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U.S. forces are on the outskirts of Baghdad. Several key points of access to the capital now are under U.S. control. NPR's Eric Westervelt, embedded with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, provides a view of the fighting near Baghdad over the last 24 hours.

Iraq's information minister, reading a statement he said was from Saddam Hussein, calls for a holy war against the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Meanwhile, Iraq's vice president insists the U.S. military has been unable to make progress in its march to Baghdad and that Iraq has foiled U.S. war plans. Hear NPR's Anne Garrels.

A 12th grade teacher in Tucson, Arizona, talks to her students about poetry, and ends up talking about the war in Iraq.

As the U.S. Supreme Court reviews challenges to the University of Michigan's affirmative action policies, law students at the Ann Arbor campus follow the debate with mixed reactions. NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports.

For some perspective on how the Arab world views the conflict in Iraq, NPR's Melissa Block talks with Fahmi Howeidi, commentator and columnist for the Egyptian paper Al-Ahram; and Khaled Al-Maeena, editor in chief of the English-language daily Arab News in Saudi Arabia.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld denies reports that the Pentagon refused requests for more troops by the U.S. commander for the war in Iraq, Gen. Tommy Franks. Rumsfeld defends the war plan for Iraq as "excellent," and notes that Gen. Franks drafted the U.S. battle strategy. NPR's Tom Gjelten reports.

NPR's Robert Siegel talks about military strategy for control of Iraq's capital with retired Marine Corps Col. Randy Gangle, executive director of the Center for Emerging Threats and Opportunities, a Marine Corps think tank in Quantico, Va.

U.S.-led forces fan out across Baghdad, meeting heavy resistance. U.S. tanks move north from a presidential palace seized Monday, and U.S. Marines cross the Diala River to take control of Baghdad's Rasheed Airport. Hear NPR's Nick Spicer.

Elements of the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division attack Iraqi Republican Guard positions near Baghdad, while further south, Army units surround the Shiite holy city of Najaf. In Baghdad, U.S.-led warplanes strike facilities including the information ministry and a presidential palace. Hear NPR's Nick Spicer and NPR's Anne Garrels.

U.S. and British warplanes continue to strike government buildings inside Baghdad and key defenses on the outskirts of the Iraqi capital. Despite the almost constant bombardment, reporters inside the city say life there seems remarkably close to normal. Hear NPR's Anne Garrels.

Britain, the United States' chief war ally, reaches out to other nations by promoting a lead role for the United Nations in post-war Iraq. But U.S. officials remain deeply divided over the issue of U.N. involvement and other crucial questions of post-war planning. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

NPR's Michele Norris gets an update from NPR's John Burnett, traveling with the Marine 1st Division in Iraq. After a three-day break, the Marines have renewed their push toward Baghdad.

As warplanes continue to pound Republican Guard positions near Baghdad, Gen. Tommy Franks says there has been no "operational pause" in the war in Iraq. But he warns the toughest fighting in Iraq is still ahead. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.

Fires burn in Baghdad as the U.S.-led bombardment of the city and nearby Republican Guard positions reportedly steps up in frequency. Inside the city, the infrastructure begins to degrade as telephones fail and supply shortages threaten. Yet, reporters in the city say Saddam's regime seems in complete control. Hear Paul Eedle.

Iraqi television broadcasts an alleged statement from Saddam Hussein, urging Baghdad's residents to fight U.S. forces with their hands if necessary. Hoping to avoid drawn-out urban warfare, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld appeals to Iraqi soldiers to surrender, saying they "can still survive and help to rebuild a free Iraq." NPR's Scott Horsley reports.

The military rescues a U.S. Army prisoner of war in Iraq. The Pentagon confirms that 19-year-old Army Private First Class Jessica Lynch of Palestine, W.Va., has been returned to an allied-controlled area. Lynch was a supply clerk with a convoy that was ambushed on March 23 near the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. NPR's Nick Spicer reports.

U.S. embassy support staff in China and Vietnam are given permission to leave those countries due to growing concerns over a contagious form of pneumonia. The World Health Organization reports that Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) has killed 78 people and sickened nearly 2,300, mostly in Asia. NPR's Joanne Silberner, Richard Knox and Rob Gifford report.

Speaking to Marines at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, President Bush says "a vise is closing" on Saddam Hussein's regime and that the United States "will not stop until Iraq is free." Bush also offers condolences to families of U.S. Marines killed in the war with Iraq. Hear NPR's Bob Edwards, NPR's Christopher Joyce and NPR's Don Gonyea.

American journalist Michael Kelly dies in a reported Humvee accident near Baghdad. Kelly, an editor-at-large with The Atlantic Monthly and columnist for The Washington Post, was embedded with the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division. Kelly is the first American reporter to die in the war. NPR's Robert Smith reports.

U.S. troops seize Baghdad's main airport, 12 miles outside the city. Pentagon officials are pleased with the gains made, but still fear stronger opposition as they move forward. Saddam Hussein appears on TV to exhort the people of Baghdad to fight back. NPR's Bob Edwards speaks with NPR's Nick Spicer.

The U.S. military investigates reports that an American warplane bombed a convoy of Kurdish fighters and U.S. Special Forces soldiers in northern Iraq, killing several people. A BBC reporter traveling with the convoy says he counted at least 10 bodies lying near the burning vehicles. NPR's Liane Hansen talks to NPR's Ivan Watson.

NPR's John Burnett, with the Marine's 1st Division in Iraq, says forward movement of the column was slowed because of a firefight just south of Baghdad. Marine commanders say rifle fire and rocket-propelled grenades appeared to come from Iraqi irregulars -- some wearing black. Attacks such as these have slowed, but not stopped, forward movement of the Marines.

NPR's Jack Speer visits the headquarters of a small company outside Washington, D.C., to see how employees at one firm are managing to follow news about the war and get their work done. Pal-Tech has a diverse workforce, and company management encourages employees to speak freely as a way of easing tensions in the office. Employees say they appreciate the openness but want to know more about what the company is doing to protect them if there is another terrorist event in Washington.

NPR's Joanne Silberner looks at the chronology of events in the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS. It was only three weeks ago that the World Health Organization captured the world's attention by stating the illness posed a world-wide health threat. It said there had been hundreds of SARS cases in Guangdong province, and that the disease had spread to Hong Kong. Then other countries reported cases, mainly among travelers to China and their contacts. There were fears that the relatively rapid spread in China and Hong Kong might signal an epidemic, similar to the flu epidemic of 1918, which killed millions. The situation today looks less frightful, but scientists are still concerned.

An explosion tears apart a crowded market in a Baghdad neighborhood. Hospital officials estimate more than 50 dead and nearly 50 wounded. Iraqis at the scene claim the source was an American bomb dropped by fighter jets. Hear NPR's Anne Garrels.