OTG Daily News

By NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services Updated at 8:23 a.m. ET BAGHDAD -- Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta marked the end of the U.S. war in Iraq at a highly symbolic ceremony Thursday. U.S. soldiers rolled up the flag for American forces in Iraq and slipped it into a camouflage-colored sleeve, formally "casing" it, according to Army tradition. Panetta said veterans of the nearly nine-year conflict can be "secure in knowing that your sacrifice has helped the Iraqi people to cast tyranny aside." Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and President Jalal Talabani were invited to the ceremony but did not attend. Nearly 4,500 U.S. soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis lost their lives in a war that began with a "Shock and Awe" campaign of missiles pounding Baghdad, but later descended into a bloody sectarian struggle between long-oppressed majority Shiites and their former Sunni masters. "After a lot of blood spilled by Iraqis and ...

TIME magazine revealed the 2011 choice for its iconic Person of the Year cover live on TODAY Wednesday. The Protester is this year’s choice, managing editor Rick Stengel told Matt Lauer and Ann Curry. “There was a lot of consensus among our people,” Stengel told the TODAY anchors as he revealed the magazine’s cover. “It felt right.” As it has for the past 84 years, the weekly newsmagazine selected the person (or sometimes group, or thing) that its editors deemed had the single greatest impact during the past year, for better or for worse. TIME’s Person of the Year has been a perennial topic of year-end debate ever since aviator Charles Lindbergh was chosen the first Man of the Year back in 1927 (the title was amended to Person of the Year in 1999). But the title is not necessarily an accolade; while many presidents, political leaders, innovators and captains of industry have been cited, some of the more notorious Persons of the Year include Adolf Hitler in 1938, Joseph Stalin in ...

If you named your new baby  Aiden  or Sophia this year, you had a lot of company. Those monikers topped  Babycenter.com’s list  of the 100  most popular baby names  for  boys and girls in 2011. Aiden took the top spot for the seventh consecutive year, followed by Jackson and Mason. For girls, Sophia took the prize, with Emma and Isabella (inspired by ”Twilight,” perhaps?) close behind. Boys’ Names: 1. Aiden 2. Jackson 3. Mason 4. Liam 5. Jacob 6. Jayden 7. Ethan 8. Noah 9. Lucas 10. Logan Girls’ Names: 1. Sophia 2. Emma 3. Isabella 4. Olivia 5. Ava 6. Lily 7. Chloe 8. Madison 9. Emily 10. Abigail

ISLAMABAD — Afghan troops and coalition forces came under fire from the direction of two Pakistan army border posts, prompting them to call in NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, Afghan officials said Sunday. The account challenges Islamabad's claims that the attacks, which have plunged U.S.-Pakistan ties to new lows, were unprovoked. It also pointed to a possible explanation for the incident Saturday on the Pakistan side of the border. NATO officials have complained that insurgents fire from across the poorly defined frontier, often from positions close to Pakistani soldiers, who have been accused of tolerating or supporting them. Pakistan's political leaders and military establishment, still facing domestic criticism following the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May, have reacted with unprecedented anger to the soldiers' deaths. They closed the country's Western border to trucks delivering supplies to coalition troops in Afghanistan, deman...

CAIRO — Tens of thousands of Egyptians demanding an end to military rule converged on Cairo's Tahrir square Friday, while the White House hardened its rhetoric, urging Egypt's military to give way "as soon as possible" to full civilian rule. "Full transfer of power to a civilian government must take place in a just and inclusive manner that responds to the legitimate aspirations of the Egyptian people, as soon as possible," said White House press secretary Jay Carney. The military men who took over after people power toppled President HosniMubarak on February 11 are themselves under fire from protesters who accuse them of clinging to power, leading to street battles that look like a replay of February's unrest. The ruling army council named Kamal el-Ganzouri, 78, who served as prime minister under Mubarak from 1996 to 1999, to head a national salvation government. Prime Minister Essam Sharaf's cabinet resigned earlier this week amid the prote...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Newly found coins underneath Jerusalem'sWestern Wall could change the accepted belief about the construction of one of the world's most sacred sites two millennia ago, Israeli archaeologists said Wednesday. The man usually credited with building the compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary is Herod, a Jewish ruler who died in 4 B.C. Herod's monumental compound replaced and expanded a much older Jewish temple complex on the same site. But archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority now say diggers have found coins underneath the massive foundation stones of the compound's Western Wall that were stamped by a Roman proconsul 20 years after Herod's death. That indicates that Herod did not build the wall — part of which is venerated as Judaism's holiest prayer site — and that construction was not close to being complete when he died. "The find changes the way we see the construction, and sho...

