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Saul Bellow, the award-winning author of books including Humboldt's Gift and The Adventures of Augie March, died Tuesday at his home in Brookline, Mass. He was 89.

President Bush fires a rhetorical broadside at an al Qaeda leader who aimed videotaped threats at the United States and Great Britain. After al Qaeda's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, released a statement, Bush vowed to continue the mission in Iraq until it is complete.

Britain, the United States' chief war ally, reaches out to other nations by promoting a lead role for the United Nations in post-war Iraq. But U.S. officials remain deeply divided over the issue of U.N. involvement and other crucial questions of post-war planning. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

The U.S. military investigates reports that an American warplane bombed a convoy of Kurdish fighters and U.S. Special Forces soldiers in northern Iraq, killing several people. A BBC reporter traveling with the convoy says he counted at least 10 bodies lying near the burning vehicles. NPR's Liane Hansen talks to NPR's Ivan Watson.

Three soldiers from the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division were killed today in a grenade attack while guarding a children's hospital near Baghdad. At least one Iraqi bystander was injured. Eight U.S. soldiers have died since U.S. forces announced the deaths of Saddam Hussein's sons. NPR's Ivan Watson reports.

Attacks continue against U.S.-led forces in Iraq, injuring American troops in Kirkuk and Baghdad. British forces use tear gas to control a riot in Basra, where protesters decry shortages of water and other necessities. And the FBI takes over a probe of the deadly bombing of Jordan's embassy in Baghdad. Hear NPR's Linda Wertheimer and NPR's Ivan Watson.

In a Shiite sector of Baghdad, mourners at a funeral procession for two Iraqis killed in a clash with American troops chant "No to America." The outburst raises concerns that Shiites might turn against the U.S. occupying force. Tensions are heightened by a rising postwar death toll that is far higher for Iraqis than for the U.S. military. NPR's Deborah Amos reports.

Officials at the State and Defense departments accuse Pentagon leaders of ignoring a pre-war report that detailed many of the problems U.S. forces were likely to face in postwar Iraq. Critics say that because the warnings in the State Department study were not heeded, American troops were under-prepared for looting and other postwar challenges. Hear NPR's Ari Shapiro.

Retail giant Wal-Mart is facing criticism over an internal memo that proposes aggressive moves to trim employee benefit costs, such as discouraging unhealthy people from taking jobs at Wal-Mart. The company, whose stock price has dropped over the last year, is under pressure from investors to cut costs.

President Bush installs John Bolton as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, making a recess appointment to circumvent the Senate, where Democrats blocked approval of the nominee. Bolton will be able to serve until a new Congress forms in 2007.