Summary: Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki declared a new dawn as Iraq celebrated the departure of American troops under a Bush-era U.S.-Iraqi status-of-forces agreement. Television stations aligned with Sunni and Shiite extremist groups have dubbed “Iraq Day” the “Day of Defeating the Occupier,” the “Day of Fullfillment,” or the “Day of Evacuation.”

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With Defense Secretary Leon Panetta approving an order officially ending the Iraq war, the last American troops crossed the border from Iraq into Kuwait early Sunday, December 18, 2011, ending the U.S. military presence there after nearly nine years of war.

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On Friday night, December 16, 2011 at 10 p.m. ET / 9 p.m. CT, Dateline NBC will feature “The Case of the Missing D.A.” The program, hosted by Lester Holt, includes an interview with a Pennsylvania medical examiner who will offer his theory of how the suspected murder of district attorney Ray Gricar could be linked to the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse investigation at Penn State University.

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A suicide bomber struck a crowd of Shiite worshippers packing a Kabul mosque to mark the holy day of Ashoura, killing about 60 and wounding 160, while a second bombing in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif killed four more Shiites and wounded about 20 more. They were the first major sectarian assaults since the fall of the Taliban a decade ago. Afghanistan has a history of tension and violence between majority Sunnis and the Shiite minority, but while such attacks have become commonplace in neighboring Pakistan and parts of the Middle East such as Iraq, they had not previously occurred in Afghanistan.

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Summary: Monthly report of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, compiled from U.S. Department of Defense news releases and iCasualties.org.

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Pakistan has blocked vital supply routes for U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan and demanded Washington vacate Shamsi Air Base, used by American drones that target al-Qaida and Taliban militants in Pakistan’s tribal region, after coalition aircraft allegedly killed up to 28 Pakistani troops at two military outposts along a mountainous frontier that serves as a safe haven for militants.

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Summary: The child sexual abuse scandal at Penn State University, in which former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky is charged with 40 sex crimes against minors while running a program for at-risk kids raises new questions about the unsolved disappearance of Joshua Guimond nine years ago today, on Nov. 10, 2002, from the campus of St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on November 10, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that Maple Lake, Minn., student Joshua Guimond had been missing eight years from the campus of St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. He noted that Josh still remained missing and that his case appeared no closer to resolution than the day he vanished. As a consequence, Immelman contended that to move Josh’s case forward, it was imperative that the Stearns County Sheriff’s Department refer the case to FBI behavioral scientists promptly for review and investigative recommendations.

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Summary: Dateline November 5, 2011. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on November 5, 2010, Aubrey Immelman provided his weekly report of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

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Summary: Weekly report of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, compiled from U.S. Department of Defense news releases and iCasualties.org. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on November 4, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that independent candidate Tom Horner came up short in his bid for governor of Minnesota.

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Summary: Dateline November 3, 2011. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on November 3, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that the Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaida front group, threatened more attacks on Christians after a siege on a Baghdad Catholic church left 68 people dead.

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