News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Persisting Violence
Experts Prove Saddam Signed Documents
Clashes in Sunni district of Baghdad
Iraqi car bomb kills at least 11
Iraq Unity Talks Set Back; 4 Marines Die
Gunbattle in Northern Baghdad Kills 1

Operation Enduring Freedom
US-led forces probe Afghan civilian deaths

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Blast Injures 30 in Turkey

Other Military News
Rumsfeld under renewed attack

Immigration
School Makes Kids Use Buckets for Toilets (believe it or not, in an effort to prevent immigration protests)

Hamas Rising
Iran donates $50 million to Hamas-led government
Blast Near Tel Aviv Bus Station Kills 6, Wounds 35

Worldwide Wackos
Iran to continue enriching uranium: Rafsanjani

Politics
Key senator bucks Bush, urges US-Iran talks

Oddities
Cat saves baby's life
Texas halts arrests of drunks in bars
Man Trading Up From Paper Clip to House (Hmmm.....)

Other News of Note
"Wonderful Boy" - Disturbing fantasies detailed in murder suspect's blog (the blog in question is here)
Video: Holloway Case Arrest

Fox News
Former Enron CEO Skilling Faces Cross-Examination
Registered Sex Offenders Murdered in Maine Homes
Video: Best Cars for Teens
Authorities Catch Bear Believed to Have Killed Child
Stocks to Watch: Citigroup
Canada Confirms Fifth Case of Mad Cow Disease
'Scary Movie 4' Sets Easter Box Office Record With $41M
Tuition Offered to Woman Accusing Duke Team of Rape
Minn. Cops Hunt Sex Offender
NEW! Small Business Page
FULL SPORTS COVERAGE

Reuters: Top News
Vatican Easter vigil mass
Serbia widens state of emergency
Case of mad cow disease in Canada confirmed
US readies flu pandemic response plan: report
Danube threatens to burst its banks in the Balkans
Uganda fishermen high and dry on Lake Victoria
Cell phones ready to start dialing for dollars
Viacom chief defends scandal-linked studio boss
Citigroup first-quarter profit rises 4 percent
General Electric eyes BAA stake: report
McClatchy in advanced paper sale talks: sources
Astellas says to post $179 mln special profit
Egypt's OT to raise stake in HTIL, eyes Europe
Time Warner's AOL in new tie-up with China firm
Profits may ease inflation angst
China shares hit 17-month high on issuance news
Nikkei falls ahead of earnings, financial stocks hit
TiVo says wins EchoStar patent suit
Samsung profit slumps 25 percent Video
Bulls working harder
On the Radar: Medical Action Industries
U.S. benchmark yield may see 5.5 pct
Fed not convinced on need for June rate rise: WSJ

AP World News
Justices to Debate 'Adverse' Work Changes
Man Sought for 2 Maine Murders Shoots Self
Wis. Court Mulls Usage of Victim's Letter
Crash Tests Show Benefit of Side Air Bags
Professional Video Gaming Set for TV Debut
NBA's Field Is Set, but Matchups Must Wait
Lakers Back in Playoffs Behind Kobe's 43
Web Site Rates Health Care Journalism
Obesity Finds Niche in American Marketing
Mixed Reception Awaits Chinese President

Military.com
Myers Defends Rumsfeld
Body Armor Tests Delayed
Military Benefits Made Easy
US Prepares Bird-Flu Plan

CENTCOM: News Releases
FIVE TERRORISTS KILLED IN YUSIFIYAH, FIVE DETAINED

COALITION AND AFGHAN FORCES TO INVESTIGATE POSSIBLE FRIENDLY FIRE INCIDIENT

COALITION RESPONDS TO CIVILIAN CASUALTIES

Department of Defense
Coalition Responds to Afghan Casualties - Story
Afghan Friendly Fire Incident Prompts Probe
Afghan, Coalition Forces Kill Insurgents
Operation Cowpens Concludes in Iraq - Story
Seven Terrorists Killed in Two Iraq Engagements
Four Marines Killed in Action in Iraq's Anbar Province

IRAQIS TAKE THE LEAD
Iraqi Army Takes Control of More Battlespace - Story
Iraqis Take Lead in Operation Cobra Strike

REBUILDING IRAQ
Team of U.S. Marines Mentor Iraqi Soldiers - Story
Soldiers Help Iraqi Farmers Create Co-op

ON THE GROUND
Construction Program Improves Afghan Lives - Story
Task Force Tiger Soldiers Aid Afghan School - Story

IN IRAQ
Air Force F-15s Save Army Ground Troops
Company C Aid Station Soldiers On Call 24/7
Iraqis Take Lead in Tactical Ops With Vehicles

IN AFGHANISTAN
Riggers Prepare Supplies for Afghans in Need
Afghan, Coalition Forces Train Together
Governor, Khost Residents Celebrate Project

