ROBBINSTON, Maine — Thousands of American soldiers and sailors headed home this past week to spend Christmas with their families.

Zane Clossey, 19, was just one.

He flew into Bangor International Airport at 2 a.m. Dec. 19, landing in the loving arms of his family.

But for his mom, who lives just across the border in St. John, New Brunswick, and his dad, of Robbinston, getting to know the new Zane over the past week was a shocker and an eye-opener.

“He has changed so much in the past four months,” Harold Clossey said of his son as they relaxed together at home Sunday.  Read more... (671 words, 1 image, estimated 2:41 mins reading time)

The governor of this remote district in southern Afghanistan has employees he can’t afford to pay, a school he struggles to staff with teachers, a clinic where doctors are scarce and a police force of mostly illiterate farmers.

By SEBASTIAN ABBOT

Associated Press Writer
KHAN NESHIN, Afghanistan —

The governor of this remote district in southern Afghanistan has employees he can’t afford to pay, a school he struggles to staff with teachers, a clinic where doctors are scarce and a police force of mostly illiterate farmers.  Read more... (1052 words, 1 image, estimated 4:12 mins reading time)

Lawmakers are seeking a reprieve for three Navy SEALs facing court martial because one allegedly punched a suspect in an ambush killing of U.S. contractors in Iraq.

One of the SEALs is reported to have punched Ahmed Hashim Abed during Abed’s September arrest, said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.

Rather than accept a reprimand, the sailors chose to fight the charges in a military court. Their appeal greatly raises the stakes because a guilty finding could bring stiff punishment.

A letter Hunter is circulating in the House of Representatives said prosecuting the three SEALs “seems to us to be an overreaction by the command.”  Read more... (520 words, 1 image, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)