News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Tony Blair Arrives in Baghdad
Iraqi PM Vows 'Maximum Force' to End Terror
Bush: Gov't 'New Chapter'
UK sees foreign forces leaving Iraq by 2010
Uproar as judge ejects Saddam lawyer

Operation Enduring Freedom
Airstrike in South Afghanistan Kills 76

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Two Saudis Arrested After Boarding Florida School Bus

Troops on Trial
GI Convicted in Wife's Death

Immigration
Reid calls language proposal racist
Kingdom of the Illegals

Hamas Rising
Tensions Between Hamas and Fatah Escalate

Worldwide Wackos
Arabs to Talk Iran Nukes
Olmert: Iran's Bomb Close
N.Korea won't get better deal by waiting: US envoy
US and Iran both dismiss security-guarantee idea
Israel and the Iranian Bomb
Iranian embassy denies dress code

Media in the Media
APTN Opens Full-Time North Korea Office

Politics
Documents: Rep. Jefferson Caught Taking Bribe on Tape
After win, Nagin vows to speed New Orleans cleanup

U.N. News
WHO chief dies after blood clot surgery

Oddities
Madonna crucifies herself in L.A. tour opener

Other News of Note
Three Likely Survived Initial Kentucky Coal Mine Blast
Murder In God's House
Video: Five Dead - Baton Rouge Police Chief
Barbaro Out of Surgery
New Arrest Madein Holloway Case
Video - New Holloway Suspect
Early Polls: Montenegro Votes to Secede From Serbia

Fox News
'Da Vinci Code' Hauls in $77 Million on Opening Weekend
Gas Prices Down 1.5 Cents
Stocks to Watch: Lowe's
'American Idol' Center

Reuters: Top News
Beijing wages war against termites, hungry moths
UK protesters go naked over Canadian bearskins
Sirius in a sporting mood with new receiver
PC industry eyes emerging market
Child cancer survivors face employment troubles
Namibia detains photo journalist shadowing Jolie
NYSE unveils $10 billion plan to buy Euronext
Wal-Mart sells South Korea stores for $882 million
BASF raises Engelhard offer to $39
SkyePharma agrees Sular deal with First Horizon
KDDI to offer Sony Walkman phone in Japan
UK radio group Chrysalis profits fall in 1st half
Stock futures slip as sell-off to continue - Video
Stocks to take new look at inflation
Nikkei up as easing inflation fears boost Wall St.
Jones Apparel eyed by private equity firms: report
Ins and Outs for the week
On the Radar: Three giants of Biotech
No easy fix for dollar on yuan revaluation

AP World News
Pistons' Defense Overwhelms Cavs in Game 7
NYSE Proposes Merger With Euronext
Number of U.S. Inmates Rises 2 Percent
Lay Set for Another Clash With Prosecutor
Deals Can Still Be Had at National Parks .

Military.com
Franks Defends Rumsfeld, Bush
Iran Close to Atomic Bomb Know-How

CENTCOM: News Releases
AFGHAN, COALITION FORCES KILL 20 ENEMY FIGHTERS DURING FIREFIGHT

COMBINED RAID SUCCESSFUL IN MUQDADIYAH

IRAQI ARMY SOLDIERS GRADUATE FIVE-WEEK MEDICAL COURSE, READY TO TREAT COMBAT CASUALTIES IN WESTERN AL ANBAR PROVINCE

Department of Defense
Nation, Families Remember, Honor Fallen - Story
Bush, Rice Weigh In on Iraqi Government - Story
Unity Office to Work With New Government - Story - On Assignment
Troops Withdrawals Depend on Conditions
Tips Lead Coalition Forces to IED Factor - Story
Muqdadiyah Raid Successful; IEDs Found - Story
Forces Kill 20 Enemy During Afghan Firefight - Story
Rice Responds to Call for Gitmo Unit’s Closing - Story

ON THE GROUND
Coalition Vendor Day Aids Afghan Businesses - Story
Security Mission Unit Keeps Sheikh Informed - Story - On Assignment
Combat Support Hospital Still Saving Lives - Story - On Assignment
Bulletproof Jacket Keeps Troops Afloat - Story

IN IRAQ
84th Engineers Build Bridges for Anaconda
U.S. Marines, Iraqi Troops Hold Medical Clinic
Airmen Keep Fleet Rolling Through Dust, Mud

IN AFGHANISTAN
Afghan Soldiers Get In-Depth Airdrop Training

IN THE HORN OF AFRICA
Marines Help Rebuild Djiboutian Soccer Field
Pakistani Admiral Visits Camp Lemonier
Task Force Troops Visit African Orphanages

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Italian Embassy Welcomes Troops - Story
'Connect and Join' Joins ASY
Troops, Families Stay Connected

