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Dozens of people have been detained by the U.S. and Iraqi militaries as the press forward with an offensive near Samarra. More than 1,500 troops are deployed in what the military is calling an anti-insurgency sweep. Renee Montagne talks to BBC reporter Jim Muir.

Amid intense fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, diplomatic efforts to end the conflict are in full force this weekend. The United States and France put forward a proposed U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an end to the fighting and for U.N. peacekeepers to patrol the Israeli-Lebanese border.

U.S. presidents have promised short, decisive wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. All have proved much more difficult than advertised and fallen far short of the political goals set at the beginning.

In the latest in a series of deadly assaults on U.S. forces in Iraq, an American soldier is killed and another wounded in a grenade attack on a convoy south of Baghdad. The attack comes hours after an oil pipeline explosion that Iraqi officials blame on sabotage. Hear NPR's Deborah Amos.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announces plans to reform the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. The move, she says, will bring the foreign assistance programs into line with the Bush administration's push to spread democracy, or "transformational diplomacy."

U.S.-led warplanes strike facilities in Baghdad, including various Republican Guard positions and a presidential compound. The air assault is described as one of the heaviest since the war began. Iraqi officials say 19 people were killed and more than 100 wounded. Hear NPR's Tom Gjelten and NPR's Anne Garrels.

A new report commissioned by U.N Secretary General Kofi Annan calls for the expansion of the Security Council. The report also sets out criteria for the use of force, and encourages the Security Council to consider preventive action to deal with latent threats. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

With allegations of massive fraud surrounding Iraq's oil-for-food program, Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) calls for the resignation of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Annan's son has been implicated in the scandal. NPR's Vicky O'Hara reports.

Brigadier Gen. Ken Gluck, deputy commanding general of a U.S. military task force rushing to aid to areas hardest-hit by Sunday's earthquake and tsunami, calls the devastation along the west coasts of Indonesia and Thailand "overwhelming," and details American plans to provide relief.

Fierce sandstorms over Baghdad and the surrounding area cause delays for U.S. forces advancing toward Baghdad. The Army's 3rd Infantry Division makes its way within 70 miles of the capital, where it encounters some of the strongest resistance in the six-day campaign. Hear NPR's Eric Westervelt.