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If you think your dog understands you, scientists say you may be right. New research shows that some dogs have a remarkable capacity to comprehend human speech. NPR's Jon Hamilton reports.

Did the Bush administration approve the systematic torture of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan? Many civil rights groups are asking that question this week after the release of two memos prepared by Bush administration lawyers suggesting the president is not obliged to adhere to federal and international standards on the use of torture. NPR's Tavis Smiley talks to Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, about whether torture is ever justified.

The body of the late President Ronald Reagan proceeds to the U.S. Capitol after an apparent false alarm caused the Capitol and Supreme Court to be evacuated briefly. A White House 747 flew the former president's casket across the country Wednesday, after some 100,000 people paid their last respects at the Reagan library in Simi Valley, Calif. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel and NPR's Andrea Seabrook.

NPR's Alex Chadwick talks with veteran journalist Bill Boyarsky, author of Ronald Reagan; His Life and Rise to the Presidency. Boyarsky interviewed the former president many times, and talks about the actor-turned-politician's drive, principles and legacy.

One of Iraq's top foreign ministry officials, Bassam Kubba, died Saturday after being shot by unknown gunmen in Baghdad. He is the first member of Iraq's two-week-old interim government to be killed. Kubba worked through the ranks of the foreign ministry under Saddam Hussein and became ambassador to China. NPR's Emily Harris reports.

Fifty years ago, a Massachusetts lawyer stood up to a U.S. senator and changed the nation's perception of him. The target was Wisconsin's Joseph McCarthy. The lawyer was Joseph Welch, who, after the anti-Communist McCarthy had revealed that a young lawyer working for Welch was a member of a suspect group, asked, "Senator, have you no decency?"

The declines come a day after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by the most in over two decades as it embarks on a high-stakes fight to bring down inflation.

Creighton University in Nebraska has dedicated a memorial to Lt. Col. Michael Anderson, one of the astronauts killed when the space shuttle Columbia broke apart during re-entry in February 2003. NPR's Allison Keyes details the latest honor accorded one of a handful of African-American astronauts.

Nitrogen is the main pollutant of concern in Sarasota Bay. High concentrations of nitrogen spur algae growth which leads to declines in water quality.

A militant group in Iraq claims it has beheaded a U.S. Marine of Lebanese descent. The U.S. military says it is checking the report, but has not confirmed the claim, which appeared on a Web site. The Marine, Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun of Utah, appeared blindfolded in a video broadcast nearly a week ago by the Al-Jazeera network. NPR's Philip Reeves reports.

In the Darfur region of Sudan, thousands of people have died and a million have been driven from their homes as result of what many are calling ethnic cleansing or even genocide. Hear NPR's Susan Stamberg, photographer Marcus Bleasdale, and Dr. Jennifer Leaning of Physicians for Human Rights.

Homemade political ads submitted to a MoveOn.org contest compared President Bush to Adolph Hitler. The liberal group removed the ads from its site. Now the Bush-Cheney campaign is citing them in its own commercial in which it tries to portray supporters of John Kerry as the "Coalition of the Wild-Eyed." NPR's Ari Shapiro reports.

Some state lawmakers are working to deter residents from seeking abortions elsewhere, or to punish those who help them do so. Delivery of abortion medication by mail could become another battleground.

Handcuffed and under Iraqi guard, Saddam Hussein is charged with war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity before an Iraqi court. Saddam questioned the court's jurisdiction and refused to sign the charge list. Earlier, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez relinquished leadership of the multinational force in Iraq to Gen. George Casey. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep and NPR's Philip Reeves.

Political editor Ken Rudin makes a prediction on who John Kerry will pick as his running mate.

NPR's Andrea Seabrook talks to tennis coach Rick Macci about today's upset of Serena Williams by Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon. The 17-year-old Sharapova is the first Russian to win the women's Wimbledon title.

Butler to the Word author Oliver Bullough says the UK has developed a system of bankers, lawyers, accountants and PR managers who work to help Russian kleptocrats hide their wealth.

In the first of a series of conversations on beauty, NPR's Susan Stamberg talks with Linda Wells, editor of Allure magazine. Wells says Allure evolved in the past 13 years. Its magazine covers don't portray one particular type of person as beautiful all the time. She says popularity, timing and interest are all things to consider when choosing who goes on the cover of a beauty magazine.

NPR's Alex Chadwick talks with Slate legal analyst Dahlia Lithwick about the issue of child custody, and how it relates to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on the Pledge of Allegiance case Monday. The court did not rule on the constitutionality of invoking the name of God in the pledge, but instead ruled the father of the young girl at the heart of the case did not have the right to sue on her behalf, because the girl's mother has primary custody.

A small company funded by Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen will attempt to send a person into space aboard a vehicle called SpaceShipOne. It's one of more than 20 groups competing for a $10 million prize for the first non-governmental manned space flight. NPR's David Kestenbaum reports.

President Bush hosts a Rose Garden press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, visiting Washington to press the U.S. government for more aid to Afghanistan in the lead-up to national elections in September.

Energy policy rarely takes center stage in a presidential race, but with gasoline prices soaring, voters seem to be paying attention this year. Both President Bush and Sen. John Kerry are touting long-term plans to cut dependence on foreign oil and develop new sources of energy at home. NPR's Allison Aubrey reports.

Singer Patti Scialfa's new CD was a long time coming — her previous solo release was in 1993. But she says husband Bruce Springsteen offered this encouragement: "The record will tell you when it's complete."

NPR's Tavis Smiley talks with commentator Cornel West about the death of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old boy whose murder helped spark the civil rights movement. Till would have been 63 this coming Sunday.

Slate senior editor Andy Bowers examinees why something as deadly as antifreeze can taste as good as a daiquiri.