News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
New Australian PM Signals Iraq Pullout
At least 10 killed in Qaeda clash in Baghdad: police
U.S. to reduce Iraq troop levels by 5,000

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Fragile Hope for PeaceAt Mideast Conference - PHOTOS
Prayers Offered for Success of Peace Conference
Analysis: Possible Mideast push by Bush
AP: Firefighters help in war on terror
Hezbollah adds new demand in Lebanon

Religion of Peace??
Saudi Arabia Marks 136th Beheading of 2007
Justice Ministry: Saudi Rape Victim Was Adulteress

Worldwide Wackos
Chavez to Freeze Relations With Colombia
Uribe is lying in hostage flap: Chavez

Politics / Government
Thompson Calls for Flat Tax Plan
Giuliani Attacks Romney on Health Care Record
CAMPAIGN CARL: Cameron's Blog From the Trail
Huckabee Minces No Words About Saudi Arabia
Uproar Over Mass. Judge Who Released Killer Takes Political Tilt for Romney Campaign
Retired U.S. commander speaks out for Democrats
Ex-PM Sharif Returns to Pakistan After 8-Year Exile
Anti-Putin Protestors Detained in Russia
Indian protest rocks Malaysia ahead of polls - Video
Exit polls point to vote cliff-hanger in Croatia

Illegal Immigration / Border Control
Government Halts Illegal Immigrant Employer Crackdown to Rework Rules

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
Cops Seek Sightings of Missing Mom's Car
Ex-Boyfriend: American Suspect in British Roommate Murder 'Out of Touch With Reality'
Official: Natalee Holloway Is Dead - PHOTOS - VIDEO
Court to consider investor's 401(k) suit
Australia's Rudd gets straight to work

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
N.M. Officials Fume Over Alien Ads (See some here and here)
Producers, B'way stagehands resume talks
Candidates, retailers vie for TV time
Wary online retailers step up offers

Science / Medicine and Health / Technology
Recalled Aqua Dots Toy Advertised in Newspapers
EU agrees public funding for satellite project
FDA staff urge psych warnings for two flu drugs
WHO fails to reach deal on sharing bird flu virus
Scientists urge $2-3 billion study of ocean health
Software piracy fight makes enemies

Mother Nature
Abused Canine Rescues Owner From Burning Mobile Home Twice
Community Offers $1,500 Reward for Info on Swan Killers (Horrible story out of Pinellas Park, FL)
Typhoon Mitag Flooding Kills Six in Phillippines - PHOTOS
Firefighters Seek to Contain Malibu Wildfire
Last from Antarctica shipwreck reach Chile - Video
Malibu residents begin returning home
Rare South China tiger cub born in SAfrica

Oddities
Woman Aborts Child To Help Save the Planet
Farmer Cuts off Right Arm With Pocket Knife to Save Life

Other News of Note
Ex-black militant becomes Eagle Scout

Fox News

Reuters
Disasters quadruple over last 20 years: Oxfam
Retail traffic up with spending down in holiday start
Oxford Union told to review holocaust denier invite
World Anglican leader launches attack on U.S.
MTV's "Rock Band" takes on "Guitar Hero"
"Enchanted" charms audiences at weekend box office
Jet Li breaks record with $13 mln paycheck
Housing, dollar, oil on stocks' radar
Wall St. lifted higher by retailers and banks
Dollar reverses fall after euro hits record - Video
Oil rises on dollar gains and colder weather
Gold momentum builds in choppy trade
Video: Housing takes center stage
Rio set to showcase its assets
RPT-Wall St Week Ahead: Housing, dollar, oil on stocks' radar
FTSE up 1.7 percent; M&A lifts miners, oils weigh
Northern Rock to name Virgin as preferred bidder
Freddie to raise $5 bln in preferred stock sale: report
EADS says weak dollar threatens Airbus
NatWest 3 bankers set for rearraignment in Texas
Shopping crowds swell, but are they buying?
A first-hand look at U.S. corporate cultures

AP World News
Retailers buoyed by strong holiday start
Study: Kids will eat healthy school food
Vikes get 3 INT returns for TDs, rout NY
Thanksgiving travelers return home
Missouri takes over top spot in AP Poll
'Enchanted' casts $50M box-office spell
St. Louis QB Bulger out with concussion
Mizzou wins; hones in on BCS title game
Oil platform catches fire north of UK

CENTCOM: News Releases
COALITION FORCES CAPTURE CRIMINAL ELEMENT LEADER, TWO OTHERS DETAINED
COALITION FORCES RESCUE KIDNAP VICTIM; DISRUPT FOREIGN TERRORIST FACILITATORS, AL-QAEDA FINANCIERS; ONE KILLED, 10 DETAINED
TALIBAN WEAPONS SMUGGLING OPERATIONS DISRUPTED

