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If the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion on abortion remains unchanged, what are the nationwide implications? We hear how things might change in Mississippi and California.

U.S. troops engage in an overnight gun battle with militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr near the holy city of Najaf. The U.S. military says dozens of Iraqis died in the fighting. The battle comes as U.S. forces begin replacing departing Spanish troops. NPR's Philip Reeves reports.

"Like the apocalypse, like a horror film," is how one evacuee describes weeks of sheltering in the vast, Soviet-era steel plant. Her daughter says, "Each day felt like it would be our last one alive."

A Chicago jury convicts white supremacist Matthew Hale for soliciting the murder of a federal judge, ending three days of deliberations. Hale, who several years ago called for a "racial holy war," had conspired to have a U.S. district judge killed after she ordered him to stop using the trademarked name World Church of the Creator. Chicago Public Radio's Melba Lara reports.

A five-part series looks at South Africa's half-century-long struggle for democracy through rare sound recordings — the voices of freedom fighter Nelson Mandela, and those who fought with and against him.

CIA Director George Tenet tells the Sept. 11 commission it will take another five years to fix problems with U.S. intelligence operations that allowed the 2001 attacks to happen. Tenet acknowledges his agency failed to uncover the Sept. 11 plot. But he says a panel report was wrong in concluding the CIA had no strategic plan to fight terror before the attacks. Hear NPR's Libby Lewis.

An internal Army report on the abuse of detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad cites several civilian contractors suspected of participating in the incidents. But legal experts say it's unclear whether these contractors would be prosecuted in a U.S. military court, an Iraqi civil court or a U.S. federal court. Hear NPR's Jackie Northam.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld tells the Senate Armed Services Committee he extends his "deepest apology" and takes "full responsibility" for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners in U.S. custody. Rumsfeld says an investigation into U.S. soldiers' conduct is underway. Some senators question whether people higher up in the chain of command should be held responsible. Hear NPR News.

Isaiah Lee is accused of four counts, including battery. He was initially booked by police on a felony charge but prosecutors said they didn't have enough evidence to pursue it.

Appearing on Capitol Hill Friday before both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld took responsibility for what he called breakdowns in the military that resulted in abuse of prisoners in Iraq. He added he wished he had told members of Congress sooner about pictures of prisoner abuse -- but he said his department had initiated proper procedures to deal with those responsible. NPR's David Welna reports.

NPR's Art Silverman gets reaction to photos of grinning reservists abusing Iraqi prisoners from residents of Cumberland, Md. Six soldiers from the 99th Regional Readiness Command 372nd Military Police Company (Combat Support), based in Cumberland, were charged in March with physical and sexual abuse of 20 prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. Three of those charged are local residents -- and people who know the three say the charges are out of character.

President George Bush strongly supports Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to keep control of some settlements as Israel pulls out of Gaza and parts of the West Bank, setting a new tone in U.S. Mideast policy. Previous U.S.-brokered peace deals have required the removal of all settlements. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel and Samuel Lewis, former ambassador to Israel.

Over 250 years after the end of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, some West Africans are still trying to come to terms with the involvement of African rulers and slave merchants. For National Geographic's Radio Expeditions, NPR's John Burnett reports from Benin.

A group of leading Shiite clerics are holding talks to resolve the U.S. standoff with radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose anti-American rhetoric touched off a wave of attacks on U.S.-led forces in several Iraqi cities. Al-Sadr's militiamen have withdrawn from police and government buildings they had occupied, but the security situation remains unstable. Hear NPR's Anne Garrels.

In the 1990s, Stanford students Sergey Brin and Larry Page figured out how to use the structure of the Internet — the way pages link to one another — to put the most relevant items at the top of a search list. Their discovery transformed their garage startup, Google, into the Internet's top search engine, a household name and even a verb. NPR's Rick Karr reports.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) says U.S. military commanders should have requested more troops for Iraq two months ago, "when conditions were far more ripe for democratization." But McCain says the U.S. should adhere to a June 30 deadline to transfer power to Iraqis, arguing a delay would worsen the security situation. McCain speaks with NPR's Juan Williams.

President Bush holds his first formal news conference of the year Tuesday night, as the White House finds itself on the defensive. Bush faces intense questioning about the ongoing violence in Iraq and about the administration's handling of intelligence regarding terrorist threats prior to the Sept. 11 attacks. Hear NPR's Bob Edwards and NPR's Don Gonyea.

Former FBI head Louis Freeh and Attorney General John Ashcroft were among the law enforcement officials who testified before the panel investigating U.S. attempts to prevent terrorism Tuesday. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel and NPR's Larry Abramson; NPR's Melissa Block, former deputy U.S. Attorney General Philip Heymann and former FBI official Harry "Skip" Brandon.

The rare instrument, which is 300 years old, belonged to Toscha Seidel, who is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century.

Staff reports from the Sept. 11 panel offer a blistering assessment of the FBI's anti-terror efforts. The reports suggest poor communication, a lack of resources and antiquated information technology led the FBI to miss opportunities to spot plans for the 2001 attacks. Commission Chairman Thomas Kean calls the findings "an indictment of the FBI." Hear NPR's Pam Fessler.

If Web users don't pay to search, how do search engines make money? In the third report in a five-part series about Internet search engines, NPR's Rick Karr traces the ways companies such as Google and Yahoo earn cash.

New federal privacy rules protecting medical information took effect one year ago Wednesday. As the rules come to be more widely understood, patients and care providers alike are adjusting to them. But many in the medical industry say problems remain. NPR's Julie Rovner reports.

Fierce street fighting breaks out in a Sunni neighborhood of Baghdad. And battles continue around Fallujah, even as U.S. occupation authorities dispatch an Iraqi delegation to negotiate a cease-fire there. There are reports that insurgents may agree to a truce beginning Sunday. Hear NPR's Cheryl Corley and Anthony Shadid of The Washington Post.

Marines uncover suicide-bomber belts along with other weapons in besieged Fallujah. Also found were documents suggesting that foreign Muslim fighters have come to Iraq to attack the U.S.-led forces. Despite criticizing the U.S. strategy in the region, the Iraqi Governing Council continues to negotiate a truce. Hear Eric Niiler from member station KPBS and NPR's Philip Reeves.

Former FBI director Louis Freeh is among the law enforcement officials from the Bush and Clinton administrations set to testify before the Sept. 11 commission this week. Many security analysts have said the FBI was focused solely on investigating past crimes instead of prevention. Hear NPR's Larry Abramson, NPR's Robert Siegel and Chitra Ragavan of U.S. News and World Report.