The US Marine Corps once again did damage control after a photograph surfaced of a sniper team in Afghanistan posing in front of a flag with a logo resembling that of the Nazi SS - the special unit that murdered millions of Jews, gypsies and others.

A US military judge allowed a marine sergeant convicted of murder in one of the biggest war crimes cases to emerge from the Iraq war to walk free today, nearly two months after a military appeals court ruled he had an unfair trial.

Nine victims of a mid-air collision between a coastguard aircraft and a US Marine Corps helicopter were feared dead today as the investigation focused on how the crews failed to see each other in a heavily-used military training area.

US MARINES hiked through searing heat taking fire from small pockets of militants after landing in the Taliban-controlled southern region of tree-lined fields, mud homes and crisscrossing waterways in the first major operation under President Barack Obama’s strategy to stabilise Afghanistan.

POWERFUL winds stoked three major wildfires yesterday after destroying dozens of homes, forcing thousands to flee and killing two people.

Powerful winds fanned three major southern California wildfires after destroying dozens of homes and forcing thousands to flee today.

Powerful winds fanned three major southern California wildfires after destroying dozens of homes and forcing thousands to flee today.

A Marine reservist was found guilty today of killing an Iraqi soldier while they stood watch together at a guard post in Fallujah.

Celebrities like Mel Gibson, Kelsey Grammer and Victoria Principal have been forced to flee their homes in Southern California driven out by unstoppable brush fires that are devastating the region.

A US Marine at the centre of the biggest prosecution of US troops in the Iraq war should be tried for the lesser offence of negligent homicide instead of murder, an investigating officer said.

US military objectives were “in large measure being met” – and President George Bush should start withdrawing US forces from Iraq from this month, US Commander General Petraeus said today.

A jury sentenced a US Marine corporal today to time served and reduced his rank to private for conspiring to murder an Iraqi civilian during a frustrated search for an insurgent.

US firefighters battled huge blazes early today, including one that burned homes and forced residents and visitors on Santa Catalina Island to flee the resort off the southern California coast.

A US Marine Corps squad leader has been charged with murdering 12 people and ordering other Marines under his command to kill six people during an incident that left 24 civilians dead in the Iraqi town of Haditha last year.

A US Marine Corps squad leader was charged today with murdering 12 people and ordering other Marines under his command to kill six people during an incident that left 24 civilians dead in the Iraqi town of Haditha last year.

A US Marine Corps squad leader was charged today with 13 murder counts stemming from the killings of 24 civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha last year, his attorney said.

As many as eight US Marines could be charged in the biggest US criminal case to emerge from the war in Iraq in terms of Iraqis killed.

A US politician says about six Marines will be charged in the killing of 24 civilians in the Iraq town of Haditha.

A US Navy medic has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his part in the killing of an Iraqi civilian.

Iraqi witnesses today recounted how seven US Marines and a Navy corpsman kidnapped an Iraqi man from his home and shot him dead.

Two US Marines were severely traumatised after following orders to photograph corpses of unarmed Iraqi civilians allegedly killed by members of their unit, their families said today.

US President George Bush today threw more resources at the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast as criticism mounted that a slow response by the government had contributed to the misery of thousands of people in the region.

Actress and comedian Ellen DeGeneres gave her talk show audience, all of whom were family or friends of US troops serving in Iraq, the gift of a free cruise.

Marine Expeditionary Forces are seen as the “proud hammer” and a “major war fighting element” of the US Marine Corps.

Tony Blair was returning from holiday tonight to face growing domestic and international unease over the possibility of war with Iraq.

The US defence secretary has compared the White House’s policy on Saddam Hussein to Winston Churchill’s warnings about Adolf Hitler before the Second World War.