Collateral damage
The week's news at a glance.
Aitha, Iraq
A U.S. F-16 dropped a 500-pound bomb on the wrong house this week, killing at least five Iraqis. Iraqi neighbors said that 14 members of the same family, including seven children, were killed. But U.S. officials said they could not confirm that count, since the brick house was leveled and the victims’ remains all but obliterated. The airstrike was intended to support troops searching for a militant leader in a town near Mosul—Iraq’s third-largest city and an insurgency hotbed. In an unusual admission, military commanders confirmed that the laser-guided bomb had gone astray. The Pentagon said it regretted the loss of “possibly innocent lives.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Brazil has a scorpion problem
Under The Radar Venomous arachnids are infesting country's fast-growing cities
-
Why Rikers Island will no longer be under New York City's control
The Explainer A 'remediation manager' has been appointed to run the infamous jail
-
California may pull health care from eligible undocumented migrants
IN THE SPOTLIGHT After pushing for universal health care for all Californians regardless of immigration status, Gov. Gavin Newsom's latest budget proposal backs away from a key campaign promise