Professional Footballers' Association chief Gordon Taylor says Sepp Blatter should resign as Fifa president over his comments on racism. Blatter claimed that football does not have on-field problems with racism. However Taylor told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: "When you see the corruption they've had at Fifa, I just feel it's the straw that broke the camel's back. "The comments he made about homosexuals not going to Qatar ; it's time to move over for [Uefa chief] Michel Platini." Taylor was reacting to comments made by Blatter in two separate television interviews when the Swiss leader of football's world governing body was asked whether he thought racism on the pitch was a problem in the modern-day game. "I would deny it. There is no racism," said Blatter. Blatter's comments are the latest controversy to hit Fifa, which has been led by the 75-year-old since 1998. Former Fifa presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Ham...

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's antiquities authority closed the largest of the Giza pyramids Friday following rumors that groups would try to hold spiritual ceremonies on the site at 11:11 A.M. on Nov. 11, 2011. The authority's head Mustafa Amin said in a statement Friday that the pyramid of Khufu, also known as Cheops, would be closed to visitors until Saturday morning for "necessary maintenance." The closure follows a string of unconfirmed reports in local media that unidentified groups would try to hold "Jewish" or "Masonic" rites on the site to take advantage of mysterious powers coming from the pyramid on the rare date. Amin called all reports of planned ceremonies at the site "completely lacking in truth." The complex's director, Ali al-Asfar, said Friday that an Egyptian company requested permission last month to hold an event called "hug the pyramid," in which 120 people would join hands around the ancient burial struc...

Credit Suisse will hand over details of wealthy Americans with hidden Swiss accounts to the Swiss government, bringing U.S. authorities one step closer to obtaining names of alleged tax cheats. The bank said on Tuesday it was complying with a request from the Swiss government for account information after U.S. authorities requested Switzerland's help in catching Americans suspected of tax fraud. Reuters reported earlier on Tuesday that Credit Suisse had begun notifying U.S. clients it intended to give their names to Swiss tax officials following a request from their U.S. counterpart. Credit Suisse and the Swiss department responsible for international financial affairs declined to say how many clients were involved in the request. Last week, Credit Suisse took a 295 million Swiss franc provision against third-quarter earnings in connection with the U.S. probe. It said the final settlement might exceed the current provision. U.S. authorities, which suspect tens of thousan...

The Greek government teetered on the brink of collapse on Thursday over plans for a referendum on a euro zone bailout with turmoil in the ruling party casting grave doubt on whether Prime Minister George Papandreou can survive a confidence vote. Conservative opposition leader Antonis Samaras demanded that a transitional government be formed immediately to run the country until snap elections, with the current parliament ratifying the financial rescue for debt-choked Greece. State television and the state ANA news agency said that Papandreou would meet the Greek president after an emergency cabinet session on Thursday, without giving further details. However, the BBC, citing sources in Athens, reported that Papandreou would offer his resignation to President Karolos Papoulias. Papandreou's chief of staff denied the prime minister intended to resign although sources within his PASOK socialist party said some senior lawmakers wanted a Greek former top official at the European C...

The Official Engagement Pictures of Prince William and Kate Middleton. They Never took pictures touching each other until they were officially together. These pictures were taken November 25th and finally released today. Check out the video!

(CNN)  -- North Korea warned Tuesday that the continuing military drills by the United States and South Korea could lead to "all-out war any time." The firmly-worded message was published in North Korea's state-run KCNA news service. "If the U.S. and the South Korean war-like forces fire even a shell into the inviolable land and territorial waters of the DPRK, they will have to pay dearly for this," the news service report said. South Korea and the United States launched joint anti-submarine military exercises on Monday, drawing consternation from North Korea. Seoul  and Washington postponed the exercises earlier this month because of a tropical storm. The drills, which are to run through Friday, are "designed to send a clear message of deterrence to North Korea," U.S. Forces Korea have said. U.S. officials have said the exercises off the western coast of the Korean peninsula are in response to North Korea's sinking of a South Korean warship in Ma...

By LEE JIN-MAN and FOSTER KLUG, Associated Press   YEONPYEONG  ISLAND, South Korea – North Korea warned Friday that U.S.-South Korean plans for military maneuvers put the peninsula on the brink of war, and appeared to launch its own artillery drills within sight of an island it showered with a deadly barrage this week. The fresh artillery blasts were especially defiant because they came as the U.S. commander in South Korea, Gen. Walter Sharp, toured the South  Korean  island  to survey damage from Tuesday's hail of North Korean artillery fire that killed four people. None of the latest rounds hit the South's territory, and U.S. military officials said Sharp did not even hear the concussions, though residents on other parts of the island panicked and ran back to the  air raid  shelters  where they huddled earlier in the week as white smoke rose from North Korean territory. Tensions have soared between the Koreas since the North's strike Tuesday...