IRAQ

U.S. military personnel deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan face an increased risk for developing respiratory symptoms, including persistent or recurring cough and shortness of breath, a large-scale military study has shown.

Iraqi Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi said on Thursday he had postponed until Sunday a decision on whether to sign or veto an election law required for next year's critical poll, after a court gave him more time.

Top U.S. officials said the first of 30,000 new U.S. troops will arrive in Afghanistan in two to three weeks, but also made clear on Wednesday that plans to start bringing the soldiers home in 18 months could slip.

A Minnesota mother, Joan Najbar, is suing the federal government after a letter she sent to her son in Iraq was returned deceased stamped on it despite her son being alive.

The first of 30,000 new U.S. troops will arrive in Afghanistan in two to three weeks, top U.S. officials said on Wednesday, even as they made clear plans to start bringing the soldiers home in 18 months could slip.

U.S. President Barack Obama's escalation of the war in Afghanistan challenges his generals to do more with slightly less than they wanted -- and much, much faster. The odds are against them.

U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday evening that his administration plans to send 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan.

Following is the prepared text of President Obama's address on a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan, as released by the White House on Tuesday:

President Barack Obama will unveil plans on Tuesday to send some 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan over six months, a senior administration official said, an escalation he hopes will permit a quicker U.S. exit.

President Barack Obama will unveil his new strategy for the war in Afghanistan in a prime-time televised speech on Tuesday. But in the hours beforehand, officials offered a preview of what he will tell Americans, who are sharply divided over the war.

President Barack Obama will say on Tuesday he is sending 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan by next summer to speed the battle against the Taliban and plans to bring some soldiers home in 19 months.

The guns are gradually falling silent in Iraq as a fragile stability takes hold, turning the spotlight on a stealthier killer likely to stalk Iraqis for years to come.

The Hurt Locker, a suspense film about a U.S. Army bomb squad unit that defuses bombs in Iraq, won best feature on Monday at the Gotham awards, the top U.S. East Coast independent film awards.

President Barack Obama plans to announce on Tuesday that he will send about 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan in a long-awaited war strategy shift that he hopes will defeat the Taliban and allow for a U.S. exit.

Iraq aims to install four new floating oil terminals and three new undersea oil pipelines that will boost export capacity to 8 million barrels per day from a current 1.9 million bpd, a top oil official said.

The United States followed its own military timetable for the 2003 invasion of Iraq rather than allowing diplomacy to run its full course, the former British ambassador to the United Nations said on Friday.

Iraq's government launched its first channel on Google Inc's video website YouTube on Wednesday, which the prime minister said would allow the country to counter media lies and showcase its successes.

U.S. and U.N. officials have proposed solutions to Iraq's Sunni Arab vice president to stop him vetoing for a second time a law needed for an election to take place next year, an official said on Wednesday.

Google is putting thousands of images of ancient artifacts at Iraq's National Museum online, the Web search leader said on Tuesday, part of a U.S. bid to entice foreign firms to invest in Iraq.

More than two million Muslims gather this week for the annual haj pilgrimage to Islam's holy city of Mecca, where Saudi authorities hope to minimize spread of the H1N1 virus and prevent any political demonstration.

Iraq will be unable to hold a national election in January as planned, a poll official said on Tuesday, heaping more uncertainty on a vote meant to cement democracy and pave the way for a partial U.S. troop withdrawal.