FACE OF DEFENSE
Navy Chief Mentors Afghan Army - Story

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Girls Organize Treasure Hunt - Story
United Airlines Helps 'Hero Miles' - Story

TOP NEWS
IRAQ
Accident Claims Life of Marine
Two Marines Killed, 22 Wounded
City Leaders, Residents Gather
Forces Gain in Logistics Capability
Troops Capture, Kill Terrorists
Raid Killed bin Laden Associate
Fact Sheet: Progress and Work Ahead
Report: Strategy for Victory in Iraq
Iraq Daily Update
This Week in Iraq (PDF)
Multinational Force Iraq
State Dept. Weekly Iraq Report (PDF)
'Boots on the Ground' Audio Archive
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps

AFGHANISTAN
Hospital Delivers Improved Care
Coalition Launches 'Mountain Lion'
Troops Find Weapons Caches
Officials Revise School Attack Toll
Army Graduates Radio Operators
Afghanistan Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Ops Target Terrorists, Insurgents
Task Force Provides Gulf Security
Rice Urges U.N. Action
Rumsfeld, Bush Support Diplomacy
Fact Sheet: Budget Request
Fact Sheet: War on Terror
Fact Sheet: Terror Plots Disrupted
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

MILITARY NEWS
Command Improves Deployments
No-Fly Zone Duty Prepared Pilots
DoD to Set Up Joint Intel Centers
Dental Specialists Train to Deploy
National Guard, Reserve Update

CASUALTIES
Officials Identify Marine Casualty - Story

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

Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar

Gitmo

Today in History
0858 - Benedict III ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1421 - Dikes at Dort Holland break - 100,000 drown
1492 - Christopher Columbus signs contract with Spain to find the Indies
1521 - Martin Luther is excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church
1524 - Giovanni Verrazano, a florentine navigator, discovers New York Bay
1534 - Sir Thomas More confined in London Tower
1555 - Siena surrenders for Spanish troops
1596 - Arch duke Albrecht of Austria occupies Calais
1629 - 1st commercial fishery established
1704 - 1st successful US newspaper; published in Boston by John Campbell
1711 - Charles VI Habsburg becomes King of Austria
1747 - French troops occupy Zeeuws-Flanders, Netherlands
1793 - Battle of Warsaw
1808 - Bayonne Decree by Napoleon I of France orders seizure of US ships
1817 - 1st US school for the deaf founded by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc (American School for the Deaf-Hartford CT)
1824 - Russia abandons all North American claims south of 54º 40' N
1839 - Guatemala forms republic
1853 - US Marine Hospital at Presidio (San Francisco) established; Thorbecke government resigns
1861 - Virginia become 8th state to secede; Indianola, TX-"Star of West" taken by Confederacy
1863 - Grierson's Raid - La Grange, TN to Baton Rouge, LA
1864 - Battle of Plymouth, NC; Bread revolt in Savannah, GA; Grant suspends prisoner-of-war exchanges
1865 - Mary Surratt is arrested as a conspirator in Lincoln's assassination
1869 - 1st pro baseball games-Cincinnati Reds 24, Cincinnati amateurs 15
1875 - "Snooker" (variation of pool) invented by Sir Neville Chamberlain
1895 - Treaty of Shimonoseki signed, ends 1st Sino-Japanese War (1894-95)
1900 - 7 high chiefs of American Samoa sign Instrument of Cession
1905 - US Supreme court judges maximum work day unconstitutional
1907 - 11,745 immigrants arrive at Ellis Island NY
1924 - Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures & Louis B. Mayer Company merged to form MGM
1925 - Paul Painlevé follows Edouard Herriot on as French premier
1927 - Japan's Wakarsoeki government falls/Baron Tanaka becomes premier
1930 - Abkhazian ASSR established in Georgian SSR
1932 - Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia ends slavery
1937 - Cartoon characters Daffy Duck, Elmer J. Fudd & Petunia Pig debut
1939 - Stalin signs British-France-Russian anti-Nazi pact
1941 - Office of Price Administration established (to handle rationing); British troop land in Iraq/Yugoslavia; surrender to Nazis
1942 - 12 Lancasters bomb MAN-factory in Augsburg; Operations begin to destroy Sobibor Concentration Camp
1943 - Admiral Yamamoto flies from Truk to Rabaul
1943 - SS-Lieutenant-General Jürgen Stoop arrives in Warsaw
1945 - 8th Air Force bombs Dresden; German occupiers flood Wieringermeer Netherlands; Mussolini flees from Salò to Milan; US troops lands in Mindanao
1946 - Syria declares independence from French administration
1956 - USSR's Cominform (Parliament) dissolves; Bulgaria premier Tchervenkov resigns
1960 - American Samoa sets up a constitutional government
1964 - Ford Mustang formally introduced ($2368 base)
1967 - Surveyor 3 launched; soft lands on Moon, April 20
1969 - Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Senator Robert F. Kennedy
1970 - Apollo 13 limps back safely - Beech-built oxygen tank no help
strong>1971 - Egypt, Libya & Syria form federation (FAR); People's Republic of Bangladesh forms, under sheik Mujib ur-Rahman
1972 - Revised Dutch constitution proclaimed
1974 - Muslim fundamentalists assault military academy in Heliopolis, Egypt
1975 - Khmer Rouge captures Phnom Penh, Cambodia, ending a 5-year war (Kampuchea National Day)
1977 - Christian-Democrats win Belgium parliamentary election
1982 - Canada adopts its constitution
1983 - In Warsaw, police route 1,000 Solidarity supporters; India enters space age, launching SLV-3 rocket
1984 - Libyan embassy demonstration, 1 shot dead
1986 - IBM produces 1st megabit-chip; Netherlands & Scilly Islands sign peace treaty (war of 1651)
1989 - Soviet-US agreement allows Soviets to fight US pros; Polish labor union granted legal status
1990 - Gas explodes on passenger train in Kumrahar India, 80 die
1993 - Police officers found guilty of violating Rodney King's civil rights; STS-56 (Discovery) lands
1994 - Aruba government of Oduber falls

