AFP - Thousands of supporters of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr demonstrated in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq after Friday prayers to denounce a government deal with Washington on US troop levels.

Reuters - A move in the U.S. Congress to expand education benefits for troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan has hit a snag that veterans groups say they find surprising -- opposition from the Pentagon.

Reuters - The U.S. Army on Thursday said suicides among active duty troops in 2007 had reached the highest level on record, due partly to the stress caused by deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

AP - As of Thursday, May 29, 2008, at least 436 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Saturday, May 24, at 10 a.m. EDT.

AFP - The US Army said 115 soldiers on active duty committed suicide in 2007, the most in one year since the service began keeping records in 1980. Nearly a thousand soldiers attempted suicide.

AP - Firefighters are battling a growing brush fire at the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base in Southern California.

AFP - The US military announced on Thursday the withdrawal of another 4,000 "surge" troops from Iraq after reporting that violence across the country has hit a four-year low.

AFP - Newly diagnosed cases of post-traumatic stress disorder surged among US troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2007, a peak year for US fighting and casualties, according to figures released Wednesday by the Pentagon.

AP - As of Wednesday, May 28, 2008, at least 436 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures May 24 at 10 a.m. EDT.

AFP - The court martial against a lieutenant with the US Marines on charges of lying following the deaths of 24 civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha in 2005 opened on Wednesday, a Marine spokesman told AFP.

AFP - The US military announced on Thursday the withdrawal of another 4,000 "surge" troops from Iraq after reporting that violence across the country has hit a four-year low.

AP - When the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division arrived in Iraq's once infamous "Triangle of Death," violence there and in neighboring Baghdad was so intense that hundreds were dying every day and the country was virtually in a state of civil war.

AFP - Two separate suicide bombs struck Afghanistan Wednesday, one of them against a US-led military base, leaving one person dead and several wounded, officials and a witness said.