TOP NEWS
IRAQ
Parliament Approves Government
Bush Praises Troops' Iraq Efforts
Forces Locate, Kill Two Terrorists
Operation Roll Tide Finds Weapons
Coalition Forces Save Boy
Support Key to Ending Violence
Strike Targets Support Base
Renewal In Iraq
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
U.S. Soldier Killed, Six Wounded
Weapons Found, Taliban Targeted
Forces Kill 61 Enemy, Nab 20
Taliban Fighters Killed in Operation
New Radio Station Opens
Afghanistan Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Detainees Skirmish With Guards
Conference Topic: Security Efforts
Detainee Transfer Announced
Pentagon Tests Bio-Attack Response
U.S., Australia to Share More Info
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
DoD Leaders: Uncle Sam Needs You
Rumsfeld, Pace: No Mission Conflict
U.S. Relinquishes IADB Position
Leaders Discuss Guard at Border
Rumsfeld Urges Support of Budget
National Guard, Reserve Update

CASUALTIES
Officials Identify Army 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

Today in History
12BC - A daytime meteor shower, possibly Zeta Perseid observed in China
0760 - 14th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
1176 - Murder attempt by "Assassins" on Saladin near Aleppo
1200 - Peace of Goulet
1370 - Jews are expelled/massacred from Brussels Belgium
1455 - Richard of York takes St. Albans, kidnapping King Henry VI (opening battle in War of the Roses)
1526 - Pope Clemens VII, France, Genoa, Venice, Florence & Milan form Anti-French League of Cognac
1570 - 1st atlas, with 70 maps, published
1594 - Earl Mauritius & Willem Louis begin siege of Groningen
1629 - Emperor Ferdinand II & Danish King Christian IV sign Peace of Lübeck
1659 - France, England & Netherlands sign "Hedges Concerto" treaty
1712 - Emperor Karel VI crowned king of Hungary
1746 - Russia & Austria sign treaty of cooperation
1761 - 1st life insurance policy in US, issued in Philadelphia
1762 - Sweden & Prussia sign peace treaty
1784 - Ceylonese student leader Pieter Quint Ondaatje demands democracy
1803 - 1st public library opens (Connecticut)
1807 - Former Vice President Aaron Burr is tried for treason in Richmond, VA (acquitted); Townsend Speakman 1st sells fruit-flavored carbonated drinks (Philadelphia)
1819 - 1st steam propelled vessel to cross Atlantic (leaves Savannah GA)
1843 - 1st wagon train, 1000+ departs Independence MO for Oregon
1849 - Abraham Lincoln patents a buoying device
1856 - Violence in Senate, South Carolina Representative Brooks uses a cane on Massachusetts Senator Sumner
1858 - Confederación Granadina (now Colombia) forms
1863 - General Grant begins siege on Vicksburg; War Department establishes Bureau of Colored Troops
1864 - Battle of North Anna River, VA (Totopotamy River, Haw's Shop, Hanovertown)
1868 - Great Train Robbery; 7 men (Reno Brothers) make off with $98,000 in cash
1872 - Amnesty Act restores civil rights to Southerners (except for 500)
1888 - Leroy Buffington patents a system to build skyscrapers
1891 - 1st motion picture shown to National Federation of Women's Clubs
1892 - Dr. Washington Sheffield invents toothpaste tube
1900 - Associated Press organizes in NYC as non-profit news cooperative; Edwin S. Votey patents pneumatic piano player
1906 - 10th anniversary of Olympics, celebration held in Athens, Greece; Wright Brothers patent an aeroplane
1909 - 1st San Fransisco fireboat, David Scannell, launched
1915 - Local train collides with troop train, killing 226 (Gretna Scotland)
1916 - French troops occupy parts of Fort Douaumont, Verdun
1923 - Stanley Baldwin succeeds Andrew Bonar Law as British premier
1924 - In Chicago, Nathan Leopold & Richard Loeb kidnap Robert Franks
1926 - Chiang Kai-shek replaces communists in Guomindang, China;Dutch Communist Party expels David Wijnkoop
1927 - 8.3 earthquake strikes Nan-Shan China, 200,000 killed
1928 - US Congress accept Jones-White Merchant Naval Act
1931 - Canned rattlesnake meat 1st goes on sale in Florida
1933 - Loch Ness Monster is 1st reportedly sighted by John Mackay; World Trade Day/National Maritime Day 1st celebrated
1939 - Hitler & Mussolini sign "Pact of Steel"
1940 - Dutch Premier De Geer begins working with Nazis; Prime Minister Winston Churchill flies to Paris
1941 - British troops attack Baghdad
1942 - México declares war on Nazi-Germany & Japan
1943 - 1st jet fighter is tested; RAF scatters 1st copies of "The Flying Hollander"; Stalin disbands Komintern
1945 - 6th Marine division reaches suburbs of Naha, Okinawa; NSB-Führer Rost van Tonningen attempts & fails at suicide
1947 - "Truman Doctrine" goes into effect, aiding Turkey & Greece; 1st US ballistic missile fired
1950 - Celal Bayar elected president of Turkey
1953 - President Eisenhower signs Offshore Oil Bill
1955 - Oldest man to drive in the Grand Prix (aged 55) finishes 6th
1956 - "Bob Hope Show" last airs on NBC-TV
1957 - South Africa Government approves race separation in universities
1959 - Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., becomes 1st Black USAF Brigadier General
1960 - Virtually all coastal towns between 37th & 44th parallels severely damaged by tsunami that strikes Hilo, HI at 01:04 AM
1961 - 1st revolving restaurant (Top Of The Space Needle in Seattle), opens
1962 - Netherlands telephone net becomes completely automated; Robert A. Rushworth, USAF major, takes X-15 to 30,600 meters; Roger Maris walks 5 times (record 4 intentionally) in a 9 inning game
1963 - Greek parliament leader Lambrakis injured
1964 - LBJ presents "Great Society"
1967 - "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" debuts on NET (now PBS); Egyptian president Nasser closes Straits of Tiran to Israel; Fire at L'Innovation department store kills 322 (Brussels, Belgium)
1969 - Stafford & Cernan pilot Apollo 10 LEM 9.4 miles (15km) above lunar surface
1970 - Arab terrorists kill 9 children & 3 adults on a school bus
1972 - Ceylon becomes Republic of Sri Lanka as its constitution is ratified; US President Nixon begins visit to Moscow
1973 - President Nixon confesses his role in Watergate cover-up
1976 - NASA launches space vehicle S-179
1977 - Final European scheduled run of the Orient Express (94 years)
1979 - Canadians elect conservatives, Joseph Clark replaces Pierre Trudeau
1981 - Soyuz 40 returns to Earth
1985 - US sailor Michael L. Walker arrested for spying for USSR
1987 - 30 killed in a Texas tornado
1988 - Károly Grósz succeeds party leader János Kádár in Hungary
1990 - Microsoft releases Windows 3.0; North & South Yemen merge to form Republic of Yemen
1991 - Roh Jai Bong resigns as premier of South Korea
1992 - India launches its Agni rocket; Johnny Carson's final appearance as host of the Tonight Show

