A husband and wife team of environmental activists were shot and killed in Brazil's Amazon rain forest, just before lawmakers moved closer to approving legislation to ease restrictions on using land in the world's largest forest.

Authorities said Joao Claudio Ribeiro da Silva and Maria do Espirito Santo were ambushed by gunmen in the northern Brazil state of Para on Tuesday. President Dilma Rousseff's office says she has ordered a federal investigation, but it was not immediately clear who was behind the attack.

Another satellite image of Sudan’s Abyei region shows an even bigger build-up of northern Sudanese forces than first thought.

The new image follows the release Wednesday of images showing the effects of fighting May 20 and 21. They showed Sudan Armed Forces positioned around Abyei, including warplanes on the ground in El Obeid, some 435 kilometers away.

New image

Soldiers from B Troop, 1st Squadron, 38th Cavalry Regiment, 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, located at the crossing points of Pakistan and Afghanistan and provide security to these land bridge areas that facilitate trade.

Soldiers from B Troop, 1st Squadron, 38th Cavalry Regiment, 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, located at the crossing points of Pakistan and Afghanistan and provide security to these land bridge areas that facilitate trade.

Soldiers with the 5th "Longknife" Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, United States Division - Center, recently partnered with members of the Iraqi Federal Police to patrol areas of Baghdad with the potential for terrorist activity.

These joint patrols have become a major focus of the Longknife Squadron's mission.

Working with the Iraqi Federal Police, IFP, Longknife Soldiers have provided increased security in a number of neighborhoods in Baghdad, including the area around Baghdad International Airport, or BIAP.

An Afghan and coalition force killed Qari Musa, a senior Taliban leader during a precision airstrike in Talah wa Barfak District, Baghlan province, Monday.

Qari Musa was the senior Taliban leader in Talah wa Barfak District. He routinely targeted Afghan government officials and Afghan national police for attacks in the district. At the time of his death, he was gathering groups of fighters, including suicide bombers to conduct attacks against Afghan security forces. Musa also purchased weapons from arms facilitators in order to conduct ambushes.

Members of the 1st Commando Kandak, partnered with U.S. Special Operations Forces, conducted an air assault to clear the Do’Ab District Center of insurgents, May 25.

The combined forces conducted the air assault to disrupt insurgent presence and threat, reinforce Afghan National Army and U.S. forces and restore Government of Afghanistan control to the immediate area.

Now that a newly-formed kandak completed their basic training, they’re ready to relocate to their area of operation.

The 4th Kandak, Afghan National Army is a combat support battalion, which brings an engineer company, a reconnaissance company and an artillery company to the fight in Afghanistan.

TALIBAN NO MATCH FOR COALITION
The Taliban spring offensive has been no match for the efforts of Afghan and coalition forces.
http://www.sofmag.com/taliban-spring-offensive-no-match-afghan-coalition...

Video by American Forces Network Afghanistan