Raids across Iraq have captured over a dozen terrorists amid a new offensive in Kirkuk. U.S. troops, working with the Iraqi Army, have surrounded and entered the cities of Hawija and Riyadh, just west of Kirkuk, in a simultaneous operation aimed at netting al-Qaeda terrorists unaware....

AP - A government committee formed to try to unite the country's sectarian and political groups will hold its first meeting this week, a parliament member said Saturday.

AP - Key European nations circulated a draft U.N. Security Council resolution Thursday that would put the threat of sanctions, but not force, behind demands that Iran suspend uranium enrichment and clear up suspicions about its nuclear program.

AP - Assailants slit the throats of a mother and her three children Wednesday in southern Iraq, where the family had fled to escape threats that they had cooperated with the Americans.

AP - Gunmen sprayed grenades and automatic weapons fire in a market south of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 50 people, mostly Shiites. The sectarian attack drew an angry protest from lawmakers who accused Iraqi forces of standing idly by during the rampage.

AP - The last batch of Japanese troops touched down in Kuwait from southern Iraq on Monday, ending the country's largest and most dangerous overseas mission since World War II.

AP - As of Monday, July 17, 2006, at least 2,554 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 seven military civilians. At least 2,015 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

AP - Three American soldiers were killed Monday in separate attacks, two in the Baghdad area and one in western Iraq, the U.S. military said. A U.S. statement said one soldier was hit by small arms fire early in western Baghdad.

AP - Iraq and the United States signed a commercial cooperation agreement Monday that officials hope will help this country move into a free market after decades of wars, sanctions and state control.

AP - Iran's most prominent dissident said Sunday that the war in Iraq has hurt his country's reform movement by giving its regime an excuse to stifle dissent.

AP - As of Sunday, July 16, 2006, at least 2,550 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 seven military civilians. At least 2,012 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

AP - Gunmen kidnapped a senior Iraqi Oil Ministry official Sunday.

Six of the hostages kidnapped in Iraq on Saturday have been released, including the Baghdad soccer coach. More than 30 people were kidnapped during a meeting of the Iraqi Olympic Committee meeting.

AFP - A British soldier died after coming under fire in an operation in southern Iraq to apprehend terror suspects, the Ministry of Defence has said.

AP - Gunmen kidnapped the chairman of Iraq's Olympic committee and at least 30 others Saturday in a brazen daylight raid on a sports conference in the heart of Baghdad. Armed clashes erupted elsewhere across the capital.

AP - As of Saturday, July 15, 2006, at least 2,549 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 seven military civilians. At least 2,012 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

AP - Sometimes George says he drives a cab. Other times he passes himself off as an Agriculture Ministry employee. He feels that anything is safer than the truth, that he's a translator for the U.S. military.

AP - President Jalal Talabani has called for establishment of a national front to prevent a sectarian civil war.

AP - Heavy clashes between Iraqi soldiers and gunmen in downtown Baghdad on Saturday left 11 people wounded, police said.

A senior U.S. military commander, currently on the field in Ramadi, says the strength of the national security forces are the key to winning the War on Terror in Iraq. U.S. Army Col. Sean B. MacFarland tells reporters via satellite teleconference with the Pentagon that Iraqi soldiers and police...