US Special Operations

1 American killed, 2 wounded in militant attack at US Special Operations base in Kabul

An American soldier was killed and two others were wounded in a militant attack at a U.S. Special Operations forces base in the Afghan capital on Friday, part of a deadly wave of bombings from militants that also targeted a Kabul police academy and an Afghan army compound.

The service member died in an explosion that occurred outside the headquarters of the U.S. military’s Special Forces in Kabul at Camp Integrity, officials said Saturday.

"A coalition facility (Camp Integrity) was attacked at 10:15pm, 7 Aug.," Army Col. Brian Tribus, a spokesman for U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement to Fox News.  "One Resolute Support service member, eight Resolute Support contracted Afghan civilians, and four insurgent attackers were killed."

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Deadly Typhoon Soudelor

Deadly Typhoon Soudelor batters Taiwan

Powerful Typhoon Soudelor is battering Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain, leaving at least four people dead.

The storm - with winds of more than 230km/h (142mph) - made landfall on the eastern coast early on Saturday and is now moving across the island.

It is ripping up trees and tearing down billboards, and triggered a landslide in at least one village.

About two million households have been left without electricity.

Rail services and flights have been cancelled and all schools and offices closed.

Among the victims were an eight-year-old girl and her mother who were swept out to sea.

"I've never seen such a powerful typhoon in my 60 years," one resident in the eastern Taitung county told Taiwan's Formosa TV.

Ahead of Soudelour's arrival, the authorities evacuated thousands of people from their homes.

The storm is later expected to move into the Taiwan Strait and on to mainland China.

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Two military courts in Thailand

Thai courts give record jail terms for insulting king

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Two military courts in Thailand have sentenced a man to 30 years in prison and a woman to 28 years for insulting the monarchy.

The sentences are the harshest ever given under Thailand's lese majeste law, which prevents criticism of the king, Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The convictions relate to articles posted on Facebook.

Prosecutions for lese majeste in Thailand have surged since last year's military coup.

According to iLaw, a Thai rights group, there were only two ongoing prosecutions for the crime before the coup. That number is now at least 56, the group says.

• Thailand's lese majeste law explained

Tour operator Pongsak Sriboonpeng, 48, was tried in camera at a court in Bangkok. The judge sentenced him to ten years for each of the six posts he made about the monarch on social media.

But the 60-year term was halved after he pleaded guilty.

In a separate case, a 29-year-old hotel worker and mother of two was sentenced to 56 years by a court in the northern city of Chiang Mai.

Her sentence was also halved after a guilty plea.

Earlier in the week, a man with a history of mental illness was given five years in jail for tearing a portrait of the king.

King Bhumibol, the world's longest-reigning monarch, is widely revered but, at 87, is in poor health and is rarely seen in public.

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