Birthdays
1573 - Maximilian I, Duke/ruler of Bayern (Catholic League)
1676 - Frederik I [van Hessen Kassel], King of Sweden (1720-51)
1741 - Samuel Chase, judge (signed Declaration of Independence)
1788 - Joseph Gilbert Totten, Union Brevet Major General
1809 - Philip St. George Cocke, Confederate Brigadier General
1813 - Henry Washington Benham, Union Brevet Major General
1870 - Ray Stannard Baker, US journalist (Puliter Prize 1940)
1894 - Nikita S. Khrushchev, 1st Secretary USSR (1953-64)
1916 - Donald Gibson, British Vice-Admiral
1916 - Sirimavo Bandaranaike, world's 1st woman PM (Sri Lanka, 1960-77)
1923 - Harry Reasoner, newscaster (60 Minutes, ABC, CBS)
1926 - Arthur Hockaday, Director-General (Commonwealth War Graves Commission)
1927 - Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Premier of Poland (1989-90)
1932 - Han J. A. Hansen [Jansen], Dutch journalist (King Comes!); Ramsay Melhuish, diplomat
1933 - Tim Rathbone, MP
1934 - Don Kirshner, rock & roll producer (invented bubblegum music)
1937 - Brian Sedgemore, British MP; Eduard N. Stepanov, Russian cosmonaut; Terry Dicks, British MP
1948 - Viscount Bridport
1958 - Sergei Yuriyevich Vozovikov, Russian Major/cosmonaut
1968 - Maurits Prince of Netherlands

Passings
0818 - Bernhard I, King of Italy
0858 - Benedict III, Italian Pope (855-58)
1272 - Zita/Cita, Italian maid/saint, dies at about 59
1630 - Christian I, ruler of Anhalt-Bernburg (battle of White Mountain)
1711 - Jozef I [Habsburg], Emperor of Germany (1705-11), dies at about 32
1726 - Henriëtte Amalia, ruler of Nassau-Dietz, dies at 49
1790 - Benjamin Franklin, American founding father (Poor Richard's Almanac), dies at 84
1863 - Daniel Smith Donelson, Confederate General/cousin of Andrew Jackson, dies at 61
1936 - Charles J. M. Ruys de Beerenbrouck, Dutch PM (1918-23, 29-33)
1945 - Ion Pillat, Romaniams poet/Senator (Umbra timpului)
1945 - Walter Model German fieldmarshal, commits suicide at 54
1948 - Johan P. Earl of Limburg Stirum, diplomat, dies at 75
1974 - Frank McGee, Today Show host, dies of cancer at 52
1990 - Reverend Ralph David Abernathy, civil rights activist, dies at 64
1993 - Turgut Özal President of Turkey (1989-93), dies at 65
1997 - Chaim Herzog President of Israel (1983-93), dies at 78

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Woodworth, Samuel Alexander, USAF (OK); F105D shot down, KIA / BNR

1966
Tromp, William L., USN (MI); A1H crashed over water

1967
Carlton, James E., USMC (AL); A6A shot down (w/McGarvey)

McGarvey, James M., USMC (IN); A6A shot down (w/Carlton)

1968
Held, John W., USAF (IN); A37A shot down

1969
The following US Army SF personnel reported MIA after their team was attacked:
Dahill, Douglas E. (OH)

Newton, Charles V. (TX)

Prevedel, Charles F. (MO)

Also reported MIA this day in 1969:
Willett, Robert V., Jr., USAF (MT); F100D shot down

1971
Gillespie, John F., (Australia)