AP - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew into Baghdad on Thursday for discussions with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other top Iraqi officials, hoping to iron out remaining differences in a U.S.-Iraq security deal that envisions the withdrawal of American troops.

AFP - Ten French NATO soldiers were killed in a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday, the deadliest ground attack on foreign troops here since the US-led war was launched in 2001.

AP - Insurgents mounted two of the biggest attacks in years on Western forces in Afghanistan, killing 10 French soldiers in a mountain ambush and then sending a squad of suicide bombers in a failed assault early Tuesday on a U.S. base near the Pakistan border.

AP - As of Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008, at least 507 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 - The trial of a former US Marine accused of killing two Iraqi detainees during fighting in Fallujah four years ago began with jury selection in the landmark case, justice officials said.

AFP - Ten French NATO soldiers were killed in a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday, the deadliest ground attack on foreign troops here since the US-led war was launched in 2001.

AP - Insurgents ambushed a group of elite French soldiers as they climbed a mountain pass, killing 10 troops in a militant stronghold outside the capital. In a separate coordinated attack, a team of suicide bombers tried unsuccessfully to storm a U.S. base near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

AP - The Pentagon is determined to overhaul both training and active duty tours for the Army National Guard, but finding a way to give these part-time soldiers more time at home will cost over $128 million, The Associated Press has learned.

Reuters - Instability in Pakistan always has the Pentagon worried about two things above all -- the country's nuclear arsenal and the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in areas bordering Afghanistan.

AP - As of Monday, Aug. 18, 2008, at least 500 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 Aug. 9 at 10 a.m. EDT.

AFP - Several Taliban suicide attackers tried to storm a US military base in eastern Afghanistan early Tuesday and at least six have been found dead, a provincial governor said.

AP - Suicide bombers tried unsuccessfully to storm a U.S. military base near Afghanistan-Pakistan border in a daring attack on a major American installation, officials said Tuesday. Six insurgents detonated their vests after being surrounded.

AFP - Taliban fighters attacked a US military base in eastern Afghanistan early Tuesday and at least 13 were killed, some in their own suicide blasts, Afghan officials said.

AFP - A suicide car bomb blew up Monday outside a US military base in eastern Afghanistan, killing 10 civilian labourers, as the country marked Independence Day under the shadow of extremist attacks.