FALCON REFUELING
An F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft is refueled by a KC-135 Stratotanker as it flys from Kunsan Air Base, Korea, to Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, Jan. 20, 2008. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Eric T. Sheler

Labels: aircraft, F-16, Fighting Falcons, KC-135, photos, Stratotanker, USAF

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Interrogator: Saddam Didn't Expect U.S. Invasion - VIDEO
Iraq's Maliki urges Sunni Arab bloc to rejoin govt
Gadhafi's son said tied to Iraq attack
Concerned Local Citizens Work to Rid Their Areas of IEDs
Iraqi Police Arrest Warrants Up 79 Percent
Soldiers Work With Poultry Growers to Revitalize Chicken Industry
MND-North Soldiers uncover large caches west of Bayji
Three terrorists killed, two detained during operations targeting al-Qaeda (Tigris River Valley)
CLC provides tip to cache, roadside bomb (Baghdad)
Iraqi citizens’ tips lead Iraqi Security Forces, U.S. Special Forces to 2 weapons caches (al Kut)
Extremist sniper walks into Coalition hands (Baghdad)

Operation Enduring Freedom
American Woman Kidnapped in Afghanistan - VIDEO

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Gazans stream over Egyptian border
Pakistan rebuffs U.S. plan for CIA buildup: report
NYPD analysis opposed WTC command center site: paper
Colombia orders blockade of rebel hostage camps
Egypt tries to control chaotic border

Worldwide Wackos
Iran says break with U.S. won't last forever

Politics / Government
McCain, Romney Trade Barbs Over Iraq War In Florida
Clinton Chosen as Nominee in Mock Convention
Obama wins South Carolina
Election 2008 News
Romney praises Bush, bashes DC
Florida proves tough for Giuliani
Clinton roils vote dispute in race
Candidate profiles: Read the latest news, compare the issues, and view factboxes
RZI: View the latest poll results
Reuters Blogs - Tales from the Trail
FOXBusiness: Sound Off on the Stimulus Package
Taxpayers Could See $600 Rebate By May
Merkel's party faces test in German state votes
Fla. governor endorses McCain
Bush pushing Congress on stimulus plan
Senators consider rebates for retirees
Fla. governor to endorse McCain

Illegal Immigration / Border Control
Old-school security - Video
Slideshow: Agents on horseback

Key Mexican drug hitman arrested near U.S. border

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
Rogue Trader Who Cost French Bank $7 Billion Is in Custody
911 Tapes Released in Former Beauty Queen's Ex-Boyfriend Torture Case
Cops: Washington Mom Shot Three of Her Children
Police: Human Remains Not Related to Peterson Case
Firefighter Sues, Says She Lost Job After Fighting Fire
SocGen trader cooperating with French police - Video
NY subpoenas Merck and Schering-Plough over Vytorin

U.N. News
Spies Nest at the U.N.? (Is anybody surprised by this?)

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
Parents: Daughter's Suicide Attempt Not Tied to Internet Pact Deaths
WEBCAMS AROUND THE WORLD: FOXNews.com in NYC
FBI: Woman sought hit man on Craigslist

Science / Medicine and Health / Technology
Mother Delays Cancer Treatments So Baby Can Live
Pornographic Photos, Video of 2 High School Girls Spread by Cell Phone
Sylvester Stallone Says He Used Human Growth Hormone to Get Buff for New 'Rambo' Movie
Dead Spy Satellite Could Hit Earth Within a Month
WHO to recommend ways to reduce harm of alcohol
California universal health care plan in doubt
Deutsche Telekom says has sold 70,000 iPhones
Wireless auction bids $3.7 bln
Dust samples prompt rethink about comets
Microchips everywhere: A future vision
Future chefs learn how to cut trans fat
Most text messages are saved only briefly

Mother Nature
SPCA Says Pink Toe Tarantula, Hissing Roaches Among 200 Animals Rescued From Texas Home
3 Die in Calif. Avalanches, Storms Expected - PHOTOS
Horses Found Neglected on Florida Farm Are Rescued
At the extremes

Oddities
Caught Red-Rose Handed
Man Arrested After Cat Finds Child Porn Stash
Weird Blob Causing Big Mess in Maine
100 Sheep Baffle Farmer by Making Circle in U.K. Field
Lettuce Truck Crashes Into Man's Kitchen
China subway apologizes over leaked kiss video

