Five Afghan civilians and one police officer died Saturday in a car bomb attack targeting a police checkpoint in the country’s northeastern region, the NATO command reported. A billion gallons of ash sludge, laced with toxic materials, spilled from a holding pond and fouled 300 acres and two rivers near the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant on December 22. Forty homes were affected, roads were ruined, and residents were left wondering whether their water would ever be safe to drink.
