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U.S. and Iraqi forces report more progress on the sixth day of their joint offensive in Fallujah. But insurgents have occupied large areas of Iraq's third-largest city, Mosul, the scene of more violence. Hear NPR's Jennifer Ludden and NPR's Philip Reeves.

Iraq's National Assembly endorses Prime Minister-designate Ibrahim al-Jaafari's partial list of Cabinet members. But several key positions, including the ministers of defense and oil, have still not been named amid continued squabbling among the main political factions.

Nearly three months since Iraq's national elections, the formation of a transitional government appears stalled by squabbles over ministerial jobs among the Kurds, Shiites, interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and the Sunnis. U.S. officials say insurgents are exploiting the political paralysis with renewed violence.

A series of insurgent bomb attacks in Iraq kill at least one American soldier and six Iraqis. The latter were killed in twin bombings outside a police academy in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit that also injured nearly three-dozen others.

Poet Ouyang Yu imagines an Olympic event in which he lifts up just one extraordinary word. "The magic of the word is that, when well lifted, it has the power to transform," Yu says.

For more than a decade, Cathy Granholm has been tracking the Laysan albatross. They come down to Hawaii every winter from Alaska to nest and raise their chicks.

The vice president spoke about the administration's domestic agenda enacted in a sweeping bill last month that will shift resources from social safety programs to immigration enforcement and tax cuts.

Cleveland City Council received a first look Monday night at legislation to kick off Mayor Frank Jackson’s $25 million neighborhood development plan. The plan would use proceeds from a bond sale for the construction of new homes, rehabilitation of old ones, mortgage assistance and small business support in neighborhoods hurt by years of disinvestment. Jackson is also proposing to promote youth employment and violence interruption efforts. The city would spend an additional $5 million to demolish vacant, dilapidated homes around elementary schools.

An inexpensive drug could dramatically reduce the number of deaths of mothers from bleeding after childbirth in low- and middle-income countries around the world.

The city of Cleveland has fired the police officer who shot a 12-year-old boy in November 2014, saying Officer Timothy Loehman was terminated for providing false information on his job application. Loehmann fatally shot Tamir Rice within seconds of arriving at a city park. The 12-year-old had been playing with what turned out to be an air gun. A 9-1-1 caller said the gun was “probably fake,” but that information was not relayed to responding officers.