Abdullah: Al Qaeda is 'madness and evil'
King tells ABC Saudi Arabia progressing on women's rights
10/13/05 11:36 PM, EDT
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia called the threat of al Qaeda in his country "madness and evil," and vowed to ABC's Barbara Walters that his nation would "eliminate this scourge" of terrorism.
FULL STORY - from CNN.com

Staff Sgt. Matthew Sheppard from the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, patrols Lwar Kowndalan, Afghanistan by donkey (see below article). Photo by Spc. Mike Pryor.

On this day in 1983, in Beirut, Lebanon, Marine SSgt. Allen Soifert was killed by a sniper. Soifert's hometown was Nashua, New Hampshire. He was 25.

A member of the 1,200-member U.S. contingent in the Multi-National Force attempting to keep the peace in that city, Soifert was patrolling the camp's perimeter in a Jeep when the bullet hit him in the chest. Another Marine had been injured by sniper fire a half hour earlier, driving through that same area.

Chaplain Danny Wheeler administered Last Rites to SSgt Soifert (Interestingly, Wheeler was a Lutheran, Last Rites is a Catholic ritual, and Soifert was Jewish); Wheeler would be injured in the bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks on October 23rd of the same year. Navy Lt. John R. Hudson, M.D., who had tried to save Soifert, was killed in that bombing.

COMBAT READY — U.S. Army 1st Lt. Jimmy E. Cunalata, of San Antonio, Texas, and a platoon leader assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 142nd Infantry Regiment, 56th Brigade Combat Team, 36th Infantry Division, Texas Army National Guard, unleashes a volley of rounds at a target from his M-4 rifle during a training exercise in southern Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Master Sgt. Lek Mateo

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Iraq Ups Security Before Vote
Saddam Would Be Allowed to Vote on Constitution
Insurgents Bomb Sunni Arab Office in Iraq

Operation Enduring Freedom
Photos: Camp Eggers Celebrates Navy Birthday
Bomb Destroys 8 Tankers in Afghanistan

Homeland Security / War on Terror
White House Remembers Attack on USS Cole
Al Qaeda: U.S. Faked Letter
DHS Probes Alleged Info Leak
U.S., Mexican Agree on Border Security Plan
Islamic militants launch attacks in southern Russia; dozens killed

Welcome Home!
Seabee Unit Returns From Deployment Photos
Marine Helicopter Unit Returns to Camp Pendleton

Hurricane Season
New Orleans mayor touts jobs, housing to displaced

Pakistan Earthquake
Pakistan Ends Search for Earthquake Survivors Video: Doctors Overwhelmed
Police Probe Islamabad Building Collapse
Aftershock rattles Pakistan quake survivors
Pakistan Ends Search for Quake Survivors
Burden of Fasting Added to Quake Aid Work

Politics
DeLay's home, campaign phone records subpoenaed

Sports News
Astros Down Cards, 4-1

Other News of Note
Flood Warnings in Northeast Video: Wicked Weather
(They're expecting it to end - finally - this weekend - woohoo!)
'Gold Star' Confusion

Why is this Headline News?
Bush Teleconference With Soldiers in Iraq Was Staged- Video: Meeting Rehearsed
(I really don't see why this is huge news. A rehearsal and some structure for an event like this doesn't strike me as odd. If there had been technical problems, we'd have seen "Bush Teleconference a disaster." And the headline is misleading. 'Staged' implies that the whole thing was fake - that the conversation never happened. I've seen 'choreographed' in other sources, which is closer to the truth, but still! Shame on you, Fox, for jumping on this bandwagon)

Fox News
Richardson Visits North Korea to Hold Nuclear Arms Talks
Rove to Testify in Leak Probe
Four Kids Test Positive for Polio Virus in Minnesota
First Black to Graduate From U. of Alabama Dies at 63
Russia Gunbattle Kills 63- Video: Mayhem in Russia
N.Y. Court Nixes Malpractice Lawsuits by Gay Partners
Pregnant Woman Attacked- Video: Baby Envy
Samsung to Pay $300M Fine for Chip Price-Fixing
Time CEO: Talk of AOL Stake Sale to Google, Comcast Is 'Rumor'
Northwest Air Regional Feeder Mesaba Goes Bankrupt
Delta's Comair to Cut Up to 1,000 Jobs
Bird Flu Alert Issued
Underage Warriors