Birthdays
1671 - Abraham Patras, Governor-General of East-Indies (1735-37)
1804 - John William (Turk) Livingston, Commander (Union Navy)
1821 - Alfred Sully, Brevet Major General (Union volunteers)
1828 - Albrecht Gräfe, pioneer eye surgeon, founded modern ophthalmology
1859 - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author (Sherlock Holmes)
1874 - Daniel F. Malan, Premier of South-Africa (1948-54)
1912 - Hendrik Koekoek, Dutch MP (Farmers Party)
1919 - Paul Vanden Boeynants, Premier of Belgium (1966-68, 1978-79)
1920 - Thomas Gold, astronomer (proposed steady-state theory of universe)
1930 - Dieuwke Y. W. de Graaff-Nauta, Dutch undersecretary of the Interior
1940 - Bernard Shaw, news correspondant (CBS, CNN)
1948 - Richard Baker (Representative-LA)
1953 - John Edward Stevens, bank robber (FBI Most Wanted List)
1955 - Sam Coppersmith (Representative-AZ)

Passings
0337 - Constantine the Great, emperor of Rome (306-37)
0987 - Louis V le Faineant the Lazy, King of France (986-87), poisoned at 20
1501 - Robert Gaguin, French writer/diplomat (Arte Metrificandi), dies at 66
1540 - Francesco Guicciardini, Italian historian/President of Romagna, dies at 57
1667 - Alexander VII [Fabio Chigi], Italian Pope (1655-67), dies at 68
1819 - John H. van Kinsbergen, Dutch Lieutenant-Admiral/founder (Corps Marines), dies at 84
1859 - Ferdinand II [Re Bomba], Dutch King of Sicily, dies at 49
1880 - Heinrich Freiherr von Gagern, German liberal politician, dies at 80
1885 - Victor(-Marie) Hugo, French writer (Les Misérables), dies at 83
1925 - John [Denton Pinkstone] French, British field marshall (WWI), dies at 72
1988 - Giorgio Almirante, Italian fascist (member of parliament), dies at 73

Reported Missing in Action
1967
Backus, Kenneth F., USAF (NY); F4C shot down (w/Perrine)

Holmes, Lester Evan, USAF (NY); O1E shot down, presumed KIA/BNR

Perrine, Elton L., USAF (NY); F4C shot down (w/Backus)

Vogel, Richard D., USAF (OH); F4C shot down, released by DRV March, 1973 - retired as a Colonel - alive and well as of 1998

1968
The following USAF personnel reported MIA when their C130A was shot down:
Adam, John Q. (KS); crew

Chambers, Jerry L. (OK); crew

Glover, Calvin C. (OH); crew

Knebel, Thomas E. (AR); passenger

Mason, Wiliam H. (AR); pilot

McPhail, William T. (TN); crew

Mitchell, Thomas B. (CO); pilot

Pate, Gary (GA); crew

Rash, Melvin D. (VA); crew

Also reported MIA this day in 1968:
Crews, John H. III, USAF (NC); F4D shot down, presumed KIA/BNR

Miller, Edwin F., USN (NJ); RF8G shot down, released by DRV March, 1973 - alive as of 1998

St. Pierre, Dean Paul, USAF (IL); F4D shot down