdrawal of their troops by 2014.
Afghan woman executed in public
KABUL, Afghanistan, July 8 (UPI) -- A woman, accused of adultery, died after being fired on several times in an Afghan village, a video of the public execution showed, CBS Evening News reported.
The video showed the woman died in a village in Parwan province near Kabul and that village males cheered after the woman was killed, the report said. Some were quoted as cheering "Long live the Afghan Mujahedeen," the name given to the Taliban.
Gov. Abdul Basir Salangi told CBS News his province, though peaceful until now, has seen the Taliban's influence growing.
The governor was quoted as saying two Taliban commanders had been disputing over the woman.
CNN, citing the amateur video, reported at least nine shots were fired at the woman by a man standing a few feet away. The report said the woman slumped after the third shot, but the man continued firing.
Salangi was quoted as saying the two Taliban commanders accused the woman of adultery to save face. He said the two commanders were later killed by a third Taliban commander. It was not known when the incident occurred but it took place in the village of Qimchok, north of Kabul, the report said.
Morsi reinstates Egypt's lower house
CAIRO, July 8 (UPI) -- Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi reinstated Parliament's lower house Sunday afternoon, overturning the military's dissolution of the legislative body.
Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces responded by holding an emergency meeting to discuss the unexpected action taken by the newly elected president, a source close to the military council told Ahram Online.
The council had shut down the People's Assembly in mid-June after the High Constitutional Court ruled the elections law that governed last year's legislative elections was unconstitutional.
The court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the council's decision to dissolve the lower house Monday.
Morsi's decree calls for new parliamentary elections 60 days after ratification of new national constitution, Ahram Online said.
Assembly Speaker Saad el-Katatni said in a statement Sunday evening the legislative body would meet "within hours," and exercise its full legislative and regulatory responsibilities.
"The presidential resolution emphasizes respect for the rule of law and the [democratic functioning] of state institutions," el-Katatni said in a short statement released to reporters.
U.N.: Syrian peace plan not working
DAMASCUS, Syria, July 8 (UPI) -- A United Nations document admits former U.S. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's peace plan in Syria has so far failed.
The document outlined options for the United Nations going forward, including a plan for U.N. observers in Syria to continue fact-finding in the country, but with a limited scope due to the escalating violence, CNN reported Sunday.
"From a central hub in Damascus, the civilian component would continue liaison and dialogue with opposition and government representatives in the provinces as security conditions allow," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wrote.
Syrian media reported the army began what it called military exercises Saturday night. The missile firings took place in Aleppo and Deir Ezzour provinces, ostensibly to test the army's effectiveness in an emergency situation, the Day Press News reported.
The government-linked Syrian Arab News Agency reported the Syrian army clashed with rebels attempting to enter the country from Lebanon and Turkey Sunday. The Syrian government has blamed the insurgents, which it calls terrorists, on the unrest in the country, the Day Press News said.
The death toll for the violence across Syria Sunday was reported as 65 by the Syrian Network for Human Rights and Damascus Centre for Human Rights Studies and 35 by the Day Press News. The United Nations has stopped keeping track of the number of deaths because they are impossible to verify, the Day Press News said.
The United Nations said more than 10,000 people have died since protests against Bashar Assad's regime began in March 2011, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights puts that number at closer to 16,700.
