Former top executives at Blackwater Worldwide say the U.S. security contractor sent about $1 million to its Iraq office with the intention of paying off officials in the country who were angry about the fatal shootings of 17 civilians by Blackwater employees, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Four former executives described the plan under the condition of anonymity, the newspaper said.

By Matthew Barakat ALEXANDRIA A settlement in a civil suit against the government contractor once known as Blackwater has apparently fallen apart after a plaintiff's lawyer said a faulty translation prompted the decision to settle. But lawyers for the company argue that a deal's a deal.

LYNCHBURG About 400 members of a Lynchburg-based Virginia National Guard battalion are being mobilized for a security mission in Iraq.

POWELLS POINT, N.C.  Dan Gautier found out a community with a small military presence responds just as quickly for a chance to honor a fallen soldier even if he never lived here. Tears still come easily as Gautier told how his 19-year-old son Aaron was killed in Iraq two years ago when the family still lived in Hampton, Va. Gautier later moved to a home on Foster Forbes Drive.

By Matthew Barakat

WASHINGTON A federal judge on Wednesday tossed out a series of lawsuits filed by alleged Iraqi victims of the contractor once known as Blackwater USA, but is allowing the plaintiffs to refile their claims.

By Del Quentin Wilber WASHINGTON A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the public from attending a critical set of pretrial hearings in the prosecution of five U.S. security contractors accused of killing 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians in a 2007 shooting.

NORFOLK It's been 11 years - and two wars - since Norfolk installed its unique memorial to military sacrifice along the city's waterfront. The Armed Forces Memorial consists of 20 letters sent from troops to their loved ones, reproduced on cast bronze "paper" that appears to have been scattered by the wind across the riverfront plaza at Town Point Park.

The Powhatan-based Virginia National Guard 180th Engineer Company returned from deployment today.

The soldiers arrived at their demobilization station at Fort McCoy, Wis., on Friday for administrative activities to transition from active duty to traditional National Guard status in Virginia.

About 160 National Guardsmen from Virginia returned to the United States from Iraq on Friday.

Soldiers in the 180th Engineer Company based in Powhatan arrived at Fort McCoy, Wis., after nine months in Iraq. About 10 soldiers in the unit are from Hampton Roads, the National Guard said.

By Jaedda Armstrong The 5th Battalion of the 159th Aviation Regiment headed to Fort Sill, Okla., Tuesday morning for training in preparation for deploying to Iraq, the Army announced. Unit size About 130 Army Reservists Leader Maj. Aaron Smith Location of deployment Al Asad, Iraq Deployed Sept. 29 Return Expected one-year deployment