AP - As major U.S. combat operations in Iraq end, some families of soldiers and Marines convicted of crimes during battle hope the nation doesn't forget their sons.

AP - A powerful Iranian-backed Shiite bloc put forward its own candidate for prime minister Friday, further complicating Iraq's fractured political scene as the country stumbled into month six without a new government.

AFP - The UN refugee agency on Friday urged European countries not to send Iraqi refugees back to central parts of Iraq, just days after the official withdrawal of US combat troops.

The Christian Science Monitor - The shrinking US military footprint here is particularly evident in this community south of Baghdad, where a few dozen American soldiers live among 1,000 Iraqi troops in an area crucial to Baghdad's security.

The Christian Science Monitor - Tony Blair began his leadership as a dashing popular British Bill Clinton -- a fresh answer to “the suit,” as Fleet Street called John Major. After 2001, it all went sideways and Mr. Blair’s 10-year tenure terminated with him portrayed at home as a “lap dog” for President George Bush.