Fox News
Speeding Car Flies Off Florida Runway, Killing 5
Pilot Killed in L.A. Helicopter Freeway Crash - VIDEO
Cause Unknown in Vegas Hotel Fire - PHOTOS - VIDEO
Report: Mel Gibson Distanced Himself From Heath Ledger After 'Brokeback Mountain'
Virginia Student Gets Saturday Detention After Calling Official's Home
Worst Sundance Film: Sex and Self-Mutilation
Pop Tarts: Kim Kardashian Gets Randy in Photo Booth?
Pilot Killed in Helicopter Crash on LA Freeway

Reuters
PFLP founder George Habash dies
Bolivian band festival plays fanfare for Carnival
Macau mogul's daughter is no daddy's girl
Ledger memorials planned for New York, Los Angeles - Video
Marlon Brando's son dies at 49 in Los Angeles
Trade powers eye new WTO push around Easter
Mortgage analysis firm to cooperate in NY probe
IAC in talks with investors over business units: WSJ
As safe as houses? Dutch history suggests not
Bankers, politicians warn of worsening crisis - Video
BMW eyes U.S. sales of 400,000 cars/year: report
Fed rate cut, jobs data may lift stocks
Gold, platinum hit record on South Africa mining halt
Oil rises on stimulus plan
Fading chances for deeper Fed rate cut lift dollar
ING, Fortis fall on talk of profit warning: traders
Honeywell profit up 18 percent; shares jump
E*Trade shares rise as much as 13 percent
Halliburton shares climb on Morgan Stanley upgrade
U.S. stocks damp global rally; oil, dollar up - Video
Washington buys time
Fed may have a problem: traction

AP World News
Death toll in latest Kenya clashes at 25
Coens, Penn vie for top directors honor
Gladiators return to New Orleans suburb
Tiger puts on a clinic at Torrey Pines
No. 1 Memphis remains undefeated
Tsonga shaping up against Djokovic
Sharapova wins Australian Open
Official orders casino facade removed
Miss Michigan crowned Miss America

CENTCOM: News Releases

USJFCOM
USJFCOM readies for Noble Resolve 08 - podcast
More about Noble ResolveCombined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa Mission Rehearsal Exercise prepares forces to help “Africans solve African problems” -podcast
Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa Mission Rehearsal Exercise commences - podcast
2007 -- The Year in Review - photos

Multi-National Force-Iraq
Soldiers Work With Poultry Growers to Revitalize Chicken Industry
Abu Ajeel’s Iraqi Police come back strong (Tikrit)

DefenseLink
TOP NEWS
Mrs. Mullen Christens Guided-Missile Destroyer
U.S. Ready to Aid Pakistan

IRAQ NEWS
Local Security Gains Influence National Action
Coalition Troops Capture 12 Suspected Terrorists
Anthropologist Helps Soldiers Understand Iraqis

AFGHANISTAN NEWS
General Discusses Afghan Army Air Corps Progress
Team Brings Medical Care, Winter Clothes to Villagers

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Gates Thanks Support Groups at ASY Summit
Summit Helps Troop Support Groups Build Momentum
Joint Staff Ops Director Cites Value of Support Program
General Briefs Volunteers on Military Efforts Worldwide
Caregivers Learn About ‘Compassion Fatigue’

FACE OF DEFENSE
Cook's Added Touch Bolsters Morale

WHY WE SERVE
Soldier Takes Pride in Mentor Role

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 MainzMannheim 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

Philippines
Baler Radar Site Catanduanes Radar Site Manila

South Korea
Cheju Upper/Radar Chonju Chunchon Inch'on Kunsan Masan Mokp'o Osan
Pusan Seoul Suwon Taegu Taejon Tonghae Radar SiteUlsan Yosu

