Washington

Judge denies request to release Bin Laden photos

A federal judge has denied a request seeking photos and video taken of Osama bin Laden during and after a raid in which he was killed by U.S. commandos last year.

U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg denied the Freedom of Information Act request by the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch on Thursday. He wrote that he would not substitute his own judgment about the national security risks in releasing the records for those of the executive branch who said they should remain classified.

Kiev, Ukraine

At least 27 injured in 4 blasts in eastern Ukraine city

Opposition lawmakers in Ukraine are suggesting that President Viktor Yanukovych’s government may be behind a series of blasts in an eastern city that injured at least 27 people. Four blasts within minutes today rocked the center of the Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk in what prosecutors believed was a terrorist attack. Nine children are among the injured.

But deputy parliament speaker Mykola Tymenko, a member of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko’s party, says he “does not rule out” that senior government officials were involved in organizing the blasts. Tomenko says the government may be using the attack to deflect the world’s attention from Tymoshenko. Tymoshenko, 51, the country’s top opposition leader, has been on a hunger strike for a week after she was allegedly violently beaten by prison guards.

Kabul, Afghanistan

Afghan policeman opens fire at checkpoint; 2 U.S. troops injured

In back-to-back blows to Western efforts to forge a crucial partnership with the Afghan police and army, a new attack by an Afghan police officer left two American troops injured, and authorities disclosed today that an Afghan soldier who killed an American earlier this week was a member of an elite special force.

So-called green-on-blue incidents — attacks on NATO troops by Afghan counterparts — have become a common occurrence in recent months, even as Western officials pin hopes for an orderly exit from Afghanistan on providing sufficient training to Afghan forces so that they can take over the task of fighting the Taliban.

The Hague, Netherlands

Dutch judge upholds ban on foreigners buying pot

A Dutch judge today upheld the government’s plan to introduce a “weed pass” to prevent foreigners from buying marijuana in coffee shops in the Netherlands. Amsterdam, whose scores of coffee shops are a major tourism drawcard, opposes the plan, and mayor Eberhard van der Laan says he wants to hammer out a compromise.

The changes are the most significant rollback in years to the traditional Dutch tolerance of marijuana use.