Three NATO helicopters crashed in Afghanistan on Monday, two apparently colliding mid-air killing four US soldiers and another following a deadly raid on suspected drug traffickers, the military said. Read more

Drug agents swept through Los Angeles and dozens of other locations Wednesday and Thursday, arresting more than 300 people and seizing large quantities of drugs, weapons and money in the biggest U.S. crackdown against a Mexican drug cartel. Read more

In an unannounced move, President Barack Obama is dispatching an additional 13,000 US troops to Afghanistan beyond the 21,000 he announced publicly in March, The Washington Post reported Monday. Read more

The Taliban are in much stronger financial shape than al-Qaida and rely on a wide range of criminal activities to pay for attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, a senior Treasury Department official said Monday. Read more

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested a man who has been living in Cuba for four decades to avoid prosecution for his role in an airline hijacking, The New York Times reported Monday. Read more

The US budget deficit is expected to hit a record 1.4 trillion dollars in 2009, some 950 billion dollars greater than the shortfall recorded last year, the Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday. Read more

Cooling temperatures and higher humidity early Monday gave firefighters some welcome relief as they waged an ongoing assault against a wildfire that had burned to the edges of a popular resort town in the San Gabriel Mountains. Read more