Today in History
0066 - 5th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
1340 - English King Edward III proclaimed King of France
1531 - Lisbon hit by an earthquake, killing about 30,000
1654 - Portuguese troops conquer last Dutch base on Recife
1666 - France declares war on England & Münster
1697 - Isaac Newton receives Jean Bernoulli's 6 month time-limit problem, solves problem before going to bed that same night
1699 - Venice, Poland & Austria sign peace treaty with Turkey
1748 - England, Netherlands, Austria & Sardinia sign anti-French treaty
1784 - Ben Franklin expresses unhappiness over the eagle as America's symbol
1788 - Captain Arthur Phillip forms English colony at Sydney, Botany Bay, New South Wales as a penal colony
1797 - Russia, Prussia & Austria sign treaty
1802 - Congress passes an act calling for a US Capitol library
1837 - Michigan admitted as 26th US state
1838 - Tennessee becomes 1st state to prohibit alcohol
1841 - Hong Kong proclaimed a sovereign territory of Britain
1850 - 1st German-language daily newspaper in US published
1861 - Louisiana becomes 6th state to secede
1862 - Lincoln issues General War Order #1, calling for a Union offensive; McClellan ignores order
1863 - War Department authorizes Massachusetts Governor to recruit black troops; 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment (Black) forms
1870 - Virginia rejoins the US
1871 - US income tax repealed
1875 - Electric dental drill is patented by George F Green
1882 - France government of Gambetta falls
1885 - Muhammad Ahmed ("Mahdi") rebels conquer Khartoum
1886 - Karl Benz patents 1st auto with burning motor
1887 - Battle of Dogali: Abyssinian Emperor John IV defeats Italians
1897 - Battle at Bida Gold Coast: British troops beat Nupe's army
1905 - World's largest diamond, the 3,106-carat Cullinan, is found in South Africa
1907 - 1st federal corrupt election practices law passed
1910 - Heavy rains cause floods in Paris
1911 - Glenn Curtiss pilots 1st successful hydroplane, San Diego CA
1913 - Jim Thorpe relinquishes his 1912 Olympic medals for being a pro
1915 - Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado established
1918 - US food administrator Hoover calls for "wheatless" & "meatless" days for war effort
1924 -Charles Jewtraw, US 500m skater, takes 1st Winter Olympics gold medal
1926 - Television 1st demonstrated (John L Baird, London)
1931 - Hungary-Austria sign peace treaty
1932 - British submarine M-2 sinks in Channel (60 dead)
1934 - Nazi Germany & Poland sign non-attack treaty for 10 years
1939 - Federal Hall National Monument established; Filming begins on "Gone With the Wind"
1939 - Franco conquers Barcelona
1940 -Nazis forbid Polish Jews to travel on trains
1942 - 1st US force in Europe during WWII goes ashore in Northern Ireland; Italian supreme command demands dismissal of German marshal Rommel
1945 - Soviet forces reach Auschwitz concentration camp
1947 - KLM Dakota crashes near Copenhagen, killing 22
1948 - Executive Order 9981, ending segregation in the US Armed Forces, is signed
1950 - India becomes a republic ceasing to be a British dominion
1951 - Mel Ott & Jimmie Foxx elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1954 - Ground breaking begins on Disneyland
1956 - 7th Winter Olympic games open in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy; Porkkala military base returned to Finland by USSR; Buddy Holly's 1st formal recording session
1957 - Dutch PSP, Pacifist Socialistic Party, forms; India annexes Kashmir
1958 - H. Laskow replaces Moshe Dayan as Israeli minister of Defense
1959 - Italy government of Fanfani resigns
1960 - Oakland enters the AFL
1961 - 1st woman "personal physician to President"-J.G. Travell
1962 - US launches Ranger 3, misses Moon by 22,000-mile (37,000-km); Bishop Burke of Buffalo Catholic dioceses declares Chubby Checker's "Twist" is impure & bans it from all Catholic schools; Canadian Marine Service renamed Coast Guard
1963 - Major League Rules Committee votes to expand strike zone
1965 - South Vietnam military coup under General Nguyen Khanh
1968 - Israeli submarine Dakar crashes in Mediterranean Sea, 69 die
1971 - Dutch 2nd Chamber accept law against limitation of war crimes
1972 - Stewardess Vesna Vulovic survives 10,160m fall without parachute
1973 - Belgium government of Leburton forms
1976 - Israel opens "Good Fence" to Lebanon; Belgium catholic elite start amnesty campaign for war criminals
1977 - Soviet figure skaters Sergei Shakrai & Marine Tcherkasova are 1st to perform a quadruple twist lift, Helsinki
1978 - International Ultraviolet Explorer placed in Earth orbit; Mario Soares forms Portuguese government
1979 - "The Dukes of Hazzard" premieres on CBS
1980 - Israel & Egypt establish diplomatic relations
1982 - Mauno Koivisto elected President of Finland
1983 - Dutch/British infrared satellite IRAS launched from California
1984 - US Navy exhibits Piasecki helistat-4 helicopters & a blimp able to lift 26 tons-Lakehurst, New Jersey
1986 - Super Bowl XX: Chicago Bears beat New England Patriots, 46-10 in New Orleans; Super Bowl MVP Richard Dent, Chicago Defensive End
1989 - US computer security expert warns of catastrophic virus
1991 - Alfaro Vive guerrilla group of Ecuador gives arms to Catholic church
1992 - Americans with Disabilities Act goes into effect; Super Bowl XXVI: Washington Redskins beat Buffalo Bills, 37-24 in Minnesota; Super Bowl MVP Mark Rypien, Washington QB
1995 - New Jersey Governor Christine Whitman dedicates a rest stop to Howard Stern
1997 - Super Bowl XXXI: Green Bay Packers beat New England Patriots, 35-21 in New Orleans; Super Bowl MVP Desmond Howard, Green Bay, Kick Returner
1998 - Intel launches 333 MHz Pentium II chip - President Clinton says "I want to say one thing to the American people, I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky"

