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FOB WARRIOR — Driving from one end of Bidawa village in Kirkuk province to the other used to be a challenge, but thanks to the addition of two new road culverts, the trip is now much easier. After nearly 70 days of construction, these new road culverts are ready for use. The concrete culverts span over a 50-meter waterbed, linking one side of the road to another. Water flows easier now underneath the culverts between irrigation canals that have increased water flow to local farmers’ crops. "Building these two road culverts will greatly increase the transportation infrastructure of the village,"...

DIYALA — The small Diyala province village of Jiaffra was once a stronghold for insurgent groups, causing village residents to flee for their safety. After three years of displacement, 16 families returned home to a celebration marked with music and dancing, Aug. 15. During the celebration, residents thanked Iraqi and U.S. forces for their help in bringing safety back to the area. Though there are still struggles in the village for some basic needs, Iraqi government officials promised during the celebration to immediately bring the villagers water and work on providing other necessities as soon as possible. “What a great...

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — Afghan guards armed with AK-47s keep watch just outside as a village elder sits in a room with no electricity and tells a U.S. Marine: “The Taliban are recruiting young unemployed men to plant IEDs and fight the American military.” Cpl. Adam King sits down, sips some tea and listens attentively. What he says and what he hears could save the lives of his Marines. This is the scene in Camp Lejeune, in North Carolina, where the 2nd Battalion 8th Marines — known as the 2/8 — have built a simulated Afghan village to prepare American...

DIYALA — More than 250 villagers here were treated or immunized at a temporary clinic in the once al Qaida-controlled village of Shuzayf, April 23. Men, women and children lined up outside a school in anticipation of receiving medical care that otherwise wouldn't be easy to obtain. As children frowned and cried from seeing the needle that would deliver vaccinations of all types, parents smiled knowing their kids were being treated with the best medical care in the area. Leading doctor of the clinic and director of Udaim Medical Center, Dr. Omar Hashim Achmed, said the villagers were too far...

FATMIYA — An abandoned village once inhabited by Iraqi nationals, young and old alike, this village now stands alone; desolate and empty of life except for Iraqi Security Forces and U.S. troops passing through every so often. “Several weeks back we cleared this village, Fatmiya, which is a suspected al-Qaida cell of snipers and IED [improvised explosive device] emplacements,” said 1st Lt. John Belle, 172nd Infantry Brigade. “We cleared a route; the ISF [Iraqi security forces] came behind us and cleared the village,” Belle stated. “Now we’ve started to establish security around the whole area. All we do is just...

KABUL, Afghanistan, Jan. 21, 2009 – Members of the provincial reconstruction team in Afghanistan’s Nuristan province visited Zirat village this month to assess the effectiveness of completed projects and to develop ideas for future initiatives. Members of the provincial reconstruction team in Afghanistan’s Nuristan province inspect the condition of a canal used by villagers to irrigate their wheat and corn fields in Zirat, Afghanistan, Jan. 18, 2009. NATO photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Until February of last year, the main income for the villagers was earned by harvesting poppy. Since the eradication of poppy production, the villagers...

JALALABAD AIR FIELD, Dec. 26, 2008 – While people around the world made their final Christmas preparations, members of the Nangarhar Provincial Reconstruction Team and the Chaparhar Police Mentor Team visited a school in the Terelay Village, of the Chaparhar district, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, Dec. 24, 2008, to distribute clothes and school supplies. Members of the Nangarhar Provincial Reconstruction Team and Chaparhar Police Mentor Team meet with village elders at a school in Terelay Village, Chaparhar District, Dec. 24, 2008. The teams met with the elders to discuss current conditions in the village, as well as pass out school...

After decades of immigration from Asia and Latin America, Silicon Valley has hit a linguistic milestone that is rare in America: For the first time, a majority of Santa Clara County residents speak a language other than English at home. In 2007, Santa Clara was one of just 10 counties in the United States where more than 50 percent of residents speak a foreign language at home, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data released Monday. Most of those counties are home to Spanish speakers on the Mexican border or multilingual populations in large cities like New York, Los Angeles...

PATROL BASE STONE — Sixty students graduated from the fourth and final Village of Hope training center rotation during a ceremony at Patrol Base Stone Sept. 25. “The Village of Hope was part of a civil service corps program that took Sons of Iraq (SoI) members from checkpoints and taught them useable trades that they can make a living with,” said Capt. Michael Askegren, 557th Expeditionary Red Horse Squadron officer-in-charge of Village of Hope. “Not every SoI is going to make it into the Iraqi security forces, so the Village of Hope gives them an option to make a good...

WASHINGTON, July 9, 2008 – Every day, soldiers from Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, patrol the streets of the Iraqi Family Village, an area near the Victory Base Complex here that is relatively safe and is home to citizens from throughout Iraq. Army 1st Lt. Andrew Bowling, a native of Medfield, Mass., listens to concerns of an Iraqi man during a council meeting in the Iraqi Family Village on the outskirts of Baghdad, July 7, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. James Hunter, Multinational Division Baghdad  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. When the...

