News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Kidnappers Threaten to Kill Iraq Hostages

Operation Enduring Freedom
Bomb Kills Afghan Politician

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Senior Al Qaeda Leader Dead
Bangladesh Arrests 85 Suspects in Terror Sweep
Sept. 11 Panel Says U.S. Security Still Not Improved
Terror Suspect Drops Fight Against Deportation
Judge OKs bag searches on NYC subway

Politics
Clinton Attacks Bush

Supreme Court
Alito: Abortion Views Won't Affect Rulings
Senator seeks restrained debate on Alito

Hurricane Season
New Orleans mayoral election facing delay

News from My Neck of the Woods
Video: Children Fined $103 For Cursing at School

Oddities
Police mistakenly impound driver with car

Fox News
Bodies May Be Missing Gehring Children
Man: I Can't Believe I Killed My Family on Thanksgiving
Iran's $1B Arms Deal OK'd
Lava Stream Set Loose After Hawaii Shoreline Collapses
Florida Officials Reopen Civil Rights Bombing Case
Court Strikes Down Illinois Video Game Restriction Law
Rap Mogul Acquitted in Money Laundering Case
'Merci' for Face Transplant
Economy Adds 215,000 New Jobs; Jobless Rate at 5%
Video: Calif. Execution Battle

Reuters: Top News
BlackBerry maker suffers setback
Doctors defend face-swap ethics
Indonesia confirms eighth death from bird flu
Bird flu detected in Ukraine: farm ministry
G7 seeks free trade revival, upbeat on growth
Candidates register for Palestinian election
Belfast bids farewell to soccer hero George Best
Myanmar is no security threat - cabinet minister
Israeli navy kills Palestinian off Gaza: medics
U.S. executions milestone spurs fresh debate
Face transplant woman is eating and talking
U.N. seeks to streamline Third World energy scheme
Former Gaza settlers struggle to rebuild lives
Kremlin poised to stamp control on maverick Moscow

AP World News
U.S. Nuke Talks With N.Korea Sidetracked
Doctors Worry About Disease in Quake Zone
Second Chinese City Shuts Down Water Plant
Five Agents Accused in Drug Case Released
Big Turnout Expected at Hong Kong Rally
Chavez Calls Watchdog Group a Top Enemy
International Court Resolves Fund Dispute
U.S. Denies Role in Venezuela Vote Boycott
Greek Terrorists Appeal Convictions
Ukraine Hosts Pro-Democracy Forum
Communist Cuba's Military Marks 49 Years
U.S. Steps Up Pressure on Myanmar's Junta
Haiti Gunmen Free Children, Missionary

Military.com
Military Explains News Propaganda
Democrats Divided Over Iraq
Kidnappers Threaten to Kill Hostages
Deadliest Attack in Four Months
N. Korea Nuke Talks Sidetracked
9/11 Panel Gives Gov't Poor Marks

CENTCOM: News Releases
OPERATION SHANK UPDATE
USCENTAF PAKISTAN RELIEF SUMMARY
NEW IRAQI AIR FORCE MARKS MAJOR MILESTONE
OPERATION SHANK BEGINS IN RAMADI

Department of Defense
More Iraqi Security Forces Being Fielded - Story Video
10 U.S. Marines Killed Outside Fallujah - Story
Four Soldiers Killed in Two Incidents in Iraq

ON THE GROUND
Troops Teach Job Skills to Afghan Villagers - Story
Medical Visit Focuses on Women, Children - Story
Iraqi Girls’ School Receives Needed Supplies - Story

IN IRAQ
U.S. Soldiers Bring Food, Water to Iraqis

IN AFGHANISTAN
Sky Soldiers Honored for Actions in Combat Photos

FACE OF DEFENSE
Brothers Take On Recruiting Challenge - Story

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Summit Connects Organizers - Story
Magician Entertains Troops

TOP NEWS
IRAQ
Pace Responds to Critics
Pace Seeks Future Leaders' Views
Chairman Defines Victory in Iraq
Info Ops Allegations Investigated
Officials Outline Iraq Strategy
Operation Goal: Disrupt Terrorists
Casey: Must Maintain Momentum
General Pledges Safe Voting Video
Report: Strategy for Victory in Iraq
Iraq Daily Update
This Week in Iraq (pdf)
Multinational Force Iraq
Eye on Iraq Update (pdf)
State Dept. Weekly Iraq Report (pdf)
'Boots on the Ground' Audio Archive
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps

AFGHANISTAN
Gardez Airstrip Renovated
Afghanistan Daily Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Airmen Finish Interrogator Course
Fact Sheet: War on Terror
Fact Sheet: Terror Plots Disrupted
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

MILITARY NEWS
Troops Should Spread Word
Guard Spreads Positive Image
Bush Salutes Deployed Troops
Study Focus: Disease, Security Link
National Guard, Reserve Update

