AP - As of Thursday, July 3, 2008, at least 468 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 at 10 a.m. EDT.

AFP - Iraq said on Wednesday it was on the verge of agreeing a controversial pact with the United States to govern US troop levels and ground rules in the nation beyond 2008 when a UN mandate expires.

AP - Colombian spies tricked leftist rebels into handing over kidnapped presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. military contractors Wednesday in a daring helicopter rescue so successful that not a single shot was fired.

Reuters - Three American defense contractors landed late on Wednesday in Texas, hours after they were freed from years of captivity in the jungles of Colombia.

AFP - Iraq said on Wednesday it was on the verge of agreeing a controversial pact with the United States that will govern US troop levels and ground rules in the nation beyond 2008 when the UN mandate expires.

AFP - Opening up a third front would pose a challenge for the US military already deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, a top US military chief said Wednesday amid concerns Israel may attack Iran.

AP - Peru's president said Tuesday that he's sick of Bolivian President Evo Morales criticizing Peru's trade pact with the United States, spreading false rumors about American military bases and urging Peruvians to protest in the street. Things really got unneighborly when Morales called Garcia "fat."

AP - As of Tuesday, July 1, 2008, at least 468 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 at 10 a.m. EDT.

AFP - Four Iraqis are suing two US firms and their employees for allegedly torturing them at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Bagdad five years ago.

Reuters - Four Iraqi men are suing U.S. military contractors who they say tortured them while they were detained in Abu Ghraib prison, according to lawsuits being filed at U.S. federal courts on Monday.

AFP - The United States will send six additional combat units, totaling some 33,000 soldiers and marines, to Iraq in early 2009, the Pentagon announced Monday.

AP - As of Monday, June 30, 2008, at least 461 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 June 21 at 10 a.m. EDT.