News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Bomb Strikes Sunni Mosque in Baghdad, Killing 7

Operation Enduring Freedom
COALITION FORCES KILL LOCAL TALIBAN LEADER, CAPTURE TWO

CFC-A DISCUSSES AFGHAN RECONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Israel Broadens Lebanese Offensive
Forces hit airports, residential buildings and fuel depots
Bush Promises to Pressure Israel
U.S. Warns Americans in Lebanon
Putin: Bloodshed in Must End
Gaza Shelling Kills 1
Lebanon Leaders: 'We're Powerless'
Bush to push Putin on democracy
Lebanon says Bush to press Israel to limit attacks
Alleged Terror Plotters Targeted WTC Flood Wall
India Identifies 3rd Suspect- India Points Finger at Pakistan
Suspect Padilla gets access to secrets

NSA / CIA
Valerie Plame Sues Cheney, Libby, Rove Over CIA Leak
Plame Complaint (pdf)
Bush agrees to review of NSA eavesdropping

Worldwide Wackos
Iran Shrugs Off Referral to U.N.'s Security Council
UN gets Iran incentive deal - Video (This drives me nuts - incentives to a country that directly supports terrorism)
Japan hangs tough for UN sanctions on N.Korea - Video

Politics / Government
House Renews Voting Rights
Bush: G8 Needs Single Voice
Poll: Americans want Democrats in power (Riiiiiiiight...)
Bush, Congress struggle with terror issues

Media in the Media
TV news crews dig in amid Mideast tension
Yahoo, newspapers mulling partnership: report
Businessman sues to block newspaper sale

Hurricane Season / Wild Weather / Mother Nature
Calif. Wildfires May Merge
Mr. T sheds gold after Katrina destruction
Religious leaders quit Katrina Fund panel

News from My Neck of the Woods
Vodka-making lifts spirits of New England farmers (*hiccup*!)
Suspect areas in Boston's "Big Dig" quadruple (Why am I not surprised?)
Gov. Romney seeks control of Big Dig probe

Oddities
Museum Gets 'Ripper' Notes
Police seek clown-face robbers after rampage (I knew there was a reason clowns freak me out)
Postal worker caught with thousands of letters
Woman calls 9-1-1 to hook up with cute cop

Other News of Note
Docs: Barbaro a 'Long Shot'
Barbaro is doing much better this morning

Fox News
Man Arrested in 5 N.O. Killings

Reuters: Top News
Sri Lanka rebels say kill 22 soldiers in firefight
Shuttle astronauts to make final damage inspections
Meerkats teach their young to hunt, study finds
Dell to sharply cut promotions after complaints
Philippines struggles to check illegal lottery game
Pre-term births are up but fewer newborns die
Merck wins Vioxx case in New Jersey
"South Park" duo get animated about censorship
GE profit up 4 pct, backs 2006 earnings view
Petco agrees to be bought for $1.68 billion
Broadcom finds options discrepancies, to restate
Petco agrees to be bought for $1.68 billion
EMC posts lower second-quarter profit
Hollinger Inc chairman to quit International board
Petco, Petsmart shares rise on Inet
Stock futures little changed after GE results
Baidu.com shares rise on Inet
Nikkei shrugs off BOJ rate hike - Video
Global threats add to economic angst
A good day at the Marriott

AP World News
Oil prices hover above $78 per barrel
NY AG sues chip makers over price fixing
S.F. medical marijuana club denied permit
More disabled kids live with single women
Campbell sued by another former employee
Intel to slash 1,000 management jobs
Finches on Galapagos Islands evolving
Stock futures point to rebound
Comedian Red Buttons dies in L.A. at 87

Military.com
Lawmaker Questions F-16 Sale to Pakistan
Coast Guard Academy Vows to Fight Attacks
Retirees Due Back Pay
DoD Wants More V-22s, C-130Js, Humvees

