It’s the news with Kandy Korrespondent!

First Lady Laura Bush made a surprise visit to Afghanistan over the weekend to call attention to the need for continued international commitment to the country’s war against the Taliban. The former schoolteacher paid special attention to the increased presence of girls in local schools. Under the Taliban, girls were banned from schools. According to the United Nations, 35% of all students are now girls. Mrs. Bush stated, “We want that to be 50-50.”

Her visit comes at a strategic point in the US-led war on the region. On June 3rd, Army General David McKiernan took over NATO command in Afghanistan; McKiernan led American troops into Iraq in March 2003. Violence is also on the rise- over 8,000 were killed in attacks last year—the most since the 2001 invasion.

The rising death toll is resulting in increased popular frustration with the prolonged conflict. On Sunday, June 8th, the UK death toll reached 100 when three British soldiers were killed in a suicide attack near Helmand Province. Also on Sunday, Abdul Samad Rohani, an Afghan journalist working with the BBC was found shot dead following his abduction on Saturday.

Interestingly, only seven British troops died in Afghanistan between November 2001 and June 2006. In summer 2006, the troops moved to Helmand province where they were quickly outnumbered by deadly determined Taliban forces. A decorated veteran of the Iraq war stated,

“It’s the worst place I’ve been to […] Baghdad’s like a walk in the park compared to here. It’s mainly gun battles, fierce fire fighting from leaving camp to getting back into camp, it’s like the Alamo.”

The fact that the death toll is increasing seven years later rather than decreasing is troubling and makes the rationality of UK continued participation increasingly difficult for British politicians to sell. Laura Bush’s visit could not have come at a more geopolitically essential time.

In Other News:

At least two are dead and 20 injured by a large earthquake in southern Greece. The 6.1 magnitude quake centered near Patras in the Peloponnesian region and was felt as far away as Athens. The earthquake is the strongest to hit Greece in modern times.

This years G8 summit in Japan is focusing mainly on the current oil crisis. oil hit the record high of $139 a barrel last week and G8 countries fear the damage such price spikes will bring to the global economy.

And Now for Something Completely Different:

Naples, Italy turns to EU partner Germany for refuse relief. For months mounds of rotting garbage have lined the streets in harsh contrast to the fabled beauty of this Mediterranean port simply because the region has run out of landfill space. Hamburg, Germany finally came to the rescue. Daily for the next 11 weeks a 56-car train will arrive in Hamburg bearing 700 tons of Neapolitan garbage. The German Environment Ministry has agreed to take 200,000 tons of trash from Naples on the condition that the Italian government presents a “coherent program of measures to ensure a long-term solution”.

Have a great Monday!

[photo from reuters.com]