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News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Cheney Slams Charges - 'Dishonest and Reprehensible'
Car Blast Rocks Western Iraq
Video: Marines Killed
US defends use of white phosphorus
Iraq Says Abused Detainees From All Sects
Clinton says Iraq war a "big mistake" (Well, you knew THIS was coming)
Sunnis demand probe into alleged government torture

Operation Enduring Freedom
Al Qaeda Boosts Afghan Activity, Official Says

Welcome Home!
Surface Strike Group Returns to Norfolk Photos

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Deal Would Make Most of Patriot Act Permanent
U.S. Has Detained 83,000 in War on Terror
Senate, House panels pass terror insurance bills

Politics
Bernanke Approved by Panel
Senate Wants Answers - Seeks Truth From Oil Execs
Oil company officials accused of lying to Congress
Senate approves pension bill with airline aid
Woodward testifies in CIA leak probe, apologizes

Supreme Court
Alito 'Concerns' Reid
Senators spar over vote on Alito

Media in the Media
Koppel Says Final 'Good Night'

Moonbat Watch
Sheehan Pleads Not Guilty

Oddities
You can't fight here, this is a boxing dinner!
Woman weds teen, spends honeymoon in jail

Other News of Note
CIA says Castro has Parkinson's disease

Fox News
Bush Seeks United Asian Front on North Korea
Video: Mission to Asia
Tornadoes Slam Midwest
Photo Essay: Nasty Nature
Bird Flu Hits Humans in China
Senate OKs Pension Reform
Miss America Moves Pageant From N.J. to Las Vegas
Calif. Lotto Ticket Wins $315M
Kindergartner Found With Eight Bags of Heroin
Texas Town Renamed 'DISH'
Iowa Hunts Escaped Convicts
Video: Widening Manhunt

Reuters: Top News
Texas man executed for Christmas Eve murders
Iran starts converting new uranium batch: diplomat
Mexican bus and chemical tanker collide, 38 dead
Satellite gap may jeopardize US weather predicting
Rising sea levels threaten New Jersey: study
Mold readings spark health concerns in New Orleans
Statins may delay effects of Alzheimer's: study
60 years after Nuremberg trials, legacy remains
N.Ireland murals tell story of changing society

AP World News
Pacific Rim Execs Discuss Investments
Security Tight As Sri Lankan Voting Begins
Masked Man Threatens Attacks Against U.S
Chavez Criticizes Mexico's Trade Stance
North Korea Expels European Aid Groups
Mexico Sets First-Ever Absentee Ballot
China Confirms First Human Bird-Flu Cases
Musharraf Appeals for $5.2B in Quake Aid
Iran Now Says Satellite Can Spy on Israel
Canary Islands Probes CIA Questions
Egyptian Group Gains Legislative Seats
High-Seas Pirate Attacks Are on the Rise
Guatemalan Anti-Drug Official Indicted
Jordan Releases Details on Would-Be Bomber

The Seattle Times
China confirms its first 3 human cases of bird flu
AP video: Twisters rip 5 states
Bush Social Security plan laid to rest
U.S. retains control of Internet oversight
World's first blood vessels are grown in lab
Dogs help hearts heal, study shows
Confusion plagues Medicare sign-ups
Bush presses Chinese on rights, lauds Taiwan
Grizzlies in 3 states may lose federal protection
The worst jobs in science? Try these 10
Cell bandit was talking to boyfriend

Chicago Sun-Times
Official: Group smuggles weapons into Afghanistan
Torture chamber allegations complicate Bush policy
Germans charge 3 Iraqis with plot to kill Allawi

Boston Globe: World
China, Vietnam vow intense fight against bird flu
Belfast man's family urges justice in slaying
Hurricane-battered Cancun rushes to restore tourism trade
Waitress to president: A Liberian odyssey

Military.com
Senate Approves New Inspector General for VA
Defense Spending Bill Extends Benefits
Injured Vet Still Awaits VA Funds

CENTCOM: News Releases
OPERATION STEEL CURTAIN UPDATE
ESG-1 CONDUCTS MARITIME SECURITY OPERATIONS IN ARABIAN SEA
AIR FORCE FIGHTERS STRIKE INSURGENTS
CAR BOMB DETONATES IN KANDAHAR
U.S. SOLDIERS CONTINUE TO DETECT AND PREVENT IED ATTACKS
IRAQI AND BAND OF BROTHERS SOLDIERS SEIZE WEAPONS
AL QAEDA IN IRAQ EMIR OF SADAH BAGGED
U.S. MILITARY RAPID REFUELING POINT OPENS

