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 - U.S. and Iraqi forces freed 42 kidnapped Iraqis — some of whom had been hung from ceilings and tortured for months — in a raid Sunday on an al-Qaida hideout north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.
AP - The United States and Iran began talks on Monday, resuming public diplomacy for the first time in nearly three decades. The meeting between ambassadors on security in Iraq could produce a chapter in world history for its success or a footnote for its failure.
AP - The seven women pooled money to rent a donkey and cart, then ventured out of the refugee camp to gather firewood, hoping to sell it for cash to feed their families. Instead, they say, in a wooded area just a few hours walk away, they were gang-raped, beaten and robbed.
Most court cases brought by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security involved immigration issues not claims of terrorism, according to a report issued Sunday by an independent research group. But a DHS spokesman dismissed the study, saying that, by clamping down on all forms of immigration, the agency has made it difficult for terrorists to come to the United States.
U.S. forces have freed 42 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.
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