Summary: U.S. troops opened fire on a bus carrying Afghan civilians, killing five people and setting off anti-American protests in Kandahar, where coalition forces hope to rally the public for a coming offensive against the Taliban. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 12, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that about 150 militants armed with rockets and automatic weapons attacked a transport terminal in northwestern Pakistan along a key supply route used by U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

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Summary: Sarah Palin criticizes Barack Obama’s foreign policy on the eve of the president’s nuclear counterproliferation summit focused on keeping nukes out of the hands of terrorists. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 11, 2009, Aubrey Immelman featured a discussion by Minnesota Public Radio political analysts Todd Rapp and Tom Horner on whether Rep. Michele Bachmann is a liability to the Republican Party.

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Summary: U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Kurt Kruize arrived home for the last time on Saturday, April 10, 2009 in St. Cloud, Minn. Sgt. Kruize is the first St. Cloud soldier to die in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the third in Central Minnesota. Staff Sgt. Brian Hellermann of Freeport died in 2003 and Cpl. Anthony McElveen of Little Falls was killed in Iraq in 2005. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 10, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden truck into a sandbagged wall surrounding a police headquarters in northern Iraq, killing five American soldiers and two Iraqi policemen in the single deadliest attack against U.S. forces in more than a year, while tens of thousands of supporters of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr burned ex-President George W. Bush in effigy at a rally marking the sixth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad to U.S. forces.

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Summary: The White House is warning that al-Qaida is quietly hunting for an atomic bomb, adding urgency to a historic summit next week where President Barack Obama will try to persuade world leaders to step up efforts to keep nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 9, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that PolitiFact debunked Rep. Michele Bachmann’s claim, in an April 7, 2009 op-ed in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, that President Barack Obama’s cap and trade proposal would cost every household in America more than $3,000 in energy costs a year. (Still, I don’t believe it’s good policy, but it’s wrong to go and lie about it.)

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Summary: The Taliban has released a video of Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, an American soldier captured in Afghanistan in June 2009, showing him pleading for his freedom and to be returned home. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 8, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that Rep. Michele Bachmann issued a warning that a new bill expanding the AmeriCorps community service agency could lead to the “brainwashing” of America’s youth. Said Bachmann: “I believe that there is a very strong chance that we will see that young people will be put into mandatory service. And the real concern is that there are provisions for what I would call re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward and then they have to go and work in some of these politically correct forums.”

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Summary: Aubrey Immelman announces a second challenge to incumbent Rep. Michele Bachmann for her U.S. House of Representatives seat in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, on a platform of national security, law and order, fiscal responsibility, and opposition to political extremism. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 7, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that President Barack Obama had flown unannounced into Iraq and, cheered by U.S. troops, declared it’s time for Iraqis to “take responsibility for their country” after America’s commitment of six years and thousands of lives.

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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 6, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that seven bombs rocked Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad, killing 37 people and wounding more than 100 in a dramatic escalation of violence as U.S. forces prepared for a June 30, 2009 deadline to pull combat troops out of Iraqi cities.

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Summary: The Associated Press reviewed tea party operations in almost every state, interviewing dozens of local organizers as well as Democratic and Republican strategists to produce a portrait of the movement to date — and its prospects for tilting the November 2010 midterm election. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 5, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that North Korea had fired a multistage rocket over Japan, defying Washington, Tokyo, and other world leaders who suspect the purpose of the launch was to test its long-range missile technology.

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Summary: Three car bombs shook central Baghdad in quick succession on Easter Sunday, killing at least 35 people. Pope Benedict XVI’s Easter message to the city and the world, Urbi et Orbi. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 4, 2009, Aubrey Immelman provided an update on the security situation in North Korea and reported that Rep. Michele Bachmann announced forums in St. Cloud and Woodbury to debunk global climate change and President Obama’s proposed carbon “cap and tax” plans, featuring Chris Horner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

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Summary: The FBI is warning police across the country that an anti-government group’s call to remove governors from office could provoke violence. The “sovereign citizen” group called the Guardians of the Free Republics wants to “restore America” by dismantling parts of the government. It sent letters to governors demanding they leave office voluntarily or be removed. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 3, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak issued a statement agreeing on “a stern, united response from the international community” as North Korea prepared to launch a long-range, multistage Taepodong-2 rocket capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.

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