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.

AFP - A cargo plane owned by US courier United Parcel Service caught fire shortly after take-off and crashed in a military base on the outskirts of the Gulf city of Dubai on Friday, killing both crew members, civil aviation authorities said.

AFP - The United States likely will need to keep thousands of troops in Iraq beyond 2011 to keep a lid on sectarian tensions and to bolster Baghdad's fledgling military, experts and former officers say.

AFP - The cockpit of a United Parcel Service 747 cargo plane filled with smoke as pilots fought to maintain altitude and return to Dubai, where the plane crashed and both crew members died, a civil aviation statement said on Sunday.

AFP - Two American soldiers were killed on Tuesday when an Iraqi army comrade opened fire after an argument over a sports match, the first US deaths since Washington declared an end to combat operations here.

Reuters - Up to six suicide bombers, some armed with rifles, tried to storm an army base in Baghdad on Sunday, killing 12 people and wounding 36 less than a week after Washington declared U.S. combat operations in Iraq over.

AFP - David Feltner, a soldier in the last US combat brigade to pull out of Iraq, can't wait to return home and hug his bride-to-be.

AFP - The Sunni Arab militiamen who sided with American soldiers against Al-Qaeda during Iraq's brutal insurgency fear the exit of thousands of US troops will herald a surge in bloody revenge attacks against them.

AFP - While some Iraqis cannot wait for US troops to leave their country, Qahtan Karim wants them to stay for a simple reason -- they provide him with a thriving business.

AFP - US President Barack Obama in a YouTube message on Friday thanked US troops back from Iraq for their "dedication" and "courage" that "has made America safer."

AP - Just about every man from the village of al-Faris has worked at the nearby Taji military base. The American money and influence is seen in the new cars, the additions to houses, even the billiards hall with a guitar from an American soldier.

AFP - When the US army ends its Iraq combat mission this week, Captain TJ Tepley will stay on the frontline -- keeping the peace at the centre of what commanders say is the country's biggest challenge.

AFP - The US commander in Iraq voiced concern over the country's political stalemate in an interview published Monday, warning that failure to form a new government could undermine Iraqis' faith in democratic rule.