UPI Almanac for Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- A report on private security companies that have received U.S. contracts in Iraq lists 310 companies, including ones based in Uganda and Romania.

FALLUJAH, Iraq, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- A wastewater treatment plant meant to symbolize U.S. efforts to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure is over-budget and behind schedule, officials say.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army has set up a special task force to counter the theft of sensitive data about cutting-edge defense technology by hackers who are breaking into the computer networks of military contractors.

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- An inspector general's report charges that three former Ohio Transportation Department officials accepted hunting trips and lap dances from vendors.

MIAMI, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- A fraud case against Bear Stearns dropped by the Securities and Exchange Commission's Miami office has the SEC inspector general seeing red, sources said.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- The agency overseeing security at U.S. airports failed to track security passes of former employees, creating vulnerabilities, a federal report says.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- A federal appeals court in Washington Monday agreed to a delay in the testimony of White House aides in a probe of the firing of nine U.S. attorneys.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- More than 90 percent of U.S. nursing homes in each of the past three years were cited for violating federal standards, federal health officials said.