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A California Supreme Court ruling turns years of child-custody case law on its head. Traditionally, the custodial parent, often the mother, had broad discretion to make decisions for the children, including where they would live. But the state's high court has informed custodial parents that they risk losing their children if they try to relocate. NPR's Elaine Korry reports.

Historian Mark Perry's new book, Grant and Twain: The Story of a Friendship That Changed America, details a 15-month period in the mid-1880s when President Ulysses S. Grant and novelist Mark Twain were writing two American masterpieces. Perry believes Grant's Personal Memoirs and Twain's Huckleberry Finn reveal a fixation the two men shared: the legacy of the Civil War and slavery. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Perry.

The New Yorker reports that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld authorized a secret program that allowed interrogation practices that may have led to the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison. The Pentagon calls the story "outlandish, conspiratorial, and filled with error and anonymous conjecture." Lawmakers say they will pursue the growing scandal as high as it goes. Hear NPR's Jackie Northam.

The brain's center of reasoning and problem-solving is among the last to mature, according to a new study. Researchers used magnetic resonance imaging and time-lapse technology to study brain development, compressing 15 years of human brain maturation into seconds. Scientists say the sequence of maturation also roughly parallels the evolution of the mammalian brain. NPR's Michelle Trudeau reports.

People on the Atkins diet average the same weight loss after a year as those on other regimens, according to two new studies in the Annals of Internal Medicine. According to researchers' findings, concerns that the Atkins diet raises cholesterol appear to be unfounded -- people in the study had about the same cholesterol levels whether they pursued Atkins or the low-fat regimen. NPR's Richard Knox reports.

Genetic tests can spell out an individual's risk of certain diseases. But when there is no cure, making the decision to learn one's genetic heritage is complex. NPR's Joe Palca talks with a Columbia University scientist about the choice she made when faced with the genetic test for Huntington's disease.

Secretary of State Colin Powell criticizes Israel's plan to demolish buildings housing Palestinian refugees in Gaza, calling for a return to peace negotiations. Powell, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Jordan, also urged Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat not to promote violence against Israelis. Hear NPR's Craig Windham.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld may have been directly responsible for ordering the interrogation tactics used at the Abu Ghraib prison, according to an article by Seymour Hersh of The New Yorker. The Pentagon has issued a statement denying the report, while lawmakers are calling for an investigation. Hear NPR's Libby Lewis, NPR's Linda Wertheimer and Sen. Bill Nelson.

With five months to go in the election season, a barrage of presidential campaign ads has begun -- on the World Wide Web. Political ad content isn't restricted by law when it's delivered online, and the assaults are markedly vicious.

Many American officials and foreign policy experts say the United States has no choice but to stay in Iraq until a stable government is in place. They say pulling out too soon could cause a civil war, create a breeding ground for terrorists and damage American credibility. Now some experts across the political spectrum are challenging that view. NPR's Mike Shuster reports.

This year has been marked by a series of confrontations around the Eucharist in Catholic churches. In January, the archbishop of St. Louis announced he would deny communion to John Kerry, because of Kerry's support of abortion rights. Earlier this month, a bishop in Colorado said that any Catholic politician who supports abortion rights, stem cell research, euthanasia or same-sex marriage is not eligible to receive communion. And in several U.S. cities this coming Sunday, a group of gay Roman Catholics are planning to stage a protest during Mass. The protesters intend to wear rainbow sashes, opening declaring their sexual orientation. In Chicago, Cardinal Francis George has told priests to deny communion to anyone wearing one of the sashes. Commentator James Martin, a Jesuit priest, says that even the threat of denying communion goes against the meaning of the ritual.

U.S. forces move closer to one of Shiite Islam's most sacred sites, the Imam Ali shrine in the city of Najaf. Militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr engage in fierce firefights in the vast cemetery surrounding the shrine with U.S. troops backed by tanks. There are reports the shrine may be damaged by the fighting. NPR's Eric Westervelt reports from Baghdad.

At a Maryland middle school, 25 children hone their comedy skills for a spring show. The comedy club might provide a blueprint for similar programs at other schools. NPR's Neda Ulaby reports.

The film Saved! is a high school comedy along the lines of Pretty in Pink and Clueless. But according to NPR's Bob Mondello, Saved! marches to the beat of a slightly different drummer, because it's set in a Christian high school.

In the first of several speeches attacking President Bush's national security policies, Sen. John Kerry accused the president of failing to create an adequate multinational coalition to support efforts in Iraq. But Kerry's criticisms seemed constrained to many, a fact that analysts attribute to Kerry's effort to win swing voters by avoiding a hard-line stance. Hear NPR's David Welna.

As part of a series of commentaries on the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison, Deborah Johnson, a former television producer, says she is angered by the scandal and will protest the U.S. policies she believes led up to it.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld pays a one-day visit to Baghdad, visiting the Abu Ghraib prison complex where abuses of Iraqi prisoners in U.S. custody took place. While in the Iraqi capital, Rumsfeld also addressed troops at the heavily guarded American headquarters. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

The Brood X cicadas have emerged, and residents in 15 states and Washington, D.C., are waking up in the morning to the roar of millions of insects looking for love. NPR's Melissa Block talks with experts Nathan Erwin Scott Harvey about the noisy creatures.

Independent groups producing political advertisements hoping to influence the 2004 presidential election are now more prolific than ever. By one count, there have been more than 50 such ads so far, mostly from groups allied to the Democrats including MoveOn.org and The Media Fund. Now GOP-leaning groups are also joining the fray. NPR's John McChesney reports.

The Iraqi prison abuse crisis is not going away -- much is known about the scandal, but there are lingering questions over whether the abuse was perpetrated by renegade soldiers or authorized by the chain of command. NPR's Mike Shuster looks at the scandal, the contradictions and unanswered questions.

American soldiers and Iraqi police raid the home of Ahmed Chalabi, the head of the Iraqi National Congress and a member of the Iraqi Governing Council. During the lead up to the Iraq war, Chalabi was a close ally of the Pentagon. But much of the information he provided has since proven faulty at best, and Chalabi has fallen out of favor with U.S. officials. Hear NPR's Madeleine Brand.

As many as 2,000 people are feared dead in the wake of flooding and mudslides that devastated the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Rescue workers are rushing food, water and medical supplies to flood victims. Hundreds of people are missing in the two countries. Hear NPR's Gerry Hadden.

After five decades of pop hits, Neil Sedaka is preparing for a Carnegie Hall concert of Yiddish music. NPR's Scott Simon talks with the entertainer about his lengthy career and return to his musical Jewish roots.

In a series of upcoming speeches -- the first scheduled Monday at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa. -- President Bush will outline his Iraq policy. Washington insiders have their own views about how the president should make his case. NPR's Don Gonyea reports.

Tom Weber of member station KWMU reports on the people who are helping to re-create the Lewis and Clark expedition. This year marks the 200th anniversary of the start of the expedition.