News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Chopper Down in Iraq, 2 Dead
Saddam trial judge plans to quit

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Zawahiri Targeted?
Gonzales to testify on US domestic spying program

Supreme Court
Alito Vote Set for Next Week- Video: Hearing Ends
Alito gains key endorsement for US high court

Politics
Voter pressure to force Bush to quit Iraq: Murtha

Oddities
Cheeky fencer foiled in bid for team
Sober driver flees police drink check, crashes

Fox News
17 Killed in Attack on Pakistani Village
Chavez Blasts U.S. Attempt to Block Arms Sale
Anaheim, L.A. Battle Over Angels in Court
Blown Away - Wicked weather rages across South
Hastert Pressures Ney to Abdicate Chairmanship
'Grave Threat' - Iran Threatens to End Inspections
Video: Bush, Merkel Urge Action
Homeless Beaten, 1 Dead - Video: Savage Beatings
Stardust Probe Coming Home
First Lady: U.S. Will Have Female President
Doctors Worried Sharon Won't Wake Up - Video: New Worries
Couple Meets, Weds on Web
Video: Glowing Green Pigs
Mutation Found in Bird Flu
SPORTS NEWS AND SCORES

Reuters: Top News
US airstrike targeted Zawahri in Pakistan: sources
Iran threatens to curb inspections
Countries step up bird flu battle
Editor's Choice: 24 Hours in Pictures
Tyco earnings shortfall outweighs break-up plan
GM sees flat US market and ramps up savings
Employees, take heart: 2006 may bring pay raises
Snow details tax breaks for hybrid cars
Lucent cuts '06 revenue forecast, shares fall
Genomic Health says Medicare to cover cancer test
Managed-care stocks dip after analyst downgrade
LSI Industries fall after outlook
Nortel stock slides on rival's sales warning
Retail sales mixed, core PPI muted
Iran threatens to curb inspections Video
Countries step up bird flu battle Video
Schwarzenegger denies clemency to aged murderer
Alaska volcano spews ash
Agencies probing sales of cellphone data

AP World News
Mongolian Parliament Dissolves Government
Saudis Defend Security After Deadly Hajj
Chavez Denounces Bid to Block Jet Sale
U.N. Envoy Wants Sudan Militias Disarmed
Ukraine Wants to Produce Own Nuclear Fuel
Vatican Crime Slow During Papal Transition
Bolivia's President-Elect Visits Brazil
AP Enterprise: Soldiers Beef Up Humvees
Key Senator Calls Outsourcing Fact of Life
Broncos Remember Days of Their Dynasty
Turks Give Up Fowl in Bird Flu Campaign
Angels' Name Change Trial Begins
Dealing With Iran a Conundrum for West
Italy Trying to Get Back Looted Art

Military.com
Pentagon Accelerates Future Bomber Plans
Bush Rejects Merkel's Call to Shut Gitmo

CENTCOM: News Releases
AFGHAN, COALITION PATROLS ENGAGE ENEMY IN URUZGAN PROVINCE

Department of Defense
Bush, German Chancellor Discuss Iran - Story
Cheney, Rice Warn of Iranian Nuclear Threat - Story
U.S. General: Al Qaeda in Iraq 'in Disarray' - Story Video
U.S. General Cites Iraq Progress, Salutes Troops
Proceedings Deal With Unique Challenges - Story
Hearing Deals With Pre-trial Publicity

ON THE GROUND
Troops Conduct Veterinary Mission in Yemen - Story
First Fires Brigade Arrives in Theater - Story
Protective Gear Keeps Marines in Iraq Safe - Story

IN IRAQ
Field Artillery Now 'King of Roads' in Iraq
U.S., Iraqi Airmen Build Iraqi Air Force

IN AFGHANISTAN
Mine Roller Offers Protection for Troops
Guard Soldiers Depart for Afghanistan Tour

FACE OF DEFENSE
New Yorker Tackles New Role - Story

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Partnership Rebuilds Vet's House - Story

TOP NEWS
IRAQ
Soldiers Detain Suspected Terrorists
U.S. Army Pilots Die in Crash
Attacks Not Slowing Progress
Casey Topics: Insurgents, Progress
Bush: Violence Depicts Desperation
Iraq Democracy Will Defeat Terror
Iraqi, U.S. Troops Detain Suspects
Casey Awaits Info Ops Review
Khalalzid Views Medical Care
Iraqis Honor Armed Forces Day
Fact Sheet: Progress and Work Ahead
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
Security Force Members Demobilize
Afghan Troops Aid Bomb Victims
Troops Learn Vehicle Maintenance
U.S. Medics Treat Wounded Afghans
Afghanistan Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Capabilities Key, Rumsfeld Says
Cheney Topic: Iraq Terror Links
Accused Teen Appears in Court
Hearing Opens Amid Issues
Special Operations Makes Mark
Special Forces Must Evolve
Missile Defense Moves Forward
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 to Get Revamped Vests
Warfare Changes Impact Reserves
Army Improves Body Armor
Abell Talks Recruiting, Retention
Program Aids Army Recruiting
Budget Increases Pay, Benefits
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

