Casualty Count

Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has returned to Baghdad on Saturday after spending a week in London for medical tests, Iraqi official television reported.

The U.S. military said Saturday five Iraqi soldiers were killed and two wounded by an improvised explosive device that went off as they searched a house north of Baquba...The military said one American soldier was also wounded...

Maj. Andrew J. Olmsted, 37, of Colorado Springs, Colo...assigned to the Military Transition Team, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan...died Jan. 3 in As Sadiyah...of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit...

Sgt. First Class Nathan Chapman was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart back in 2006 for helping rescue an injured soldier. In 2005, their Humvee was hit by an airborne explosive.

At least four Iraqis, including two policemen were killed Friday in a fuel tank explosion at a checkpoint for inspection in Missan governorate in southern Iraq. Spokesman of Missan police told reporters the tank was loaded with gasoline exploded...

Pfc. Joshua R. Anderson, 24, of Jordan, Minn., died Jan 2 in Kamasia, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. He was assigned to the 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team...

Staff Sgt. Ryan D. Maseth, 24, of Pittsburgh, Pa., died in Baghdad, Iraq, on Jan. 2 of injuries suffered in a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Campbell, Ky.

Blogger and soldier Andy Olmsted was killed yesterday in Iraq. Olmsted had been writing for the Rocky Mountain News. He'd left behind a final blog post with a friend just in case:

Clerics loyal to radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr called on his followers Friday to respect a cease-fire and asked them to try to make peace with rival factions. The appeals came as authorities ordered a one-day vehicle ban in the city...

Gunmen killed a civilian in a drive-by shooting in the town of Jurf al-Sakhar, 85 km (55 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

An Italian prosecutor said on Friday he expects to appeal a Rome court's decision to drop a murder case against a U.S. soldier who killed an Italian intelligence agent in Iraq.

An al Qaeda in Iraq leader who was suspected of helping to plan a large scale attack against coalition forces "in the near future" was killed by a U.S. air strike south of Baghdad last week, the U.S. military said.

In another development, some 400 people staged protests in Baquba to demand the release of two leaders of the tribal Awakening Council forces. US forces had earlier arrested Ali Hamad, a council leader in Mukdadya, and Thamir Akash...

Around 20,000 Iraqi refugees returned home from Syria in December, suggesting an improved security situation in the country, according to the Iraqi Red Crescent.

Iraqi authorities ordered a one-day vehicle ban in Baqouba on Friday in response to a series of deadly suicide bombings and other attacks by al-Qaida in Iraq against predominantly Sunni fighters that have allied with the United States.

Spc. Michael D. Hauser of Cheektowaga, seriously wounded in a suicide attack in Iraq in November, has opened his eyes and moved his head as he continues to show signs of improvement in Walter Reed Medical Center.

In a statement on Friday , a spokesman for the British forces in the area said unknown militants attacked the military base at the airport late last night, but no human or material losses were sustained.

The U.S. government’s top auditor of reconstruction efforts in Iraq described his staff’s job Thursday as providing "oversight under fire" in a high-stakes arena replete with successes and failures.

The Iraqi victory in football's Asian Cup in July 2007 prompted joy across the country - and sparked an idea in a football fan far away in the United States.

Representatives of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr met Thursday with officials from his chief rival’s party in an effort to cement a tenuous peace agreement the two signed in October after violent clashes between their followers.