News of NoteOperation Iraqi Freedom
Iraqi Pols Stay Away After Blast
Iraq lawmakers say bombing will unite them - Video
Gates raises possibility of winter drawdown in Iraq - Video

Operation Enduring Freedom
Blasts kill 2 NATO soldiers in eastern Afghanistan
TALIBAN OVERWHELMED BY ANA, COALITION FORCES IN ZABUL PROVINCE

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Ohio Man Allegedly Joined Al Qaeda VIDEO
U.S. "dirty bomber" stigma haunts Padilla trial
Olmert ready to talk to Abbas about statehood issues
CIA chief: Military past won't hinder work

Fallen Heroes
Remains of Servicemen Arrive in Hawaii

Other Military News
Military Divorce Rates Studied
Navy Shows off Terror-Fighting Dolphins

Worldwide Wackos
N.Korea may move on funds as nuclear deadline looms
Former FBI agent held in Iran, associate tells FT
NKorea unlikely to meet reactor deadline

Politics / Government
E-Mail Furor - Dems threaten more subpoenas in firing flap
Lucky to Be Alive - New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine hurt in car wreck
S.C. Senators Drop Abortion Ultrasound Rule
China's Wen pitches friendship as Japan ties thaw - Video
Leahy doubts Bush aides on lost e-mails
U.S. hopes for "open skies" deal with China by May

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
Lawyers for Duke Players Cleared of Rape Charges Ponder Action Against Durham DA Mike Nifong
Opening Statements Begin in Trial of Mary Winkler, Accused of Killing Minister Husband
Police at Atlanta Airport Uncover Rash of Public Sex Acts
Best Buy 'Geek Squad' Member Accused of Taping Showering Woman With Cell Phone
VIDEO: Cops Say Ex Kidnapped Pregnant Teen
Fla. Standoff Ends After Guman Kills Self
Defense: Slain Preacher's Wife Was Abused
Alabama church arsonists get state prison time

U.N. News
Sudanese negotiators back U.N. helicopters in Darfur

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
Rutgers Team Meets With Don Imus at New Jersey Governor's Mansion
Don Imus Fired By CBS Radio for Racist Comments, One Day After MSNBC Drops Show
Pioneer Press sues its former publisher

Science / Medicine / Technology
Junk Science: Can’t See the Warming for the Trees
Birds May Be Descended From Dinosaurs
CDC: Gonorrhea Becoming Drug-Resistant
British Scientists Identify Fat Gene
Medicines make 10,000 China children deaf a year
Monkey genes help us see what makes us human

Mother Nature
Crocodile Bites Off Zoo Worker's Arm in Taiwan (Fox has some unbelievable photos of this - warning, though, they are graphic)
Calif. Fires Knock Out Power to Thousands
NEWS IN PICTURES: Snow Slams Midwest
Strong Earthquake Jolts Central Mexico
Florida manatees may lose endangered status
Rogue seal menacing man, beast in Calif.
Earthquake causes coral reefs to die

Oddities
Behave, Naughty Boy! This Is 'Woman Town'
Hells Angels to organize a benefit party - Video
Great Expectations for Dickens theme park - Video

Other News of Note
World Bank Boss on Brink?
FDA: Tainted Pet Food May Still Be in Stores
Russia urges UK to extradite tycoon for coup talk
China's food safety woes expand overseas
Howard: No HIV-positive immigrants

Fox News
Virgie Arthur Seeks Accord With Birkhead
Katie Couric's New Boyfriend 17 Years Her Junior
Reality Check: The Sanjaya Voting Mystery
John Travolta Won't Do 'Today' for 'Hairspray'
Anna Nicole Smith's Mother Seeks Agreement With Larry Birkhead; Hearing Friday
Angelina Jolie: Newborn Daughter Shiloh Is a 'Blob'

Reuters: Top News
Nissan, NEC group in lithium-ion battery venture
Apple delays new operating system
Mortgage fraud seen as undercurrent of subprime woes
The America's Cup, the race with no second place
NBA star Jordan tops Forbes celebrity divorce list
Kidman receives Australia's top honor
Healthier food, drinks slowly enter U.S. schools
Oil pushes above $64 on U.S. gasoline supply worry
Sallie Mae stock jumps on buyout talk
Futures flat after GE earnings; PPI looms
Yen reverses course, rallies broadly before G7
Investors focus on rates, oil, G7
Solid Q1 for General Electric
GE reports higher first-quarter profit
Morgan Stanley to buy ANA hotels for $2.4 billion - Video
G7 to say global economy healthy, risks manageable
Sallie Mae in talks to go private: report
EU poised to make Ryanair sell Aer Lingus stock
Nokia says Qualcomm top user of Nokia patents

