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{{The UK government should set up an inquiry into “lessons learned” after troops withdraw from Afghanistan at the end of this year, MPs have recommended.}}

The Commons defence committee said ministers should plan for a “thorough” study covering the aims of the war and whether efforts had been “sufficient”.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond promised to “look strategically across the campaign” after the mission ends.

More than 450 UK personnel have died in the Afghan conflict since 2001.

An official inquiry into the Iraq war began almost five years ago and has still to publish its findings. This follows arguments between the panel, led by former civil servant Sir John Chilcot, and Whitehall officials over which documents can be disclosed.

It said the Afghan government would need the continued support of the international community after most UK and other international troops left.

The committee warned of an “uncertain” future and said it hoped Defence Secretary Philip Hammond’s prediction that the country would not descend into civil war would prove correct.

It said that, while there had been gains in the rights of Afghan women and girls during the years international forces had been in the country, progress remained “fragile”.

In contrast, the UK’s counter-narcotics strategy had failed, with opium poppy cultivation in Helmand province soaring to record levels as the troops prepared to leave.

“We are concerned that this will continue to fund organised crime, and undermine the development of democratic government and governance,” the report said.

BBC

{{Pop singer Justin Bieber is being investigated by police in Los Angeles over attempted robbery claims.}}

The 20-year-old, who has not been arrested, was accused of robbery by an unnamed victim, police said.

According to TMZ, Bieber is accused of reaching into a woman’s bag and taking her phone after she had taken pictures of him at a mini golf course in LA.

“As of right now, no arrest has been made and detectives are currently interviewing the victim,” said police.

The pop star has had a troubled start to 2014, after being arrested for driving under the influence in Miami. A trial is due to begin there in July.

Police in California also searched his home after he allegedly threw eggs at a neighbour’s house.

And, three weeks ago, he was detained at Los Angeles International Airport and questioned by customs officers, after returning from Asia.

However, no formal action was taken and he was released after four hours.

The incidents have dented the singer’s public image. He was booed after winning the fan’s choice prize at Canada’s Juno Awards last month.

On Sunday, he was booed again as he took his mother to a basketball game in Los Angeles.

{{A US underwater investigator has said he believes he has found the wreck of the Santa Maria, the flagship of Christopher Columbus’s famed expedition.}}

Barry Clifford said evidence “strongly suggests” a ruin off Haiti’s north coast is the Santa Maria.

Mr Clifford’s team has measured and taken photos of the wreck.

He says he is working with the Haitian government to protect the site for a more detailed investigation.

The Santa Maria, along with the La Nina and La Pinta, were part of Columbus’s expedition in 1492, which explored islands in the Caribbean in an attempt to find a westward passage to Asia.

The flagship was lost during the expedition, shortly before Columbus returned to Spain.

“All the geographical, underwater topography and archaeological evidence strongly suggests that this wreck is Columbus’s famous flagship, the Santa Maria,” said Mr Clifford.

“I am confident that a full excavation of the wreck will yield the first-ever detailed marine archaeological evidence of Columbus’ discovery of America,” he added.

Mr Clifford said he identified the potential location of the Santa Maria through earlier archaeological findings that pinpointed a likely location for Columbus’s fort – a building that experts always thought was erected near to where the ship ran aground.

He also used information from the explorer’s diary, and a recent diving mission near the site further burnished Mr Clifford’s belief the wreck was the Santa Maria.

{{Several factories have been set on fire amid anti-China protests at an industrial park in southern Vietnam, amid tensions over the South China Sea. }}

The park’s management said three factories were set on fire on Tuesday, but other reports put the figure as high as 15.

No casualties have been reported but officials said many arrests were made.

The protests came after China moved a drilling rig into waters claimed by Vietnam earlier this month.

In a daily press briefing, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Vietnam was a “provocateur” and that Beijing had expressed concern to Hanoi.

On Tuesday they moved on to VSIP’s two industrial parks nearby and targeted factories owned or managed by the Chinese and Chinese expatriates.

A spokesman for VSIP told the reporters the three factories were set on fire on Tuesday night after workers had gone home.

Not all of the tenants of the three factories were Chinese companies, she said. Some Taiwanese companies had been affected.

Other reports suggested the violence was more widespread, with more factories targeted.

A local official estimated that around 19,000 workers took part in the protest and that at least 15 factories were set on fire, according to local media.

One photo carried by Vietnamese media showed a factory had draped a South Korean flag at its entrance in a bid to stave off attacks.