In yet another embarrassment for the Air Force, three ballistic missile crew members at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., fell asleep while holding classified launch code devices this month, triggering an investigation by military and National Security Agency experts, the Air Force says.

President Bush and Iraq's prime minister have agreed to set a "general time horizon" for bringing more U.S. troops home from the war, a dramatic shift from the administration's once-ironclad unwillingness to talk about any kind of deadline or timetable.

The transfer from U.S. military authority in Anbar has become stalled by worries that a hasty move could tempt unrest and reopen rivalries. Talks on Anbar have moved into the slow lane after much fanfare last month when the planned transfer to Iraqi forces was announced and then abruptly put on hold.

A multi-pronged militant assault on a small, remote U.S. base killed nine American Soldiers and wounded 15 in the deadliest attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan in three years. Those troops were on their way to rescue a four-man team of Navy SEALs caught in a militant ambush.

Pakistan's top diplomat said there are no U.S. personnel on the hunt for Osama bin Laden in his nation, and none will be allowed. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said his nation's new government has ruled out such military operations, covert or otherwise, to catch militants.