AP World News
Apple delays launch of operating system
Morgan Stanley buys 13 hotels for $2.4B
Rangers hold off Thrashers 4-3 in opener
Cassell's 8 help Clippers beat Lakers
Clippers defy Kobe, beat Lakers 118-110
High-flying Sabres may face DiPietro
Heather Locklear, Richie Sambora divorce
Text book win for Red Wings in opener
Els encouraged by Verizon Heritage start
Interracial marriages surge across U.S.
Obituaries in the news

Military.com
Poll: Effect of 15-month Tours?
Op-ed: Nuke Roulette
Polmar's Spy Corner and More
Blog: Tossing Families to the Curb
Def Tech: Is the Dogfight Dead?
Suicide “Blossoms” Off Okinawa

CENTCOM: News Releases
TWO TERRORISTS KILLED, 17 SUSPECTS DETAINED IN RAIDS
CENTCOM WELCOMES NEW SENIOR ENLISTED ADVISOR
STATEMENT FROM GEN. PETRAEUS REGARDING ATTACK ON IRAQI COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES
STATEMENT FROM MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ CONDEMNING THE ATTACK AGAINST IRAQI LEADERS

USJFCOM
USJFCOM continues to improve Joint National Training Capability - podcast
USJFCOM supports intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance conference - podcast

DefenseLink
Bush Condemns Attack on Iraqi Parliament - Story
Medical Evaluation Process Getting Fresh Look - Story
Medical Review Group Presents Preliminary Conclusions
England Calls for Fix to Disability Process
Less Deployment Stress on Guard, Reserve - Story
Army Deployment Change Helps Sustain Surge - Story
Accused Al Qaeda Accomplice Denies Role - Story
Interservice Cooperation Impresses Top NCO - Story
Top Enlisted Shares Outlook of Naval Hero

More Headline News
‘Recon’ Shares Stories of Conspicuous Courage
Holocaust Survivor Recalls Dark Time in History
Gates Extends Army Tours in Iraq to 15 Months

Military News
Recruiting, Retention Rates Remain Solid in March
Huachuca to be Home of Human-Intel Training
Four Guard Brigades Alerted for Iraq Duty

War on Terror
Taliban Fighters Killed - Story
Two Terrorists Killed in Iraq - Story
U.S. Military Still Committed to Helping Iraqi People Succeed
Forces Capture Terrorists, Weapons
Four Soldiers Killed in Iraq

America Supports You
Colorado Supports Troops - Story
Bush Thanks Troops
Quilts Comfort Children
Foundation to Lend a Hand

Transformation
Sailors Will Need CAC to Log In
Chaplain Invents New Chapel Kit
Program Connects Troops to Public

Face of Defense
Soldier Takes Oath in a Chinook - Story
Army Captain Embraces Life
Siblings Reunite for Promotion
Airman Overcomes Cancer

DefendAmerica
U.S. Military Fully Committed To Success in Iraq, Top Enlisted Says - Story - Audio - Bio
Transcript: Roundtable (pdf)
Bloggers' Roundtable Web Site

NEWS UPDATES
Thirty-seven Taliban Fighters Killed - Story

ON THE GROUND
Terrain Team Ensures Roads are Mapped Out - Story
U.S. Military Conducts Human Rights Training - Story
Officials Honor Audie Murphy Club Inductees - Story
Expert Reconstruction Team Arrives on Taji - Story
Marines Prepare for Afghanistan Deployment - Story

IN IRAQ
Stryker Troops Lead Initial Push into Diwaniyah
Minnesota National Guard Improves Roadways
Course Teaches Iraqi NCOs Leadership Skills
Iraqi Police Join Security Mission in Diwaniyah
‘Black Hawk’ Troops Help Bring Peace to Haifa
Commando Brigade and Iraqi Army Render Aid

IN AFGHANISTAN
Bagram Airmen Move Army Force Provider Camps
Air Force Captain Teaches Classes, Experiences
Female Medics Take Forward Mission to Heart
Afghan Government, Coalition Aid Flood Victims

IN DJIBOUTI
Families Donate Soccer Balls to Orphanage
Airmen Help Djiboutians Learn English
Soldiers Keep Promise, Check on Injured Girl
Postal Specialists Deal With Limited Space

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
Multinational Force Iraq
State Dept. Weekly Iraq Report
'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: Terror Plots Disrupted
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

