Reuters - U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker
plans to leave Baghdad as early as January, shortly after U.S.
military commander Gen. David Petraeus is expected to rotate
out of Iraq, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.
AP - Egypt is building a 13-foot high concrete and rock wall interspersed with watch towers along its narrow boundary with the Gaza Strip to prevent Hamas militants from breaching the border, an official said Thursday.
AP - The shadow of the Sept. 11 terror attacks is eclipsing press freedom and other constitutional safeguards in the United States, Associated Press President and CEO Tom Curley said Thursday.
AFP - At least 54 people were killed and 123 wounded in a double bomb attack in a crowded commercial district in central Baghdad late Thursday, security officials said.
Reuters - A Palestinian gunman killed eight
people in a Jewish religious college in Jerusalem on Thursday,
most of them students, and wounded about 10 others in the most
lethal attack in Israel in two years.
AP - FBI WORK SHIFT: The FBI is submitting nearly 40 percent fewer criminal investigations to the Justice Department for possible prosecution than it did two decades ago, according to a new study. The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks shifted the bureau's focus to stopping terrorists.
AP - As of Thursday, March 6, 2008, at least 3,974 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians. At least 3,237 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
AP - Republican John McCain praised Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, a potential running mate, as they campaigned together Thursday, although he sidestepped questions about a vice presidential choice.
AFP - Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Thursday denounced the "shocking" shooting at a school in west Jerusalem and said the only way to honour the memory of the eight dead was to promote peace.
AFP - US President George W. Bush on Thursday assured Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that the United States stands with Israel after the "barbaric and vicious attack" on a school in west Jerusalem.