Reuters: Top News
GE profit surges on jet engines
European bird flu experts to hold crisis talks
PICTURES: Margaret Thatcher's 80th Birthday
Russian police tackle town's last rebel holdout
"Lost" actor, wife robbed at gunpoint in home
WHO cautions on bird flu "false alarms"
Hunting campaigners lose appeal against UK ban
Torture no more at Saddam's jail, but victims linger
U.S., Allies Huddle on Iran Nuke Question
Prosecutor: Sudan Cooperates in Rebel Case
Japan and U.S. to Discuss Base Changes
Schroeder Aide Tapped As Foreign Minister
Ousted Ecuadorean Leader to Seek Return
Landslide Strands Tourists at Machu Picchu
Syrian Probe Confirms Official's Suicide
Runoff Election Likely in Liberia
Migrants' Plight Forces New Look at Africa
U.S. Ambassador Detained in Zimbabwe
Foreign Ministers Urge End to Cuba Embargo
Somalia's PM Calls for Patrol of Waters
Belfast Priest Apologizes for Nazi Remark

The Seattle Times
Struggle over Internet control could put freedoms at risk
Key Iraqi constitutional provisions
Iraqi bloggers
Minutemen meet resistance
Saddam expected to face charges of murder, torture
"Jose" to oversee spying for the CIA

Chicago Sun-Times
Vote 2 days away, eerie calm blankets Iraq
Guardsman from Burbank killed in Iraq

Boston Globe: World
Iraq's Sunnis, facing strife, look to voting booth
Military, police gird for voting
Morocco deports 140 more
Britain's 'Iron Lady' marks 80th with a starry bash for the ages

Military.com
Iraqi City Braces for Constitution Vote
Old Coast Guard Fleet Faces new Mission
U.S. Withdrawal Depends on Iraqi Forces

CENTCOM: News Release
AFGHANISTAN ENGINEER DISTRICT TEAM HEADS FOR PAKISTAN
U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AIR FORCES SUPPORT PAKISTAN AID
CJTF-76 HELICOPTERS ASSIST THOUSANDS IN PAKISTAN

Department of Defense
Bush, Troops Talk Iraq Security Issues — Story Transcript Video
Report on Iraq Cites Security Progress — Story
U.S., Iraqi Forces Disrupt Terrorist Operations — Story

ON THE GROUND
Corps of Engineers Team to Aid Relief Efforts — Story
Brigade Prepares Security at Polling Sites — Story
Texas Guard Troops Maintain Combat Edge — Story Photos
Iraqi Police, U.S. Troops Trap Terror Suspects — Story Photos

IN IRAQ
Sulayminyah School Projects Nearly Complete
Tall Afar Meeting Addresses School Openings

IN GEORGIA
Marines Teach Radio Skills to Georgian Troops

FACE OF DEFENSE
Father, Son Reunite on Deployment — Story

TOP NEWS
SPECIAL REPORTS
Hurricane Coverage
Iraq Transition of Power

IRAQ
Security Increased for Referendum
U.S. Soldier Killed by IED
Rumsfeld: Agreement 'Encouraging'
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps
Iraq Daily Update
Multinational Force Iraq
Eye on Iraq Update (pdf)
Iraq Progress Fact Sheet (pdf)
Weekly Progress Report (pdf)

AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan Daily Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Rice Assures Afghanistan, Pakistan
Rumsfeld Topic: Terror War Issues
Photos: Rumsfeld MacDill Visit
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

MILITARY NEWS
Rumsfeld Highlights Relationship
Rumsfeld: Soviet Missiles Safe
Cooperation Vital for Security
New Advisor Explains Duties
Pace Presents Purple Hearts Photos
National Guard, Reserve Update