Birthdays
1667 - Henricus Zwaardecroon Governor-General of Netherland-Indies
1716 - George Sackville Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville
1722 - Prestonpans
1763 - Charles XIV French marshall, King of Sweden & Norway (1818-44)
1770 - Alexander Carlyle, Moderator of General Assembly
1814 - Rufus King, Union Brigadier General
1816 - Lloyd Tilghman, Confederate Brigadier General
1826 - Julia Dent Grant, 1st lady (1869-77)
1852 - Pierre Brazza, explorer/colonial administrator (French Africa)
1880 - Douglas MacArthur, General of the Army (WWII)
1886 - Joannes A. Veraart, Dutch economist/MP (Jews of the Netherlands)
1887 - Marc A. "Pete" Mitscher, US Lieutenant-Admiral (WWII-Task Force 58)
1893 - Bessie Coleman, 1st Black airplane pilot
1902 - Laurence "Bill" Craigie, jet pioneer
1904 - Sean MacBride, statesman/Amnesty International co-founder (Nobel '74)
1905 - Maria Augusta von Trapp, Austrian singer, inspired "Sound of Music"; John Carmel Heenan, cardinal archbishop of Westminster (1963-75)
1911 - Polykarp Kusch, nuclear physicist (Nobel 1955)
1918 - Nicolae Ceausescu, Romanian President (1967-90)
1925 - Desmond Cassidi, British admiral
1927 - José Simón Azcona Hoyo, President of Honduras (1986-90)
1928 - Gene Snyder (Representative-R-KY)
1937 - Gerrit Gerritse, Dutch MP (CDA); Joseph Saidu Momoh, General/President (Sierra Leone)
1938 - Margaret Daly, British MEP
1943 - Sherian Grace Cadoria, Brigadier General
1944 - Angela Yvonne Davis, Black activist/professor
1952 - Mario Runco, Jr., Lieutenant-Commander USN/astronaut (STS 44, 54, 77)
1953 - Andrée C van Es, Dutch MP (PSP)
1997 - Pasaye Twins - twin born 92 days after his brother (Oct 26)

Passings:
1109 - Albericus of Cîteaux French saint
1824 - Edward Jenner discoverer (vaccination)
1885 - Charles George Gordon, British Governor-General, executed (slain with troops by Sudanese in Khartoum) at 51
1891 - Nicholaus Otto, auto pioneer (internal combustion engine)
1893 - Abner Doubleday, credited with inventing baseball, on his 74th birthday
1904 - John P.R. Tak, Dutch liberal politician, at 64
1911 - Charles Wentworth Dilke, English Undersecretary of State, at 67
1920 - Matthias Enzberger, German minister of finance, murdered
1939 - Professor Cristescu, Romania's iron guard leader, murdered; Armand Calinescu Romania's PM, assassinated by the iron guard
1947 - Gustav Adolf, crown prince of Sweden, dies in air crash
1962 - Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Mafia gangster, at 65
1965 - Ali Mansoer premier of Persia, murdered
1979 - Nelson Rockefeller, former Vice President & 4 time Governor of NY, at 70
1983 - Paul "Bear" Bryant, college football coach, in Alabama at 69
1990 - FHP "Boy" Trip, Dutch minister
1993 - Axel Von Dem Bussche, German aristocrat, dies; Jan Gies, Dutch resistance fighter (helped Anne Frank), at 87
1995 - Bernardo Leighton, Chilean politician (1964-70)
1997 - Margaret Hesse, princess of Hesse/the Rhine, at 83

Reported Missing in Action
1966
Grubb, Wilber N., USAF (PA); RF101C shot down, Killed in Captivity - remains returned March, 1974 - USG lists name as "Wilmer"

1967
Morgan, Thomas Raymond, USAF (OH); F100D shot down - remains ID'd July, 1997

1968
Dunn, Michael E., USN (IL); A6A shot down (w/Eidsmoe) - remains returned December, 1999

Eidsmoe, Norman E., USN (SD); A6A shot down (w/Dunn) - remains returned December 1999

1969
Singleton, Daniel L., USAF (OH); F4E shot down (w/Utley)

Utley, Russel K., USAF (CA); F4E shot down (w/Singleton)

1971
Carter, Gerald Lynn, USN (OR); A4F shot down

Labels: Headlines, History