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Sen. John Kerry launches a $25-million TV ad campaign focusing entirely on his record of service -- in Vietnam, as a prosecutor and in the Senate. The ads, which include testimonials from Kerry's wife and daughter, are designed to introduce Kerry to voters and counter a barrage of negative ads from the Bush campaign. Hear NPR's John McChesney.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld calls the reported abuses of Iraqi prisoners at the hands of U.S. soldiers "unacceptable." The U.S. Army says it is investigating the deaths of 10 prisoners and the alleged abuse of 10 more in prisons across Iraq and Afghanistan. Rumsfeld speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep.

If Kill Bill Vol. 1 was Quentin Tarantino's ode to kung-fu and samurai films, NPR's Bob Mondello says Kill Bill Vol. 2 qualifies as his paean to spaghetti Westerns.

The Al Jazeera news network broadcasts a videotape showing a man who appears to be a U.S. soldier held hostage by mask-wearing gunmen in Iraq. The soldier identifies himself as Pfc. Keith Maupin of Battavia, Ohio, with the U.S. Army's 724th Transportation Company. Maupin has been listed as missing since April 9. Listen to NPR News.

U.S. officials report an increase in underground tunnels discovered along the U.S.-Mexico border. Drug traffickers and immigrant smugglers are digging elaborate passageways in attempts to evade tighter border enforcement. One tunnel per year used to be the average, but since Sept. 11, 2001, more than 10 passageways have been discovered. NPR's Carrie Kahn reports.

After ten years with Lenny Kravitz, Blackman recently left the group to focus on her own music.

American Thomas Hamill, who escaped from his Iraqi captors over the weekend, is on his way home by way of Germany, where he will be checked by doctors. After learning Hamill was safe, residents of Macon, Miss., began celebrating the U.S. civilian contract worker's escape. Melanie Peeples reports.

A top Vatican official says Catholic politicians who favor abortion rights for women should be denied communion, the most sacred act of faith for Catholics. The proposed Vatican policy could affect Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, a Catholic who supports abortion rights. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and John Feuerherd of The National Catholic Reporter.

The Houston suburb of Katy, Texas, is home to an exotic but little-known attraction: the country's only replica of China's Forbidden City. Known as the Forbidden Garden, the attraction opened in 1996 and features a huge burial pit representing the tomb of China's first emperor. Sarah Richards reports.

Elena Dunder is unable to return back to Odesa, Ukraine, after Russians invaded her country during her stay in Florida.

Researchers have put a theoretical height limit on the world's tallest trees. According to an article in the science journal Nature, it's difficult for California redwoods to drag water up much higher than 426 feet. NPR's Ketzel Levine reports.

NPR's Anne Garrels reports on one Iraqi family grateful for American help in establishing a school for children with Down Syndrome.

Wynton Marsalis plays the trumpet — he's not just a Grammy award winning trumpet player, but a Pulitzer award-winning trumpeter. Wynton has released his first small ensemble jazz cd in 5 years. It's called The Magic Hour. Reviewer Jim Fusilli finds delight in the record, with clever performances. He also finds some of the jazz Wynton plays sometimes backward looking.

Scientists in Japan prove that it is possible to get a live, fertile mouse by activating an egg containing only DNA from female mice. The process of getting an unfertilized egg to start dividing is called parthenogenesis. Although many non-mammalian species reproduce this way, the Japanese mouse is the first known incidence in mammals. NPR's Joe Palca reports.

President Bush visits an estuary in Wells, Maine, to mark Earth Day, an event observed since 1970 to highlight environmental-conservation efforts. The president said his administration is tough on polluters but friendly to industry as well. Democratic challenger John Kerry took a far dimmer view of Bush's environmental record. NPR's Don Gonyea reports.

NPR's Allison Aubrey reports on changes made by the Bush administration to laws regulating the nation's wetlands.

Four U.S. soldiers are killed and six are wounded as insurgents fire on a base north of Baghdad. Dozens of Iraqis are killed in rocket attacks, roadside bombings and fighting with U.S.-led troops around the country. An the oil terminal off the southern city of Basra comes under attack, apparently by suicide bombers. Hear NPR's Cheryl Corley and NPR's Philip Reeves.

It's been 10 years since South Africa held all-race elections and ended apartheid. The country has been been more successful than other African nations in its transition to democratic rule. Its stability is due in large part to Nelson Mandela, the man who ended apartheid and became the nation's first post-apartheid president. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports.

The Supreme Court hears arguments on whether Vice President Dick Cheney must reveal details of his energy task force, in response to lawsuits from two groups. Solicitor General Theodore Olson, defending the government, argues that the constitution allows the executive branch to gather private advice. The groups suing say industry input into U.S. policy should be public. NPR's Nina Totenberg reports.

The Bush administration decides to include salmon bred in hatcheries in its count of wild salmon populations. The result could be that some species will soon be deemed healthy and removed from the Endangered Species list. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel and NPR's Elizabeth Arnold.

In her book, Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, Lynne Truss shows how a misplaced comma can make all the difference. Truss provides a narrative history of punctuation and speaks to NPR's Bob Edwards about some of the more bizarre errors and witty teasers.

An analysis by the British medical journal The Lancet of unpublished drug company studies done on children and teens who take antidepressants concludes that only one drug, fluoxetine (known also by the brand name Prozac), was not associated with negative outcomes for children with depression. Last year, Britain's Committee on Safety of Medicines prohibited the treatment of childhood depression with any antidepressant except fluoxetine. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not taken this action, though it has approved only fluoxetine for children. NPR's Joanne Silberner reports on whether the new analysis sheds more light on the controversy about these medications.

The new prime minister of Spain says his nation's 1,300 troops will be removed from Iraq as soon as possible. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero says he's not convinced the United Nations will be able to assume control of Iraq by a June 30 deadline. Eleven Spanish soldiers have died in the Iraq conflict. Hear NPR's Cheryl Corley and Jerome Socolovsky.

The third installment of Joe Richman and Sue Johnson's series "Mandela: An Audio History" covers the years that Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress leadership spent imprisoned on Robben Island. Leadership in the anti-apartheid fight came from an unlikely place: Schoolchildren whose activism was fueled by a new rule that all education should be in Afrikaans.

Part 4 of Joe Richman and Sue Johnson's series "Mandela: An Audio History." This episode covers the decade leading up to the dramatic release of Nelson Mandela after more than 25 years in prison.