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UN: Number of children dying in Afghanistan rising, as Taliban bombs, battles hit civilians
• KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- The number of children killed and wounded in Afghanistan's war jumped by 34 percent last year as the Taliban stepped up attacks across the country and continued to lay thousands of roadside bombs, the United Nations said Saturday.
• Overall civilian casualties were up by 14 percent, reversing 2012's downward trend and making 2013 one of the deadliest years of the 12-year war for civilians, the U.N. Assistance Mission for Afghanistan said in a report.
• The rising civilian toll underscores mounting levels of violence in Afghanistan. Taliban insurgents have ramped up attacks to try to gain ground and shake the Afghan government's confidence as international combat troops prepare to complete their withdrawal at the end of the year.
• The U.N. report also noted an "alarming" new trend for 2013 -- the increasing numbers of civilians being harmed in fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security forces.
• It recorded a total of 962 battles in which civilians were harmed last year -- an average rate of nearly 20 such battles every week -- and said civilian casualties caused by such fighting rose by 43 percent over the previous year.
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Vulnerable Democrats want credit for passing Obama's health care law, then trying to fix it
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hit with a multimillion-dollar barrage of televised attacks, Democrats in tough re-election races want credit for trying to fix the problematic parts of the health care law at the same time they claim bragging rights for its popular provisions and allege Republicans will reverse the law's crackdown on insurance company abuses.
• It's a tricky, high-stakes political straddle by lawmakers who voted to create the controversial law, which Republicans intend to place at the center of their campaign to win control of the Senate and hold their House majority.
• In one of the year's most closely watched races, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., recently aired a commercial that shows her in numerous public settings last fall sternly telling President Barack Obama to keep his promise to let people keep their current (Continued on page 35)
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