CASUALTIES
Officials Identify 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
1621 - Galileo perfects the telescope.
1678 - Edmund Halley receives a Master of Arts degree from Queen's College, Oxford.
1685 - Charles II bars Jews from settling in Stockholm, Sweden.
1775 - The first official U.S. flag raising takes place aboard the naval vessel Alfred.
1818 - Illinois is admitted as the 21st U.S. state.
1828 - Andrew Jackson is elected as the seveth President of the U.S.
1835 - The first American mutual fire insurance company issues its first policy, in Rhode Island.
1847 - Frederick Douglass publishes the first issue of his newspaper "North Star."
1863 - Confederate General Longstreet abandons his siege at Knoxville, TN.
1864 - Skirmish at Thomas' Station, Georgia.
1868 - The Trial of Jefferson Davis starts, marking the first time Blacks serve on a U.S. trial jury.
1878 - Settlers arrive at Petach Tikvah, Israel.
1883 - The 48th Congress (1883-85) convenes.
1912 - Turkey, Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria sign a weapons pact.
1920 - Turkey and Armenia agree to a peace treaty.
1923 - For the first time, a U.S. Congressional open session is broadcast via radio.
1930 - Air-borne chemicals combine with fog to kill 60 in Meuse Valley, Belgium; Otto Ender forms the Austrian government.
1931 - Alka Seltzer first goes on sale.
1932 - General Kurt von Schleicher becomes chancellor of Germany.
1934 - Italian colonial Tripoli and Cyrenaica are annexed to Libya.
1941 - Hitler views Poltava, in the Ukraine.
1943 - The Battle of Monte Cassino, Italy begins.
1944 - In Greece, the British order to disarm causes a general strike; the Hungarian death march of Jews ends; the U.S.' 5th Armored division occupies Brandenburg Hürtgenwald.
1946 - The U.S. government asks the U.N. to order dictator Franco out of Spain.
1948 - The first U.S. woman Army officer not in the medical corps is sworn in; the Chinese refugee ship "Kiangya" explodes in the East China Sea, killing 1,100.
1950 - Paul Harvey begins his national radio broadcast.
1952 - Hawaii sees its first TV broadcast.
1953 - Eisenhower criticizes McCarthy for saying communists are in the Republican party.
1958 - The Indonesian parliament accepts nationalization of Dutch businesses.
1959 - The state of emergency on Cyprus ends.
1962 - Edith Spurlock Sampson is sworn-in (the first American Black female judge); Pravda criticizes western art.
1964 - Police arrests 800 sit-in students at the University of California at Berkeley; "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" first airs on TV .
1965 - The U.S.S.R. launches Luna-8; it crashes on the Moon.
1967 - The first human heart transplant performed (Dr Christiaan Barnard, South Africa); The "20th Century Limited," famed New York-Chicago luxury train, makes its final run; in Indonesia, ex-President Sukarno is placed under house arrest.
1971 - President Nixon commutes Jimmy Hoffa's jail term.
1972 - A Convair 990A charter plane crashes in Tenerife, Canary Islands, killing 155.
1973 - Pioneer-10 passes Jupiter (first fly-by of an outer planet).
1976 - Dr. Patrick J. Hillery is elected President of Ireland.
1979 - Iran accepts its constitution.
1980 - A New York Federal jury finds Representatives Thompson (D-NJ) and Murphy (D-NY) guilty of influence peddling and bribery.
1982 - 77ºF becomes the highest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in December.
1985 - The 23rd Shuttle Mission (61-B / Atlantis 2) lands at Edwards AFB.
1989 - George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev end their summit in Malta.
1991 - Muslim Shiites release US hostage Alan Steen; White House Chief of Staff John Sununu resigns.
1992 - The U.N. Security Council votes unanimous for U.S.-led forces to enter Somalia.

Birthdays
1368 - King Charles VI (the Well-Beloved) of France (1380-1422)
1753 - Samuel Crompton, English inventor (mule-jenny spinning machine)
1755 - Gilbert Stuart, portrait painter (painted Washington)
1795 - Sir Rowland Hill, introduced the first adhesive postage stamp (1840)
1806 - Henry Alexander Wise, Confederate Brigadier-General
1809 - Thomas Alfred Davies Union Brevet Major General
1822 - Charles Adam Heckman, Union Brigadier-General
1826 - George Brinton McClellan, Union Major General
1829 - Green Berry Raum, Union Brigadier-General
1838 - Cleveland Abbe, meteorologist (Father of the Weather Bureau)
1857 - Joseph Conrad, novelist (Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness)
1862 - Jules Renkin, Belgian jurist/minister/premier (1931-32)
1886 - Karl Manne Georg Siegbahn, physicist (röntgen spectroscope, Nobel 1924)
1900 - Richard Kuhn Austria, biochemist, worked with vitamins (Nobel 1938)
1924 - John Backus, inventor (FORTRAN computer language)
1934 - Viktor Vassilyevich Gorbatko, cosmonaut (Soyuz 7, 24, 37/36)
1937 - Bobby Allison, auto racer (3 time winner of Daytona 500)
1948 - Ozzy Osbourne England, rock vocalist (Black Sabbath-Bark at the Moon)
1951 - Rick Mears, Indy-car racer (over 25 wins)

Passings
1137 - Lotharius III of Supplinburg, Roman-German emperor (1133-37)
1154 - Anastasius IV Pope (1153-54)
1463 - Louis Chalon, prince of Orange
1469 - Piero de' Medici, ruler of Florence
1533 - Vasili III, great prince of Moscow (1505-33)
1839 - King Frederik VI of Denmark (1808-39) / Norway (1803-14)
1893 - Allan Wilson, British/Rhodesian major, in battle
1894 - Robert Louis Stevenson, English writer (Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde)
1957 - Frank E. Gannett, newspaper publisher
1984 - Virginia Lacy Jones US librarian/presidential advisor
1994 - Giorgi Chanturia, President of Georgia, assassinated
1996 - Babrak Karmal, PM of Afghánistán (1980-81); Det Glynn, teacher/anti-apartheid activist

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Johnson, Stanley, USMC (CA); UH34-D shot down (co-pilot), KIA, body not recovered