Weather
Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar

Germany
Ansbach Aschaffenburg Berlin Berlin-Tempelhof Berlin/Schonefeld Bremerhaven
Darmstadt Frankfurt Frankfurt/Main Freiburg/Breisgau Garmisch
Garmisch-Partenkirchen Geilenkirchen Gelnhausen Giessen Kitzingen
Hanau Am Main Heidelberg Mainz Mannheim Nurnberg Stuttgart Trier
Wiesbaden Wurzburg

Gitmo

Guam
Agana Agana Heights Agat Andersen AFB Asan Barrigada

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

Japan
Kadena Air Base Okinawa Tokyo Yokohama

Today in History
0837 - Best view of Halley's Comet in 2000 years
0989 - Battle at Abydos - Byzantine emperor Basilius II beats Bardas Phocas
1055 - Bishop Gebhard van Eichstätt named Pope Victor II
1111 - Pope Paschalis II crowns Roman catholic-German King Hendrik II
1204 - Crusaders occupy Constantinople
1241 - Battle at Theiss - Mongols beat Hungarian King Béla IV
1346 - Pope Clemens VI declares German emperor Louis of Bavaria, envoy
1367 - Battle at Nájera Spain Castilië & England beat Aragón & France
1517 - Osmaanse army occupies Cairo
1556 - Portuguese Marranos who revert back to Judaism burned by order of Pope
1598 - Edict of Nantes grants political rights to French Huguenots
1640 - English Short Parliament forms (- May 5)
1741 - Royal Military Academy forms at Woolwich
1759 - French beat European Allies in Battle of Bergen
1796 - 1st elephant arrives in US from Bengal, India; Battle at Millesimo, Italy - Napoleon beats Austrians
1808 - William Henry Lane ("Juda") perfects the tap dance
1829 - English Emancipation Act grants freedom of religion to Catholics
1834 - HMS Beagle anchors at river mouth of Rio Santa Cruz, Patagonia
1849 - Hungarian Republic proclaimed
1860 - 1st Pony Express reaches Sacramento, CA
1861 - After 34 hours of bombardment, Fort Sumter surrenders to Confederates
1863 - Battle of Irish Bend, LA (Fort Bisland); Hospital for Ruptured & Crippled in New York is 1st orthopedic hospital
1865 - Battle of Raleigh, NC
1873 - Colfax Massacre in Grant Parish, LA (60 blacks killed)
1882 - Anti-Semitic League forms in Prussia
1883 - Alfred Packer convicted of cannibalism
1902 - J.C. Penney opens his 1st store in Kemmerer, WY
1904 - Congress authorizes Lewis & Clark Expo $1 gold coin; Battle at Oviumbo, Africa - Hereros chase away German army
1906 - Mutiny on Portuguese battleships Dom Carlos & Vasco da Gama
1912 - Royal Flying Corps forms (later RAF)
1918 - Electrical fire kills 38 mental patients at Oklahoma State Hospital
1919 - Amritsar Massacre - British Army fires on hundreds of Indian Nationalist rioters in India
1920 - 1st woman US Civil Service Commissioner, Helen Hamilton, appointed
1923 - Army wins the 1st college three-weapon fencing championship
1926 - Bicyclists without bicycle-tax-stamp rounded up in Amsterdam
1928 - 1st trans atlantic flight Europe-US (Fitzmaurice-von Hünefeld-Köhl)
1933 - 1st flight over Mount Everest (Lord Clydesdale)
1934 - 4.7 million US families report receiving welfare payments; US Congress passes Johnson Debt Default Act
1936 - Metaxas proclaims himself dictator of Greece
1940 - 2nd battle of Narvik-8 German destroyers, destroyed
1941 - Heavy German assault on Tobruk; Russian-Japan no-attack treaty goes into effect
1943 - FDR dedicates Jefferson Memorial; Nazis discover mass grave of Polish officers near Katyn
1944 - South Carolina rejects black suffrage; Transport nr 71 departs with French Jews to Nazi-Germany
1945 - Allies occupy Wien (Vienna); Canadian army liberates Teuge & Assen Netherlands from Nazis; US marines conquer Minna Shima off Okinawa
1946 - Eddie Klepp, a white pitcher signed by defending Negro League champion Cleveland Buckeyes, is barred from field in Birmingham, AL
1948 - 75 scientists ambushed on way to Mount Scopus
1954 - Robert Oppenheimer accused of being a communist
1957 - Due to lack of funds, Saturday mail delivery in the US is temporarily halted
1959 - Vanguard SLV-5 launched for Earth orbit (failed); Vatican edict forbids Roman Catholics from voting for communists; USAF launches Discoverer II into polar orbit
1960 - France becomes the 4th nuclear nation, exploding an A-Bomb in the Sahara; Transit 1B, 1st navigational satellite, placed in Earth orbit
1961 - UN General Assembly condemns South Africa for apartheid
1964 - Ian D. Smith becomes premier of Rhodesia
1966 - Pan Am places $525,000,000 order for 25 Boeing 747s
1970 - Apollo 13 announces "Houston, we've got a problem!" as Beech-built oxygen tank explodes en route to Moon
1975 - Chad military coup by General Odingar; Christian Falange kills 27 Palestinians, begins Lebanese civil war
1976 - Federal Reserve begins issuing $2 bicentennial notes
1979 - Christian Turks occupy St. Jansbasiliek; Yusuf Lule becomes premier of Uganda
1980 - "TASS" denounces US boycott of the Moscow Summer Olympics
1981 - Washington Post's Janet Cooke wins Pulitzer Prize for "Jimmy's World" (later admits story was a hoax and returns prize)
1984 - 11th Space Shuttle Mission (41C)-Challenger 5-returns to Earth
1985 - Ramiz Alia succeeds Enver Hoxha as party leader of Albania
1987 - Portugal signs agreement to return Macau to China (in 1999)
1988 - Italy government of De Mita forms
1992 - Great Chicago Flood - Chicago's underground tunnels flood; 5.5 earthquake hits Netherlands
1994 - President guard at Kigali Rwanda, chops 1,200 church members to death; Target date for Israeli complete withdrawal, doesn't occur