Department of Defense
U.S.-Australia: Ties Could Not Be Firmer -- Commentary
Five Marines Killed in New Ubaydi Firefight -- Story
Bomb Kills Marine; Iraqis Nab Terror Suspects
Air Force F-15s, F-16 Hit Insurgents in Steel Curtain
Bomb Detonates Near Convoy in Afghanistan -- Story

ON THE GROUND
Ordnance Disposal Airmen Share Expertise -- Story

FACE OF DEFENSE
Air Force Sergeant Recalls Insurgent's Attack -- Story

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Patriotic Tribute Honors Heroes -- Story

TOP NEWS
SPECIAL REPORTS
Iraq Transition of Power

IRAQ
School Renovations Benefit Iraqis
Rumsfeld: Intel Errors Were Honest
IED Kills 3 U.S. Soldiers
2 Marines Die in Steel Curtain Ops
Iraq Daily Update
This Week in Iraq (pdf)
Multinational Force Iraq
Eye on Iraq Update (pdf)
State Dept. Weekly Report (pdf)
'Boots on the Ground' Audio Archive
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps

AFGHANISTAN
U.S. Troop Killed, Another Wounded
New Radios Aid Border Police Ops
Road Projects Near Completion
Afghanistan Daily Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

MILITARY NEWS
Army Trains Deploying Marines
Chertoff Pledges Support
Iron Soldiers Prepare to Deploy
National Guard, Reserve Update

CASUALTIES
Officials Identify Marine Casualties -- Story

Weather
Iraq
Al Azamiyah Al Basrah Al Hillah Al Karkh Al Kazimiyah Al Kut An Nasiriyah Baghdad Baqubah Mosul Najaf Nineveh Tall Kayf

Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar

Gitmo

National Hurricane Center

Today in History
1278 - 680 Jews are arrested (293 are hanged) in England for counterfeiting coins.
1558 - Elizabeth I ascends the English throne upon the death of Queen Mary.
1800 - Congress holds its first session in Washington, DC.
1853 - Street signs are authorized at San Francisco intersections.
1862 - Confederate Secretary of War George B. Randolph resigns.
1869 - In Egypt, the Suez Canal opens.
1913 - The Panama Canal opens.
1927 - A tornado hits Washington, DC.
1937 - In the beginning of appeasement, Britain's Lord Halifax visits Germany.
1938 - Italy passes their own version of the anti-Jewish Nuremberg laws.
1945 - H.J. Wilson of the RAF sets a world air speed record 606 mph (975 kph).
1948 - Britain's House of Commons votes to nationalize the steel industry.
1959 - The De Beers firm of South Africa announces the production of a synthetic diamond.
1962 - President Kennedy dedicates the Dulles International Airport outside Washington, DC.
1966 - The Leonids meteor shower peaks (150,000+ per hour).
1967 - Surveyor-6 becomes the first man-made object to lift off the Moon.
1970 - Russia lands the Lunokhod-1 unmanned remote-controlled vehicle on the Moon.
1973 - President Nixon tells the AP "...people have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook."
1977 - Egyptian President Sadat formally accepts an invitation to visit Israel.
1988 - Benzir Bhutto wins the election in Pakistan.
1993 - The U.S. Congress votes for NAFTA.

Birthdays
1755 - Louis XVIII, first post-revolutionary King of France (1814-24)
1887 - Bernard L. Montgomery, British general (WW II-African campaign)

Passings
1962 - Arthur Vining Davis, CEO (Alcoa-1910-57)

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Bowling, Roy H., USN (CA); A4E shot down (w/Taylor)

1965
Hiemer, Jerry A., US Army (TN); reported KIA in firefight, body not recovered

Taylor, Jesse, Jr., USN (CA); A4E shot down (w/Bowling), remains returned December, 1975

1967
Cappelli, Charles R., USAF (RI); F105D shot down, remains returned April, 1989

Emrich, Roger Gene, USN (FL); F4B shot down (w/McGrath), remains returned, ID'd February, 1997

Key, Wilson D., USN (NC); A4C shot down, released by DRV March, 1973 - retired as a Captain - alive and well as of 1998

McGrath, William Darrell, USN (CA); F4B shot down (w/Emrich), remains recovered December, 1985

1968
Derby, Paul D., USMC (WI); F4B shot down, KIA, body not recovered