The U.S. special forces soldiers who called in a devastating air strike on a hospital in northern Afghanistan were half a mile away, could not see the target, and ordered the attack at the request of their Afghan partners, the Associated Press has learned. Afghan military elements had long resented the Doctors without Borders hospital, which treated Afghan security forces and Taliban alike but says it refused to admit armed men. President Obama congratulated democracy crusader Aung San Suu Kyi for the success of her opposition party in Burma’s historic elections. The Brazilian government says its environmental protection agency has fined Volkswagen $13 million over the German automaker’s emissions cheating scheme. Brazil’s Ibama environmental agency also is requiring Volkswagen to present a plan for recalling vehicles sold here that contain software that turns on pollution controls during government tests and turns them off while on the road. Journalists for Justice said Thursday that Kenyan soldiers and a pro-government militia make $13 million a year from taxing the illegal sugar imports. Sugar smuggling is also financing activities of Islamic extremist group al-Shabab that the Kenya military went to fight in Somalia. The news was a surprise in a country long identified with U.S.-backed policies aimed at fighting the production of illicit drugs.