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: "SYDNEY — A bomb-sniffing dog that disappeared during a fierce battle in Afghanistan between Australian troops and militant fighters has been found and returned to its unit after more than a year.And Sabi the black Labrador is getting a celebrity welcome home.Sabi was with a joint Australian-Afghan army patrol ambushed in restive Uruzgan province in September 2008, triggering a gunfight that wounded nine troops and earned one Australian soldier the country's highest bravery medal.But there was no sign of Sabi after the battle, and months of searching failed to find any sign of the retriever — until now.Defense officials said Thursday that a U.S. soldier recovered Sabi at an isolated patrol base elsewhere in Uruzgan. Further details about the base were not given.The dog was returned to the Australians' base in the province just in time for a visit by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who was photographed Wednesday along with the U.S. commander in Afghanistan Gen. Stanley McChrystal petting Sabi."Sabi is back home in one piece and is a genuinely nice pooch as well," Rudd told reporters.Exactly where Sabi has been or what happened to her during the past 14 months will probably never be known, though that she was in good condition when she was found indicated somebody had been looking after her, military spokesman Brig. Brian Dawson told reporters in Canberra.The dog was being tested for diseases before a decision was made on whether she can return to Australia.More than 1,500 Australian troops are in Afghanistan and most of them are involved in training Afghan security forces. Among them are units that use dogs to sniff out roadside bombs and other explosive booby traps."

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: "MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee Army reservist’s military identification earned him some street cred Tuesday, when he says four men who mugged him at gunpoint returned his belongings and thanked him for his service after finding the ID.The 21-year-old University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student said he was walking home from work at about 1:15 a.m. Tuesday when he was pulled into an alley and told to lay face down and with a gun to his neck. Four men took his wallet, $16, keys, his cell phone and even a PowerBar wrapper from his pants pockets, he said.But the hostile tone quickly changed when one of the robbers, whom the reservist presumed was the leader, saw an Army ID in the wallet. The robber told the others to return the items and they put most of his belongings on the ground next to him, including the wrapper, the reservist said.“The guy continued to say throughout the situation that he respects what I do and at one point he actually thanked me and he actually apologized,” said the reservist, who asked not to be identified Tuesday because the robbers still had his keys.The reservist said he asked the men, who all had hoods or hats covering their faces, if he could get up and they said he could before starting to walk away.“The leader of the group actually walked back, gave me a quick fist bump, which was very strange,” he said.Milwaukee police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said the reservist is credible and that officers still were looking for the suspects Tuesday.The reservist didn’t realize until later that his keys were not with him and he doesn’t know if the robbers intended to keep those, he said. Still, he said he feels lucky.“I’m just kind of awestruck that everything was given back to me due to just being in the military,” he said. “I realize in pretty much every other situation that wouldn’t happen.”He said he’s never been deployed, only having signed up for the Army Reserves about a year ago. He said he is the first person in his im

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: "The Daley administration has awarded a $2.1 million contract to replace and maintain console work stations at Chicago's 911 emergency center -- nine months after spending $480,000 to modify the old consoles to accommodate 17-inch monitors."

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: "Thousands of Facebook users have joined a group called “I Hate Reflective Belts” to protest and mock an Air Force requirement that airmen wear reflective belts during hours of darkness. Air Force Times reporter Michelle Tan has more details on our FlightLines blog, as well as a couple of amusing photos from the site.What do you think about the service’s use of reflective belts? Is this a silly regulation that goes too far, or do the belts serve a purpose? E-mail your opinions to tspoth@airforcetimes.com."

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: "BOGOTA -- In a private, low-key ceremony, the U.S. ambassador and three Colombian ministers on Friday signed a pact to expand Washington's military's presence, a deal that Venezuela's Hugo Chavez has called a threat to the region's security."

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: "COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- A Fort Carson Soldier due to be deployed to Afghanistan allegedly shot himself in the shoulder to avoid deployment Wednesday night, Colorado Springs police say.

Police say Sgt. Robert Murchison, 26, was on emergency leave from Afghanistan and due to re-deploy in the next couple of days when he and his girlfriend Chasaity Peoples, 28, drove to a spot near Penrose-St. Francis Medical Center and he shot himself.

The pair told officers they had pulled over the car to help a stranded motorist and that Murchison was shot by that person. They gave officers a description of the supposed motorist and his car. However, because of the location where they were parked and their demeanor, officers were suspicious of their story, said Sgt. Jim Meyers, of Colorado Springs police. They were questioned intensively, he said.

"Finally they came clean after about six stories," he said. "Well, she did, he kind of did.""

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: "Long recognized as one of America's savviest -- and most splashy -- advertisers, Apple Inc. is looking to seal another flashy pact with the CTA."

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