Summary: Months after Pakistani troops chased them from South Waziristan, Taliban and al-Qaida fighters have regrouped, establishing a new base of operations in North Waziristan near the Afghan border under the protection of insurgent leader Gul Bahadur, who in the past has cut deals with the Pakistani army. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 22, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that Taliban militants had extended their grip in northwestern Pakistan, pushing out from the Swat Valley where the government had agreed to impose Islamic law and patrolling villages as close as 60 miles from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.

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Summary: The two top-ranking leaders of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri, were killed in a joint U.S.-Iraqi operation on Sunday, April 18, 2010, in what Vice President Joe Biden called a “potentially devastating blow” to the terrorist operation. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 21, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that the U.S. Senate confirmed President Barack Obama’s pick for U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Hill, after debate over whether he mismanaged international disarmament talks with North Korea. Meanwhile, suspected militants shelled Baghdad’s protected Green Zone in the first such bombardment in more than three months.

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Summary: Weekly report of U.S. military deaths in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), compiled from U.S. Department of Defense News Releases. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 20, 2009, on the 10th anniversary of the Columbine tragedy, Aubrey Immelman recounted his peripheral involvement in that landmark event, first as a profiler for U.S. News & World Report in the immediate aftermath of the shooting and later as a collaborator with Rocky Mountain News reporter Jeff Kass, developing detailed psychological profiles of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold for Kass’ 2009 book, “Columbine: A True Crime Story.”

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Summary: At a somber ceremony marking the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned of the need for continued vigilance against terrorists. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 19, 2009, Aubrey Immelman commemorated the 14th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing; at 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, a truck bomb containing approximately 5,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate fertilizer exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and injuring more than 600 at the hands of Gulf War veteran and militia movement sympathizer Timothy McVeigh. It was the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil until the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attack.

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Summary: The Taliban are moving fighters into Kandahar, planting bombs, and plotting attacks as NATO and Afghan forces prepare for a summer offensive. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 18, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that Congress would begin hearings on an energy and global warming bill that could revolutionize how the United States produces and uses energy, in an effort to reduce pollution said to be responsible for heating up the planet.

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Summary: Despite a recent upsurge in threats and violence by far-right groups and loners, the Homeland Security Department appears gun-shy about reporting or monitoring the trend too closely. Domestic security and counterterrorism officials say that even though, in light of recent events, a controversial report issued a year ago by Homeland Security about a “resurgence” in far-right radicalization and recruitment appears well informed, if not prescient, the Department has done nothing to re-issue the report or update it. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 17, 2009, Aubrey Immelman featured abstracts of research projects on the personality characteristics and leadership style of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Sarah Palin, conducted at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics under his direction.

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Summary: Tea Party supporters are wealthier and more well-educated than the general public and tend to be Republican, white, male, and married, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 16, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that a Homeland Security Department intelligence estimate warned that right-wing extremists could use the bad state of the U.S. economy and the election of the country’s first black president to recruit members and incite violence. He also reported on a pro-life public lecture by Stephanie Gray of the Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn.

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Summary: Sen. John McCain says the United States has been backing away from a brewing fight with Iran, while that country moves ever closer to having nuclear weapons. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 15, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that drug cartel gun battles that leave dead bodies yards from American soil have turned Mexico’s bloodstained northern border into a major foreign policy challenge for President Barack Obama.

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Summary: GOP activist Luke Hellier, in an apparent attempt to taint the reputation of Michele Bachmann’s Republican challenger, Aubrey Immelman, posted a misleading report on the “Minnesota Democrats Exposed” website. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 14, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that the three-judge panel in the Coleman v. Franken U.S. Senate recount trial issued its final judgment, ruling that Democrat Al Franken won the most votes in his 2008 Senate race against Republican Norm Coleman and is therefore entitled to an election certificate.

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Summary: Weekly report of U.S. military deaths in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), compiled from U.S. Department of Defense News Releases. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 13, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that President Barack Obama’s “no drama” handling of the Indian Ocean hostage crisis — culminating in U.S. Special Operations forces’ successful rescue of an American ship’s captain held by Somali pirates — proved a big win for his administration in its first critical national security test.

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