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A staff report from the Sept. 11 commission says the Pentagon's air-defense command wasted precious time and missed a chance to intercept at least one of the hijacked planes used in the 2001 attacks. The report largely blames inadequate emergency procedures that didn't account for a response to suicide hijackings. Hear NPR's Mary Louise Kelly and NPR's Steve Inskeep.

The Supreme Court dismisses on a technicality a lawsuit seeking to drop the phrase "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance, sidestepping the issue of whether the phrase violates the separation of church and state. The ruling relieved both conservatives and civil liberties groups. Both sides of the debate feared that a win would have triggered a divisive fight to amend the Constitution. NPR's Nina Totenberg reports.

President Bush addresses the graduating class at the United States Air Force Academy, telling them the war on terror is the modern equivalent of World War II or the struggle against Communism. The speech in Colorado Springs, Colo., also made it clear that the president considers the fighting in Iraq to be the central front in the war on terror. NPR's White House Correspondent Don Gonyea reports.

Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawai announces that nine armed militias comprising some 100,000 men will disband. Under the plan, the militiamen will be eligible for jobs in the police, army or security services, and may also qualify for civilian government jobs. The militia controlled by the radical Shiite cleric Muktadr Sadr is not part of the pact. Hear NPR's Michele Norris and NPR's Deborah Amos.

As Congress prepares to write a budget to guide this year's tax and spending decisions, some Senate Republicans join Democrats in calling for a "pay as you go rule," which would mandate that any future tax cuts be offset by spending cuts. House Republicans vehemently oppose such measures. The dispute reveals a GOP divided over fiscal policy. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep and Ross Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University.

France, Russia, Germany and China call for major revisions to the draft resolution on the future of Iraq currently before the U.N. Security Council. The nations want the resolution to include a clear timetable for withdrawing international troops from Iraq and to give the Iraqi interim government total control over security. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep and NPR's Vicky O'Hara.

A day-long hostage standoff in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, ends as government commandos storm a resort building, freeing dozens of hostages and leaving several dead, including an American. Gunmen had taken between 45 and 60 hostages during attacks in the heart of the kingdom's oil region Saturday. An al Qaeda-linked group has claimed responsibility. Hear NPR's Liane Hansen and Thomas Lippman of the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says his nation's intelligence services gave the Bush administration information after the September 11 terror attacks that suggested Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq was planning to strike against the United States. Nonetheless, Russia remained adamantly opposed to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. NPR's Lawrence Sheets reports from Moscow.

Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan's remains will be taken from the Capitol Rotunda -- where tens of thousands have come to pay last respects -- to the Washington National Cathedral for a national funeral service Friday morning. The list of dignitaries attending includes former presidents Bill Clinton, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. NPR's Pam Fessler reports.

About 5,000 members of a National Guard unit in North Carolina will be mobilized to Iraq -- the largest call-up of state guardsmen in decades. It's part of one of the largest troops movements in U.S. history. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers will move in and out of Iraq over the next few months. Jessica Jones of member station WUNC reports.