AFP - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Monday hailed the US leaders of the surge strategy on the eve of a military change of command in Iraq, but said the new commanders will face "a mission of transition" as American troop levels shrink.

AP - As of Monday, Sept. 15, 2008, at least 521 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 Monday at 10 a.m. EDT.

AFP - US General Raymond Odierno will take charge of US-led forces in Iraq on Tuesday from David Petraeus, the commander credited with pulling the violence-wracked country back from all-out civil war.

Reuters - General Ray Odierno took command of U.S.-led forces in Iraq on Tuesday, faced with the challenge of ensuring security gains do not unravel at a time when American troop levels are being reduced.

Reuters - Three bomb attacks killed 34 people and wounded dozens more in Iraq on Monday, underscoring the security challenges facing the next U.S. military commander in the country.

AFP - General Raymond Odierno, the hulking artillery man who takes over Tuesday as the top US commander in Iraq, is a key architect of the surge strategy that appears to have moved Iraq to the brink of peace.

AFP - The pre-trial hearing of a US soldier charged with murdering an Iraqi entered its second day on Sunday at a military base near Tikrit, the hometown of executed dictator Saddam Hussein.

AFP - A pre-trial hearing was held on Saturday for a US soldier charged with murdering an Iraqi detainee by shooting him and then burning him with an incendiary grenade, in the latest scandal to rock the military in Iraq.

AP - As of Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008, at least 519 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 Friday at 10 a.m. EDT.

AFP - A pre-trial hearing was held on Saturday for a US soldier charged with murdering an Iraqi detainee by shooting him and then burning him with an incendiary grenade, in the latest scandal to rock the military in Iraq.

AFP - A task force called Friday for the US Air Force to put its nuclear forces under a single command to halt a serious erosion in readiness that has undermined international confidence in the US nuclear deterrent.

AP - As of Friday, Sept. 12, 2008, at least 519 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 Friday at 10 a.m. EDT.

AFP - The trial of a US soldier charged with the murder of an Iraqi detainee began on Saturday at a military base near executed dictator Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, the US military said.