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
1066 - At the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror wins England.
1586 - Mary Queen of Scots goes on trial for conspiracy against Queen Elizabeth.
1774 - The First Continental Congress is the first to declare colonial rights.
1806 - The French beat the Prussians at the Battle of Auerstadt.
1834 - Henry Blair becomes the first African-American to be granted a U.S. patent, for a corn planter.
1843 - The British arrest Irish nationalist Daniel O'Connell for conspiracy.
1862 - Baseball player James Creighton ruptures his bladder hitting a HR (he dies 10/18).
1867 - In Japan, the 15th and last Tokugawa Shogun resigns.
1884 - George Eastman patents his paper-strip photographic film.
1912 - Teddy Roosevelt is shot while campaigning in Milwaukee.
1920 - The Soviet Union cedes part of Petsamo province to Finland.
1922 - In NYC, the Pennsylvania exchange receives the first automated telephones.
1933 - Nazi Germany announces its withdrawal from the League of Nations.
1944 - German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel commits suicide, rather than face trial for his part in an attempt to overthrow Hitler.
1947 - Pilot Chuck Yeager makes the first supersonic flight (Mach 1.015), in a Bell XS-1.
1949 - 14 U.S. Communist Party leaders are convicted of sedition.
1950 - Reverend Sun Young Moon is liberated from Hung Nam prison.
1953 - Dwight D. Eisenhower promises to fire (as a Communist) any federal worker taking the 5th Amendment.
1958 - The Malagasy Republic becomes an autonomous republic in the French Community.
1960 - JFK first suggests the Peace Corps.
1964 - Martin Luther King, Jr., wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
1965 - Joe Engle reaches 80 km in the X-15.
1968 - Apollo-7 is the subject of the first live telecast from a manned U.S. spacecraft; in the Bahamas, Americans Gruener and Watson set a scuba depth record of 133 meters.
1975 - President Ford escapes injury when his limousine is broadsided.
1976 - Soyuz-23 carries two cosmonauts to Salyut-6, but returns without docking.
1980 - Presidential nominee Ronald Reagan promises to name a woman to the Supreme Court.
1983 - In Beirut, U.S. Marine peacekeeper Sgt. Allen Soifert is killed by a sniper.
1985 - On Monday Night football, the Jets retire Joe Namath's #12 before beating Miami 23-7.
1986 - Concentration camp survivor Elie Wiesel wins the Nobel Peace Prize; the IOC decides to stagger the Winter and Summer Olympic schedule.

Birthdays
1633 - King James II of England (1685-88)
1644 - William Penn, English Quaker, founder of PA
1712 - George Grenville, British PM (1763-65)
1857 - Elwood Haynes, auto pioneer (built one of the first American autos)
1882 - Eamon DeValera, President of Ireland (1937-48, 51-54, 57-59)
1890 - Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th U.S. President (1953-1961)
1894 - e. e. cummings, poet
1896 - Lillian Gish, silent film/stage actress (Birth of a Nation)
1916 - C. Everett Koop, U.S. Surgeon General (1981-89)
1938 - John Dean III, former White House counsel, Watergate figure
1939 - Ralph Lauren, fashion designer
---- - Grover, muppet (Sesame Street)

Passings
1944 - Erwin Rommel, German Field Marshall (WWII-Africa), suicide
1959 - Errol Flynn, actor
1977 - Bing Crosby, singer, of a heart attack in Madrid, Spain
1990 - Leonard Bernstein, composer (West Side Story)

Reported Missing in Action
1966
Thomas, Darwin Joel, USN (CA); A1H shot down; KIA, body not recovered

1967
Conoway, Gary Lee, USN (IL); remains returned August, 1984

Vaughan, Robert Reddington, USN (CA); RA3B shot down, KIA, body not recovered

1977
Dellenbaugh, Cornelia, Civilian; released from Saigon January, 1978

Dickerman, Leeland, Civilian; released from Saigon January, 1978

Affel, Charles, Civilian; released January, 1978