Navy Lt. Cmdr. Cristina Williams, the medical officer for Marine Wing Support Squadron 274, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), checks the vital signs of an Iraqi schoolboy here May 15, 2008. Photo by Lance Cpl. Jessica Aranda. AL ANBAR PROVINCE — Medical personnel attached to Marine Wing Support Squadrons 172 and 274 visited a local village to participate in a cooperative medical engagement here recently. CME missions are dedicated to providing health care to local nationals who lack adequate facilities while simultaneously raising awareness on the people’s health conditions to the Iraqi government.“The Marine Corps is often involved in special...

6/2/2008 - BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- Representing a group of Americans who want to assist in the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan, the commander of the Air Force Reserve Command presented several boxes of donated items to a 10-year-old Afghan girl and her village here May 30. Lt. Gen. John Bradley, on behalf of his wife Jan, presented housewares, clothing, shoes, toys and toiletries collected specifically for Lamia and the residents of Shakal Village, located near Bagram. General Bradley met Lamia this past winter while delivering humanitarian aid to her village. "She (Lamia) came up to me, pointed...

Dig uncovers African beads buried in ancient village By Sean O’RiordanMay 22, 2008 BEADS that originated in Africa are some of the treasures archaelologists have found as they begin to explore an ancient settlement in north Cork. Test trenches also revealed pottery and weapons from a medieval period. In addition, there was evidence of prehistoric settlements in the area and an early ecclesiastic settlement, possibly from the 7th-8th century. Evidence of a large moat and cobbled walkways were also uncovered. Experts are due to conduct major excavations within weeks. One archaeologist said: “It’s one of the most exciting discoveries in...

New Delhi: A man strangled his pregnant daughter and her lover and put their bodies on display to an applauding village in Haryana on Friday. Twenty-seven-year-old Jasdev Singh and his childhood sweetheart Sunita, who was six-months pregnant, belonged to Karnal village — an area dominated by the Jat community — which considers people from the same village as siblings. The two of them secretly continued their affair even after Sunita was married. Last year, Sunita eloped with Jasdev. However, when Sunita's family finally found them and got to know that she was pregnant, they beat up the couple and strangled...

Modern subdivision is home to ancient villageDavid Davis Managing Editor Thursday, May 08, 2008 Upon entering Princeton Hills subdivision off Freewill Road, visitor's see a wide expanse of green space bordered by a circular drive. Large, expensive homes surround the green, grassy mound in an arrangement akin to a prehistoric village. In a sense, that is exactly what the mound represents. It is the five-acre site of the Candies Creek Village Archaeological Preserve owned by the Archaeological Conservancy. It contains the remains of houses, human burials and pit features. Developer Jim Sharp sold the site to the Conservancy in 2001...

Election fraud driven by immigrants practising "village politics" of the Indian sub-continent could be a crucial factor in deciding the future control of Birmingham City Council, a major report warns today. Family loyalties, the dominance of men and the existence of the "biraderi" clan system among British Asians provides perfect conditions for widespread rigging of postal votes and other electoral malpractice in Britain’s major cities, according to the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust. In a 94-page report called Purity of Elections in the UK – Causes for Concern, the trust argues that the UK’s election system is close to breaking point...

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2008 – Wounded warriors in need in San Antonio now have a place to call home as they transition from military to civilian life. The new facility is Operation Homefront’s first of four planned transitional housing facilities across the United States. Jody Brothers from the PGA Tour and representatives from local Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores were on hand to cut the ribbons on the apartments the Wal-Mart Foundation sponsored. “Thanks to these and other sponsors, wounded warriors and their families can live at Operation Homefront Village rent-free so they can rebuild their financial foundation as...

3/17/2008 - HAWR RAJAB, Iraq (AFPN) -- Members of the 557th Expeditionary Red Horse Squadron, headquartered at Balad Air Base, Iraq, paid out nearly $10,000 to 120 students at the Red Horse Village of Hope March 13 here. The Village of Hope program is a test program that has many in the Department of Defense watching. Similar to a technical school, Iraqi students are taught rebuilding skills such as masonry, electrical and plumbing. Students are paid $10 per school day they attend. Reserve Command member Master Sgt. John Hudson, a Red Horse logistics technician, who previously worked in an accounting...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq, March 10, 2008 – After months of oppression from al Qaeda in Iraq, the southern Baghdad community of Hawr Rajab is coming back to life. U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Fernando Ginette teaches Hawr Rajab block makers how to install “batter boards” March 4, 2008, at the Village of Hope training site at Patrol Base Stone. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Coalition and Iraqi efforts now are focused on rebuilding the economy. One initiative garnered 50 students for classes at the “Village of Hope,” a vocational school designed to train Hawr...

FOB HAMMER — To assess the water production of two windmill-powered ground water pumps in Narhwan, leaders from 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team (HBCT) and Multi-National Corps – Iraq (MNC-I) visited two villages, March 1. The first stop for Col. Ryan Kuhn, deputy commanding officer for 3rd HBCT, and Maj. Chris Hempel, agricultural officer from MNC-I Civil-Military Operations Cell, was the village of al Zatia, where they met with the head contractor for both windmill projects. Analyzing the windmill-powered pumps’ capability to produce clean water led him to consider using the pumps for irrigation, Hempel, from Elizabeth, N.J., said. After...