CENTCOM: News Releases
MND-B HELICOPTER CRASHES SOUTHWEST OF BAGHDAD

MND-B SOLDIERS DETAIN 5 TERRORISTS, FIND 2 WEAPONS CACHES

IP, IA, MND-B SOLDIERS DETAIN 9 TERRORISTS IN AMERIYA; 4 IRAQI POLICE KILLED, 8 WOUNDED IN BATTLE

1 TERRORIST KILLED, 7 DETAINED OUTSIDE OF MOSQUE

MND-B SOLDIERS FOIL VBIED ATTACK

IP, IA, MND-B SOLDIERS FIND, DISARM VEHICLE-BORNE IMPROVISED-EXPLOSIVE DEVICE

1 TERRORIST KILLED, 2 WOUNDED, 5 DETAINED IN DOURA

Department of Defense
Corps Improves Family Support - Story

ON THE GROUND
New Yorkers Take Over Helicopter Squadron - Story
Ammo' Airmen Arm Bagram's Warfighters - Story
Chief of Navy Reserve Visits Camp Lemonier - Story
Air Force Security Forces Complete Tour - Story

IN IRAQ
Jazz Club Offers Solace for Combat Marines
Project Coordination Cell Opens in Multaka
Soldiers Make Streets Safer in Samarra

IN AFGHANISTAN
Troops Coordinate Delivery of Supplies
Reconstruction Team Molds Afghan Police

BACKGROUND
IRAQ
Renewal In Iraq
Iraq: Security, Stability
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
Weekly Reconstruction Report (PDF)
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps

AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
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

CASUALTIES
Officials Announce Army Casualty - 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

Gitmo

Today in History
1789 - Bastille Day-citizens of Paris storm the Bastille prison, and free the 7 inmates therein. Rallying point that further inspired the peasants during the start of the French Revolution. Celebrated in France as Fête nationale or 14 juillet.
1798 - The Sedition Act bans "false, scandalous and malicious" writing against the U.S. Government.
1850 - The first public demonstration of ice made by refrigeration.
1853 - Commodore Perry requests trade relations with Japan.
1914 - Dr. R. Goddard is given the first patent for the liquid-fueled rocket design.
strong>1950 - R.E. Wayne is awarded the first Distinguished Flying Cross in Korea.
1958 - The Iraqi army overthrows King Faisal II, assassinating his entire household; the Hashemite dynasty is replaced with a republic.
1959 - The USS Long Beach, the first atomic-powered cruiser, launches from Quincy, MA. It was decommissioned in May, 1995.
1965 - The US Mariner IV, the first Mars probe, passes the planet at a distance of 6,100 miles (9,800 km).
1967 - Surveyor 4 is launched to the Moon; it explodes just before landing.
1976 - Jimmy Carter wins the Democratic presidential nomination.
1978 - Anatoly Shcharansky convicted of anti-Soviet agitation
1986 - Richard W. Miller becomes the first FBI agent convicted of espionage.
1987 - Lt. Colonel Oliver North concludes six days of Congressional testimony in the Iran-Contra hearings.
1987 - In Taiwan, 37 years of martial law come to an end.

Birthdays
1906 - Tom Carvel, ice cream mogul
1912 - Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie, folk singer (This Land Is Your Land)
1913 - Gerald R. Ford, 41st U.S. Vice President / 38th U.S. President
1917 - Douglas Edwards, newscaster (CBS Evening News, FYI)
1927 - John Chancellor, news anchor (NBC, VOA)
1936 - Robert F. Overmyer, Colonel, USMC/astronaut (STS 5, STS 51B)

Passings
1958 - King Faisal II of Iraq, assassinated in Baghdad

Reported Missing in Action
1962
Blewett, Alan L., Civilian Pilot for B.I. Bird & Sons Co.; disappeared while flying US contract mission inside Laos - air and ground search negative

Parks, Raymond F., US Army SF (OH); disappeared while on mission inside Laos (see above)

1966
Kipina, Marshall F., US Army (MI);OV1C disappeared while on surveillance mission

Nopp, Robert, US Army (OR); OV1C disappeared while on surveillance mission

1967
Fuller, Robert B., USN (FL); F4C shot down, released by DRV March, 1973 - alive and well as of 1998

1969
Butler, Dewey R., US Army(Wash., D.C.); UH1B collided with OH6A, KIA, body not recovered