Today in History
1526 - Charles V & Francis I sign Treaty of Madrid; Francis I forced to give up claims in Burgundy, Italy & Flanders
1639 - 1st Connecticut constitution (Fundamental Orders) adopted in Hartford; Rodger Ludlow publishes"Fundamental Orders of Connecticut"
1641 - United East Indian Company conquerors city of Malakka, 7,000 killed
1659 - Battle at Elvas Portuguese beat Spanish
1690 - Clarinet is invented, in Nüremberg, Germany
1699 - Massachusetts holds day of fasting for wrongly persecuting "witches"
1717 - German mob leader "Sjako" sentenced to death in Amsterdam
1724 - Spanish King Philip V abdicates throne
1739 - England & Spain signs 2nd Convention of Pardo
1746 - Bonnie Prince Charlie's army leaves Glasgow
1783 - Congress ratifies peace treaty between US & England
1784 - Revolutionary War ends; Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris
1794 - Dr. Jessee Bennet of Edom, VA, performs 1st successful Cesarean section operation on his wife
1799 - Eli Whitney receives government contract for 10,000 muskets; King of Naples flees before the advancing French armies
1814 - King of Denmark cedes Norway to King of Sweden by treaty of Kiel
1847 - Conspiracy in New Mexico against US
1858 - French Emperor Napoleon III escapes attempt on his life by Felice Orsini, an Italian patriot who was later executed
1861 - Fort Pikens, FL, falls into state hands
1863 - Battle between gunboats at Bayou Teched, LA
1864 - Battle of Cosby Creek, TN; General Sherman begins his march to the South
1868 - North Carolina constitutional convention meets in Raleigh; South Carolina constitutional convention, meets with a black majority
1878 - US Supreme court rules race separation on trains unconstitutional
1912 - Raymond Poincaré becomes premier of France
1914 - Henry Ford introduces assembly line, for T-Fords
1916 - Dutch South Sea dike cracks
1924 - Allies direct Fiume (Rijeka) in Italy
1929 - Afghan King Amanullah forced to resign
1935 - Oil pipeline Iraq-Mediterranean goes into use
1938 - National Society for the Legalization of Euthanasia formed (NY)
1939 - All commercial ferry service to East Bay ends; Norway claims Queen Maud Land in Antarctica
1943 - FDR & Winston Churchill confer in Casablanca concerning WWII; Heinrich Himmler views Warsaw
1944 - Soviet army begins offensive at Oranienbaum/Wolchow
1946 - 2 jetties collapse in Ganges-160 Hindu pilgrims are crushed
1949 - Black/Indian race rebellion in Durban, South Africa; 142 die
1950 - US recalls all consular officials from China
1952 - "Today Show" premieres with Dave Garroway & Jack Lescoulie on NBC-TV; Rationing of coffee in Netherlands ends; Snow storm in Sierra, NV, kills 26
1953 - Yugoslavia elects its 1st president (Marshal Tito)
1956 - Jordan government refuses to join Pact of Baghdad
1960 - US Army promoted Elvis Presley to Sergeant
1963 - George C. Wallace sworn in as Governor of Alabama, his address states "segregation now; segregation tomorrow; segregation forever!"
1964 - Jacqueline Kennedy's 1st public appearance (TV) since assassination
1967 - New York Times reports Army is conducting secret germ warfare experiments; Earthquake in Sicily kills 231
1969 - 25 members of US aircraft carrier Enterprise die during maneuvers; Soyuz 4 launched; rendezvous with Soyuz 5 two days later
1972 - "Sanford & Son" starring Redd Foxx premieres on NBC TV
1975 - USSR breaks trade agreement with US
1976 - "The Bionic Woman" with Lindsay Wagner debuts on ABC (later NBC)
1979 - President Carter proposes Martin Luther King's birthday be a holiday
1980 - "Blues Brothers" movie with Dan Akroyd & John Belushi opens
1981 - FCC frees stations to air as many commercials an hour as they wish
1985 - 16 indicted by US for granting sanctuary to Central American refugees
1986 - Vinicio Cerezo becomes only the 2nd freely elected President of Guatemala since the CIA-sponsored coup in 1954; Constitution of Guatemala takes effect
1989 - 29 year old French woman gives birth to sextuplets in Paris; 1,000 muslims burn Rushdies' "Satanic Verses" in Bradford, England; Former Belgian premier Paul Vanden Boeynants kidnapped
1990 - Perez de Cuellar says he has lost all hope for peace in the Gulf
1991 - Jorge Serrano Elías sworn in as President of Guatemala; Valentin Pavlov become new premier of USSR
1994 - Russian manned space craft TM-17, lands
1995 - 10,000s South Africans attend state funeral of Joe Slovo

