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Two years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, experts and officials question the war on terrorism, saying it is still unclear whether al Qaeda is gaining or losing influence and strength. Meanwhile, a new videotape attributed to Osama bin Laden and broadcast on the Arab TV network Al-Jazeera praises the Sept. 11 attacks. Hear NPR's Mike Shuster.

In his first-ever visit to Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell warns against speeding up the transfer of power to Iraqis, saying the result may be an Iraqi government that fails. Meanwhile, another U.S. soldier is killed and three wounded outside the Iraqi city of Fallujah, where eight Iraqi policemen were killed by U.S. forces on Friday. NPR's Emily Harris reports.

After last-minute revisions, and a push from Russia, the U.N. Security Council unanimously approves a U.S. resolution aimed at additional international help in Iraq. Resolution 1511 is expected to generate financial aid and peacekeeping troops from previously reluctant sources. It also clarifies the U.N. role in reshaping postwar Iraq. Hear NPR's Bob Edwards and NPR's Michele Kelemen.

An American soldier is killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack east of Baghdad Saturday. Despite violence directed at U.S. troops in Iraq, U.S. civilian administrator Paul Bremer says he doesn't see "any hatred among the Iraqi people" for America. And three months after major combat ended in Iraq, streets are crowded and markets are flourishing in Baghdad. Hear NPR's Anne Garrels.

The United States is canceling or suspending more than $400 million in projects in the Palestinian territories and shifting some of that money to help meet basic humanitarian needs. The change was made after Hamas, which the United States considers a terrorist organization, assumed the Palestinian leadership.

Salon.com publishes previously unreleased photos of abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison in 2003. Separately, a U.N. report urges the United States to close its military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

A new NASA mission to the moon will pelt the lunar surface to study plumes of dust and search for ice crystals. The unmanned mission, slated for October 2008, will launch a lunar orbiter from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., using the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle.

In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez moves to tighten control of the country's oil reserves at a time when oil is at record levels and no slackening of prices is in sight. Analysts say the result is that Chavez is rewriting the rules of oil investment, forcing huge companies to share ownership and profits with the Venezuelan government.

Russian President Vladimir Putin takes a swipe at Western critics in his State of the Nation speech Wednesday, accusing them of hanging on to outdated prejudices. His remarks seemed to be a response to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, who last week accused Russia of using its energy reserves as "tools of intimidation or blackmail."

A federal judge sentences al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui to life in prison, following a jury's finding Wednesday. In court, Moussaoui declared victory over the United States. But Judge Leonie Brinkema told him that everyone else in the courtroom would live free, Moussaoui would spend life in prison.