News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Hostage released unharmed in Baghdad
Civil Affairs Helps 29th FA Soldiers Complete Mission

Operation Enduring Freedom
40 Afghan Militants Killed
Coalition Spokesperson to Discuss Operations in Southern Afghanistan
Afghan, Coalition Forces Intensify Offensive in Uruzgan
Coalition Responds to Media Reports of Civilian Casualties in Nowzad District
Afghan, Coalition Forces Attack Key Taliban Targets in Sangin
Coalition Confirms No Civilian Non-combatants Killed

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Israel, Hezbollah Trade Attacks
Rice tells Israel US concerned about casualties
U.S., Europe urge Israel to show restraint
Lebanon: U.S. blocking call for cease-fire
Lebanon reports 106 killed so far in 4-day assault; Israel reports 15
Israel hits Beirut suburb, no signs of conflict end
Lebanese Guerillas Fire Rockets Into Israel
Photo Essay: War Erupts in Mideast
Photo Essay: Lebanon Offensive Rages
MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT
Video: Israel Targets Tripoli
Video: Beirut Pounded
Video: Gaza Crisis Continues
Israeli Tanks, Troops in Gaza
Fighting Deepens Lebanese Divisions Over Hezbollah
Peace Process Called 'Dead'
U.S. Embassy to Evacuate Americans From Lebanon
Israel Intel: Iranian Troops Helped Hezbollah Attack
Iran: No Troops in Lebanon
Israel: Missile Struck Warship
Putin: Israel After More Than Just Captured Soldier
Bush Blames Hezbollah, Syria
G8 Leaders Tear Up Agenda
Video: Bush, Putin on Mideast
Protesting Pakistani Youths Set Pizza Hut on Fire
9/11 families want more thorough search

Immigration / Border Control
Elite unit focuses on rescue of immigrants

Worldwide Wackos
Security Council Unanimously Adopts N. Korea Resolution
UN sanctions vote prompts North Korea rejection
Rice: UN resolution to get N.Korea back to talks

Politics / Government
Bush backs away from spat with Putin
US and Russia plan nuclear deal
Russian WTO entry bid talks falter
Battles for Senate seats fierce, costly
Abortion backers, foes square off in Miss.

In the Courts
New York panel OKs pistol-packing judges

Hurricane Season / Wild Weather / Mother Nature
Two Massive Wildfires Merge
California wildfire moves from town, one dead

News from My Neck of the Woods
Pastor at victim's funeral: Fix Big Dig

Oddities
Berlin Love Parade back after three-year absence
Beer baron Coors loses license for DUI

Other News of Note
Shuttle Discovery sails away from space station - Video
Shuttle's Last Day in Space

Fox News
NY Building Collapse Doc Dies
Sex Offender Kills Teen, Self After Florida Standoff

Reuters: Top News
India puts off peace talks with Pakistan
Local tests show Indonesian man died of bird flu
Rocker Avril Lavigne wed in California: report
Mideast, oil and earnings to roil stocks
Stocks sink as Mideast violence escalates - Video
Defense stocks attract as global conflicts heat up
Home-builder shares fall after Horton warns
Lula: 'No reason to change' policies
FactBox: What's at stake in Brazil election
Gerstein: No comfort on radio valuations

AP World News
Va. man gets 150 years for child porn
Frank Sinatra's pianist dies at 91
Mosley stops Vargas in 6th round
'Amazing Race' moves to new night, time
Danica says she's still gunning for Indy
Would CBS wrap up a canceled serial drama?
Bryant likely out of worlds after surgery
Column: Wie's critics just don't get it
Everest remains deadly draw for climbers
Parents jailed in starving of 3 S.C. kids

Department of Defense
For More Top News Visit DefenseLink

DefendAmerica Week in Review
Sunday - Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday - Friday - Saturday

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

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
622 - Origin of the Islamic Era (Muharram 1, 1 AH)
1439 - England bans kissing.
1775 - U.S. founding father John Adams graduates from Harvard.
1790 - Congress establishes the District of Columbia.
1798 - The U.S. Public Health Service is established; the U.S. Marine Hospital is authorized.
1862 - David G. Farragut becomes the U.S. Navy's first Rear Admiral.
1904 - Samoan chiefs cede the islands of the Manu'a group to the U.S.
1912 - B.A. Fiske patents the airplane-launched naval torpedo.
1927 - Augusto Sandino begins his five-year war against U.S. occupation of Nicaragua.
1941 - Seattle, WA records a record-high temperature of 100˚ F.
1945 - The first atomic bomb is detonated at the Trinity Site in Alamagordo, NM.
1956 - Barnum & Baily Circus is held in a canvas tent for the last time.
1957 - Marine Major John Glenn sets a transcontinental speed record (03:28:08).
1962 - NASA civilian test pilot Joseph A. Walker takes the X-15 to 32,600 m.
1969 - Apollo 11, carrying the first men to land on the Moon, is launched.
1973 - During the Watergate hearings, Alexander Butterfield reveals the existence of tapes.
1980 - Ronald Reagan is nominated for President.
1982 - NASA launches Landsat-4; its job is to create a thematic map of the Earth.
1983 - Britain's worst helicopter accident kills 20.
1985 - The F-86 Sabre sets a world aircraft speed record of 1716 m.p.h. (152 k.p.h.)
1990 - In New York City, the Empire State Building catches fire; there are no fatalities.

Holidays
Today is "District of Columbia Day"

Birthdays
1746 - Giuseppe Piazzi, discovered the first asteroid (Ceres)
1821 - Mary Baker Eddy, founded Christian Science
1872 - Roald Amundsen, Norwegian explorer, discovered South Pole
1887 - "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, baseball great
1888 - Frits Zernike, inventor of the phase-contrast microscope, Nobel Prize winner
1896 - Trygve Lie, first UN Secretary-General
1907 - Orville Redenbacher, popcorn king
1932 - Richard L. Thornburgh, U.S. Attorney General

Passings
1918 - Czar Nicholas II of Russia and his family, executed
1991 - Frank Rizzo (Mayor-Philadelphia)

Reported Missing in Action
1968
Neco-Quinones, Felix V., US Army (PR); released by PRG February, 1973

1969
Dawson, James V., USAF (KY); F100D shot down, KIA, body not recovered