A suburban Dallas man faces child endangerment charges after US police said he left his nine-month-old baby and three-year-old child locked in the car while he visited a strip club.

THE drumbeat follows its own grim rhythm: three US soldiers killed in Iraq last week, two more shot this week.

The US army has extended the deployment of thousands of soldiers in Iraq because of the increased attacks on coalition forces, dashing hopes the troops would be home by September.