Multi-National Force-Iraq
Seeds of Commerce Planted in Former al-Qaida Sanctuary
Another Overhead Line Project Turned Over to Ministry of Electricity
Iraqi Security Forces, U.S. Special Forces detain two in separate operations (Balad)
Coalition forces rescue kidnap victim; disrupt foreign terrorist facilitators, al-Qaeda financiers
Iraqi Security Forces, U.S. Special Forces detain four in overnight operations
Criminals attack market (Baghdad)
Iraqi Emergency Response Unit detains 5 extremists in Daghgharah

DefenseLink
TOP NEWS
Vice Chairman, USO Show Visit Troops in Afghanistan
Photos: USO Visits Iraq
Photos: USO Visits Bagram
Photos: Vice Chairman Joins USO Tour

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Realtors Bring Christmas Spirit to Vets

AFGHANISTAN NEWS
Advisors Focusing on Sustaining Forces

IRAQ NEWS
Troops Raid al Qaeda Media Network
'Awakening' Signals Local Rise Against al Qaeda

MILITARY NEWS
Turkey Meal to Replace Rations for Many Troops

HUMANITARIAN RELIEF
Marines Deliver Water to Bangladesh

FACE OF DEFENSE
Iraq Shapes Supply Soldier

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

National Hurricane Center

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

National Hurricane Center

Today in History
1357 - Charles IV issues letter of protection of Jews of Strasbourg Alsace
1715 - The first English patent granted to an American, is issued for processing corn.
1758 - Britain captures Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh).
1783 - Britain evacuates NY, their last military position in the U.S.
1817 - The first sword swallower in the U.S performs in NYC.
1841 - 35 Amistad survivors return to Africa.
1863 - Battle of Missionary Ridge, Tennessee.
1864 - The Confederate plot to burn NYC fails.
1867 - Alfred Nobel invents dynamite.
1884 - John B. Meyenberg of St. Louis patents evaporated milk.
1894 - The Greenback (Independent) Party organizes in Indianapolis.
1897 - Spain grants Puerto Rico autonomy.
1930 - 690 earthquake shocks are recorded in one day in Ito, Japan.
1933 - The first Soviet liquid rocket attains an altitude of 261' (80m).
1940 - The Patria steamer sinks, killing 200 outside of Haifa.
1947 - New Zealand accedes to the Statute of Westminster, becoming a dominion.
1948 - Fort Funston's 16-inch coastal guns are removed.
1957 - President Eisenhower suffers a mild stroke which impairs his speech.
1958 - Senegal becomes an autonomous state in the French Community.
1960 - The first atomic reactor for research and development opens in Richland, WA.
1963 - JFK is laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery, VA.
1967 - Puerto Rico is placed on Atlantic Standard Time.
1973 - A bloodless military coup ousts Greek President George Papadopoulos.
1975 - The Netherlands grants Surinam independence.
1976 - A Viking-1 radio signal from Mars helps prove the general theory of relativity.
1978 - An American Airlines DC-10 crashes on takeoff from Chicago, killing 275.
1983 - The Soyuz T-9 returns to Earth, 149 days after take-off; Syria and Saudi Arabia announce a cease-fire in the PLO civil war in Tripoli.
1984 - William Schroeder becomes the second to receive the Jarvik-7 artificial heart.
1986 - The Iran-Contra affair erupts, as President Reagan reveals a secret arms deal.
1988 - A widespread earthquake hits the northeastern U.S. and Canada; no damage is reported.
1990 - Lech Walesa wins in Poland's first popular election.

Birthdays
1835 - Andrew Carnegie, steel industrialist / library builder
1881 - John XXIII (Angelo Roncalli), 261st Pope (1958-63)
1893 - Robert Ripley, illustrator (Believe it or Not)
1895 - Anastas I. Mikoyan, member of the Supreme Soviet
1940 - Richard Furrer, astronaut (STS 22)
1960 - John F. Kennedy, Jr., lawyer, son of JFK

Passings
1885 - Thomas A. Hendricks, 21st U.S. VP, 8 months after taking office
1944 - Kenesaw Landis, baseball commisioner
1958 - Charles F. Kettering, inventor of the auto self-starter
1974 - U Thant, U.N. Secretary-General (1961-72)

Reported Missing in Action
1966
Gardner, Glenn V., US Army (CA); jumped overboard (suicide)

Niehouse, Daniel L., Civilian; employee of Ford Motor Company, on PRG DIC list April, 1967

1967
Abrams, Lewis Herbert, USMC (NJ); A6A shot down (w/Holdeman), remains returned June, 1997

Holdeman, Robert Eugene, USMC (IN); A6A shot down (w/Abrams), remains returned June, 1997

Midgett, Dewey A., US Army (VA); AWOL

Searfus, William Henry, USN (CA); A4E shot down, KIA, body not recovered

1968
Francisco, San Dewayne, USAF (WA); F4D shot down (w/Morrison)

Morrison, Joseph C., USAF (KY); F4D shot down (w/Francisco), shown KIA at crash site in pictures released by Vietnamese November, 1992

Labels: Headlines, History