Birthdays
1519 - Catherine de Médici, Queen of Spain/daughter of Henry II
1545 - Elisabeth van Valois, French Queen of Spain/daughter of Henri II
1593 - Thomas Wentworth London, Earl of Strafford/Viceroy of Ireland
1732 - Frederick Lord North, British PM (1770-82)
1743 - Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US President (1801-09)
1749 - Frederik Sigismund van Bylandt, Dutch count/Vice-Admiral
1756 - Louis H. J. Condé, French prince
1771 - Adam F.J.A. van der Duyn, Dutch Governor (South Holland); Richard Trevithick Illogan, inventor (steam locomotive)
1791 - Félix Earl de Merode, Belgian minister of War/Finance
1822 - Leroy Augustus Stafford Confederate Brigadier General; William Stephen Walker, Confederate Brigadier General
1832 - James Wimshurst, British designer/inventor (electricstatic generator)
1847 - Cornelis Pijnacker Hordijk, Governor-General (Netherlands East-Indies)
1892 - Arthur Harris Cheltenham, Marshal of the RAF; Robert A. Watson-Watt, English physicist (radar)
1901 - René-Jean Pleven, French premier (1950-52)
1907 - Harold Stassen, (Governor-MN), perennial presidential candidate
1913 - Bernard Chacksfield, Air Vice-Marshal
1921 - James Wilson, British Lieutenant-General
1922 - John George Vanderbile Henry Spencer-Churchill [11th Duke of Marlborough], English large landowner
1933 - Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Senator-CO)
1935 - Kenneth Hayr, air marshal; Peter Heap, diplomat
1939 - Barbara-Rose Collins (Representative-MI); Wijnie Jabaaij, Dutch MP (PvdA)
1949 - Jean-Jacques Favier Kehl, astronaut (STS 78)
1951 - Jack Quinn (Representative-NY)
1953 - Stephen Byers, MP
1954 - Barbara Roche, MP

Passings
1517 - Tuman Bey, last Mamelukken sultan of Egypt, hanged
1638 - Henri II, Duke of Rohan-Gié, French Hugenot leader, dies at 58
1868 - Theodorus [Kasa], Emperor of Abyssinia, commits suicide
1932 - Johannes T. de Visser, 1st Dutch minister of Education, dies at 75 [or 14th]
1967 - Luis Somoza Debayle, President of Nicaragua (1956-63), dies at 44
1975 - N'garta Tombalbaye, President of Chad
1984 - Christopher Wilder, FBI's "most wanted man", accidentally kills self
1993 - Max Tripels, Dutch attorney/MP, dies at 72
1994 - P. J. Engels, Dutch MP (KVP), dies at 70; Taleb Ali al-Suheil, Iran sheik, murdered in Lebanon at 64
1997 - George Wald, scientist (Nobel), dies at 80

Reported Missing in Action
1966
Mape, John Clement, USN (CA); A1H shot down - remains ID'd March, 1999

1968
Stischer, Walter Morris, USAF (TX); RF4C shot down - released by PL (Laos) March, 1973 - retired as a Colonel - alive and well as of 1998

1969
Pierson, William C., US Army (WI); AH1G crashed

1972
Christensen, John Michael, USMC (UT); A6A shot down (w/Leet)

Leet, David Laverett, USMC (WI); A6A shot down (w/Christensen)

Labels: Headlines, History