As the UN reports substantial progress in Iran's nuclear program and US ships gather in the Persian Gulf, US and Iranian diplomats prepare to meet in Iraq.
Susan Sumner, 43, wanted to "do something really hard." So, this spring, she went on vacation. With a group of like-minded women, Sumner biked some 35 miles a day for a week through Sonoma Valley wine country. "It was absolute joy," says Sumner, who runs a medical records transcription business and lives in Santa Fe, N.M. Her next goal: a rafting trip with her husband through the Grand Canyon.
Where:Phoenix
Duration: 3 days
Distance: 28.2 miles
Cost: $750
Operator: Just Roughin' It Adventure Co. (www.justroughinit.com; 877-399-2477)
Difficulty: Challenging
Where: San Francisco
Duration:6 days
Distance: 272 miles
Cost: $2,098 to $2,298
Operator: Backroads (www.backroads.com; 800-462-2848)
Difficulty: Challenging
AP - Americans have opened nearly 1,000 new graves to bury U.S. troops killed in Iraq since Memorial Day a year ago. The figure is telling — and expected to rise in coming months.
AP - U.S. forces raided an al-Qaida hide-out northeast of Baghdad on Sunday and freed 42 Iraqis imprisoned inside, including some who had been tortured and suffered broken bones, a senior U.S. military official said Sunday.
AP - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday pledged more attacks on Hamas after a rocket from Gaza killed an Israeli, and brushed aside efforts by Egypt and Palestinian moderates to negotiate a new truce. "No one is immune," Olmert said of Hamas.
U.S. forces have freed 41 Iraqi citizens who were kidnapped, held by al Qaeda in Iraq for as long as four months and possibly tortured, a U.S. military spokesman said today. Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said he believed the kidnappings were part of al Qaeda's "fear and intimidation" campaign against Iraqi civilians. Some detainees had broken bones and are being treated for their injuries, he said.
Hours after a Qassam rocket fired from Gaza killed an Israeli civilian, Israel's prime minister today warned that "all those involved in firing Qassams will be hit. No one is immune." Israel has been conducting airstrikes in Gaza in recent days in what Israel says is retaliation for numerous rockets fired into the country from Gaza.
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