JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Report: Earthquake kills 231 in Iran
A powerful earthquake toppled mud-built homes and flattened villages in central Iran on Tuesday, killing at least 231 people and injuring more than 1,000, state-run television reported. A senior official said the death toll could top 350.

Bush seeks more NATO support on Iraq
President Bush conferred with NATO leaders on Tuesday about the alliance's future role in postwar Iraq. Iraqis defied terrorists to hold free elections "and we're there to help them," Bush declared as he sought a NATO pledge for more training aid.

Palestinians face crisis over new Cabinet
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia on Tuesday promised to present a Cabinet of technocrats to parliament, after his original lineup of political old-timers prompted an angry outcry and threats of a no-confidence vote.

N. Korea indicates return to nuclear talks
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told a visiting Chinese envoy that his government will return to six-party nuclear disarmament talks if the United States shows "sincerity," the communist state's official news agency said Tuesday.

Top Shiite politicians meet in Iraq
Top Shiite politicians met at a heavily fortified building on Tuesday to choose between conservative interim vice president Ibrahim al-Jaafari and secular Shiite Ahmad Chalabi as their candidate to be Iraq's next prime minister.

Lebanese opposition wants Syria to leave
Maher Shayeb has pitched a tent next to the flower-covered grave of slain former prime minister Rafik Hariri, and says he is determined to stay put until Syria withdraws its army from Lebanon.


Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Iraq's top Shiite leaders meet
Top Shiite politicians met at a heavily fortified building on Tuesday to choose between conservative interim vice president Ibrahim al-Jaafari and secular Shiite Ahmad Chalabi as their candidate to be Iraq's next prime minister. Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq

Video link reunion from Iraq raises morale
Christina Favila wanted to look her best. She hadn't been face to face with her husband since Christmas, when his Army Reserve unit shipped out to Iraq. Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq

Lebanese opposition wants Syria to leave
Maher Shayeb has pitched a tent next to the flower-covered grave of slain former prime minister Rafik Hariri, and says he is determined to stay put until Syria withdraws its army from Lebanon. Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq


Ananova: War In Iraq
Blair and Bush focus on Middle East
Tony Blair will hail President George Bush's commitment to the Middle East peace process when the pair meet in Brussels. Ananova: War In Iraq

Anti-terror laws 'facing gridlock'
Home Secretary Charles Clarke is heading for "gridlock" on his anti-terror legislation, Liberal Democrats warned. Ananova: War In Iraq


Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. Marine Killed in Iraq's Anbar Province
A U.S. marine was killed in Iraq'sAnbar province, where American and Iraqi forces have launched amajor campaign to flush out insurgents, the U.S. military saidTuesday. Yahoo! News: War with Iraq

Annan Defends United Nations as 'Vital to Humanity'
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annandefended the United Nations, which is beset by scandals fromthe Iraqi oil program to sexual abuse by peacekeepers, as"vital to humanity" in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. Yahoo! News: War with Iraq

Bush Seeks More NATO Support on Iraq
President Bush is pressing his agenda for a refurbished trans-Atlantic alliance at back-to-back summits with NATO and the European Union. He's looking for a commitment on more training aid for postwar Iraq and is expected to argue his case for increasing pressure on Iran to end its nuclear ambitions. Yahoo! News: War with Iraq

Labor opposes Iraq troop plan
PRIME Minister John Howard should have rejected requests from Japan and Britain to commit more troops to Iraq, Federal Opposition leader Kim Beazley said today. Mr Howard today said an extra 450 tr... [in The Daily Telegraph] The US News: Iraq News

U.K. Soldier Seeks Acquittal in Iraq Abuse
A British soldier accused of abusing Iraqi detainees should be acquitted, his attorney said Monday, urging the jury at his court-martial not to be swayed by dismay in Britain over photos of the allege... [in Yahoo] The US News: Iraq News

Chalabi, Al-Jaafari to Seek Iraq PM Post
AP Photo BAG110 By MAGGIE MICHAEL Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Ahmad Chalabi, a secular Shiite once known for his ties to Washington, and Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the conservative interi... [in Guardian] The US News: Iraq News

Iraqi Shiites resume talks to pick PM, Bush seeks to heal rift with Europe
Islamic militants meanwhile freed two Indonesian journalists taken hostage last week as they drove through a notoriously dangerous part of Iraq, but the country's hostage crisis continued with the cap... [in Yahoo] The US News: Iraq News

Iraq's Shiites set for vote on PM candidate
The decision to hold a secret ballot came after the clergy-backed United Iraqi Alliance, which has most of the seats in the 275-member National Assembly, was unable to decide on a nominee... [in MSNBC] The US News: Iraq News

Allawi Enters Iraq PM Race; Bush Faces Europe
By Mariam Karouny BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The battle to become Iraq's prime minister heated up on Monday when interim leader Iyad Allawi's coalition formally put him forward as a candidate after last m... [in Reuters] The US News: Iraq News


Weather
Weather information from The Weather Channel

Iraq
Al Azamiyah Al Basrah Al Hillah Al Karkh Al Kazimiyah Al KutAn Nasiriyah Baghdad Baqubah Mosul Najaf Nineveh Tall Kayf

Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar


From Fox News
Shiites Meet to Pick Iraqi PM
Video Link Boosts Morale
Gaza Settlers Challenge Plan
John McCain Calls for Permanent Afghan Bases
N. Korea Makes Nukes Offer
Putin Orders Militants Sweep
EU to Open Baghdad Training Site
Indonesian Journalists May Be Free
Australia to Send Troops to Iraq
U.S., Iraqi Forces Carry Out Offensive


From the Department of Defense
Bush: Alliance Main Pillar of Security
WASHINGTON, Feb. 21, 2005 — In his first trip abroad of his second term in office, President Bush told Europeans that "the alliance of Europe and North America is the main pillar of our security." Bush spoke in Brussels, Belgium, home of the NATO alliance and the European Union. Story

Bush European Visit to Reaffirm Alliance

ON THE GROUND
MPs Maintain Presence in Afghan Community
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Feb. 21, 2005 — A call came over the radio in the 58th Military Police Company Operations Center just as Army Staff Sgt. Marc Jones was preparing to head out on a night patrol Feb. 18. Story

IN IRAQ
Battalion Marines Open Doors in Fallujah

IN AFGHANISTAN
Tiger Soldiers Provide Construction Security
Combat Postal Unit Helps Redeploying Troops

TOP NEWS
IN IRAQ
U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq
Iraqi Casualties Mount
Forces Cornerstone of Security
Rumsfeld, Myers Describe Enemy
Police Foil Kidnapping, Attack
Iraq Daily Update
Weekly Progress Report (pdf)

IN AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan Daily Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base