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Iraq's Interim Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, says he's given the order for U.S. and Iraqi forces to launch an offensive on Fallujah. Marines have seized control of two strategic bridges and a hospital in the first stage of the long-anticipated invasion of the city. Hear NPR's Anne Garrels and NPR's Renee Montagne.

Sen. John Kerry heads to hotly contested Florida Friday, still questioning why nearly 400 tons of explosives are missing from a storage facility in Iraq. President Bush, traveling in the Midwest, argued Thursday that the facts on the disappearance are not yet known. Hear NPR's Scott Horsley and NPR's Don Gonyea.

The American Civil Liberties Union has secured the release of more government documents that detail alleged abuse by U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. The papers include allegations of beatings and mock executions. According to an internal Army investigation report, photos taken of a mock execution were intentionally destroyed.

Federal researchers say the painkiller naproxen, sold over the counter as Aleve, has been linked with a 50-percent higher risk of heart attacks and strokes. Arthritis sufferers have been switching to naproxen after warnings that the drug Celebrex also carries added risk of heart attack and stroke. NPR's Richard Knox reports.

More than 6,000 police departments around the country now use tasers, the electronic stun guns that have been hailed as an alternative to lethal force. But Taser International, which makes the weapons, is facing questions about the safety of its products, and the accuracy of its sales reports. NPR's Laura Sullivan reports.

A classified cable written by the CIA's outgoing station chief in Baghdad, the contents of which were reported in The New York Times, paints a bleak future for Iraq. The message predicts more violence, both for U.S. troops and clashing Iraqi factions. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly reports.

When President Bush and Russian president Vladimir Putin met in Slovakia this week, much of the talk was about democracy, and whether Russia was backtracking from democratic reforms. What is the United States doing to promote democracy in Russia and other former Soviet states, such as Kyrgyzstan?

Terri Schiavo, who had been in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years, has died at age 41. Schiavo's feeding tube was removed 13 days ago, after her parents lost a protracted battle with husband Michael Schiavo for guardianship.

The CIA's recent "document sweep" of papers in an archive at the University of Washington raises issues of access to old classified documents that have been open to historians for 20 years. The CIA says the documents were never properly declassified. But some academics say the agency is trying to regain control over documents that have been in the public domain for two decades.

The House of Representatives plans to hold an emergency session to consider legislation aimed at preserving the life of Terri Schiavo, a brain-damaged Florida woman. Doctors Friday removed the feeding tube that has kept Schiavo, 41, alive.