Birthdays
1467 - Henry van Stolberg & Wernigerode, German Governor/Viceroy of Frisia
1592 - Sjihab al-Din Sultan Choerram Sjah, Djahan leader of India
1705 - Jean-Baptiste C. Bouvet de Lozier/Lozier-Bouvet, Governor (Reunion Is)
1730 - William Whipple, merchant/judge/patriot (Declaration of Independence signer)
1741 - Benedict Arnold, US General turned traitor (Revolutionary War)
1798 - Johan R. Thorbecke, Premier of Netherlands (Liberal-1849-72)
1806 - Matthew Fontaine Maury, Confederate Naval Commander
1819 - Frederick Steele, Union Major General
1831 - John Bullock Clark, Jr., Confederate Brigadier General
1836 - (Hugh) Judson Kilpatrick, Union Major General
1845 - Henry C.K. Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th marquess of Landsdowne/Governor-General Canada
1861 - Mehmed VI, last sultan of Ottoman Empire (1918-22)
1875 - Albert Schweitzer, doctor/humanitarian/organist (Nobel 1952)
1892 - Martin Niemöller, clergyman (German Protestant); imprisoned by Hitler
1899 - Fritz Bayerlein, German Lieutenant-General (WWI, Poland, Libya, St Louis)
1901 - Carlos P. Romulo, Philippine General/Diplomat/Jurist
1907 - Derek Richter, British neuro chemist (Aspects of learning & memory); Sophie Redmond, Suriname's 1st female physician
1919 - Andy Rooney, CBS news correspondent (60 Minutes)
1920 - George Herman, newsman (CBS-TV)
1926 - Harold Wolpe, sociologist lawyer/South African activist
1940 - Julian Bond, (D-GA), civil rights leader
1942 - Amichand Rajbansi, South African politician
1943 - Shannon W. Lucid, astronaut (STS 51G, STS 34, STS 43, STS 58, STS 76/79)
1958 - Colin Ferguson, murderer (6 people on the Long Island Railroad on Dec 7, 1993)
1989 - Sextuplets, Paris, France, (to a 29-year-old woman)

Passings
0973 - Ekkehard I, monk of St Gallen (Vita Waltharii manu fortis)
1163 - Ladislaus I Arpad, king of Hungary (1162-63)
1236 - (or 1237) Sava (Rastko), son of Serbia's king/saint, dies at 64
1301 - Andreas III Arpad, king of Hungary (1290-1301), dies at 50
1595 - Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria/mayor of Bohemenia
1623 - Paolo Sarpi, Italian church historian/politician, dies at 70
1742 - Edmund Halley, genius eclipsed by Newton, dies at 86
1766 - Frederik V, King of Denmark/Norway (1746-66), dies at 42
1847 - Governor Bent, 5 others in US occupation, killed by revolt in New Mexico
1898 - Reverend Charles L. Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, dies at 66
1901 - Victor Balaguer, Catalaans historian/politician/author, dies at 76
1909 - Sinovi P. Rozhestvensky, Russian admiral, dies at 60
1929 - Cornelis W. Lely, Dutch Governor of Suriname (1902-05), dies at 74
1948 - Anna "Ans" van Dike, Dutch Jewish Nazi-collaborator, executed at 42
1966 - Sergei Korolev, Russian space station constructor
1972 - Frederik IX (Christiaan FFMKW), King of Denmark (1947-72), dies at 72
1974 - Josef Smrkovsky, Czechoslovakian parliament chairman, dies at 62
1977 - Abdul Razak bin Hussain, premier of Malaysia (1970-77), dies at 53; Anthony Eden British premier (1955-57), dies at 79
1978 - Blossom Rock actress (Grandmamma-Addams Family), dies at 81
1988 - Georgi M. Malenkov, PM of USSR (1953-55), dies at 86
1991 - Sallah Kharaf (Abu Iyad), co-founder (Al-Fatah), assassinated
1993 - Elisabeth A. de Vreugd, chambermaid for Dutch Queen, dies at 98

Reported Missing in Action
1964
Hickman, Vincent Joseph, USAF (NY); B26B shot down (pilot)

Mitchell, Carl Berg, USAF (MT); B26B shot down (navigator)

1966
Pruner, William R.; remains recovered January, 1966

1967
Canup, Franklin H., Jr., USN (NC); MSB-14 rammed and sunk by merchant ship

1968
Horne, Stanley W., USAF (CA); F105D shot down - remains returned April, 1990 - ID'd November, 1990

The following USAF personnel reported MIA when their EB66C was shot down:
Lebert, Ronald M. (SD); EB66C shot down (EWO), released by DRV March, 1973 - retired as Lt. Colonel - alive in 1998

Sumpter, Thomas W. (TN); released by DRV March, 1973 - deceased February, 1995

Terrell, Irby D. (TX); released by DRV March, 1973 - retired as a Colonel - alive and well as of 1998

Walker, Hubert C. (OK); released by DRV March, 1973 - retired as a Colonel - alive and well as of 1998

1969
Guggenberger, Gary J., US Army (MN); released by PRG February, 1973 (injured) - retired as a Staff Sergeant - alive as of 1998