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.
Many Iraqis fear a violent chain reaction should U.S. troops withdraw, but they and American officials have many different opinions on how bad things would get.
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
Where: Santa Barbara, Calif., to Charleston, S.C.
Duration: 34 days
Distance: 3,178 miles
Cost: $10,000
Operator:Trektravel (www.trektravel.com; 866-464-8735)
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 - Iraq's prime minister and two top American officials flew to the blistering western desert Saturday in a rare joint outing to highlight gains there in the fight against insurgents, hours before the military reported the deaths of eight U.S. troops.
AP - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet Sunday that Israel will continue its crackdown against the Islamic militant group Hamas, saying "no one is immune."
U.S. and Iraqi troops have detained 16 people they say are "directly related to the attack" on May 12 in which three U.S. soldiers were apparently captured, a U.S. military official said. The body of one of the three missing soldiers was found Wednesday, floating in the Euphrates River.
An American citizen has been extradited to the United States from Great Britain, charged with providing material support to al Qaeda, a federal prosecutor said.