Two Iraqi officials say the U.S. and Iraq are close to a deal under which all American combat troops would leave by October 2010 with remaining U.S. forces gone three years later. A U.S. official acknowledges progress has been made on the timelines but offered no firm date.

Before the Pentagon could begin explaining its amended bid for the $35 billion tanker program to the public, Boeing's most powerful congressional supporter was crying foul. Rep. Norm Dicks' office said that the revised tanker RFP "clearly favors the larger aircraft."

The White House and the CIA adamantly denied a report that the Bush administration concocted a fake letter purporting to show a link between Saddam Hussein's regime and al-Qaida as a justification for the Iraq war. The allegation was raised by journalist Ron Suskind.

A Taliban spokesman denied on a U.S. media report that al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri may have been killed or critically injured in a missile strike. Both bin Laden and al-Zawahri are believed to be hiding in the rugged and lawless tribal regions along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

The Navy has warned that a nuclear submarine may have had radioactive leaks during recent port calls in Japan's south. Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was informed by the Navy that a small amount of radiation might have leaked from the nuclear-powered USS Houston.

The monthly U.S. toll in Iraq fell to its lowest point since the war began, with 11 American deaths as July drew to a close. Iraqis also are dying at dramatically lower numbers with the war now in its sixth year. July saw the lowest civilian toll since December 2005.