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This week, the Sept. 11 commission is expected to call for a new chief to coordinate the nation's intelligence agencies, including the CIA. The panel's report has not been released yet, but acting CIA chief John McLaughlin has already criticized the recommendation. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep and NPR News Analyst Cokie Roberts.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge says at a Senate briefing and a news conference that al Qaeda is actively interested in disrupting this year's presidential election season. The nation's terror alert level remains unchanged. Ridge offered few details about potential threats, leading some Democrats to question the timing of his remarks. NPR's Pam Fessler reports.

Marlon Brando, an American movie legend known for his revolutionary method acting in such classics as A Streetcar Named Desire, dies at age 80. Brando won two Oscars: for On the Waterfront and his later role as the iconic Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather. NPR's Steve Inskeep and Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan recall Brando's life and legacy.

President Bush says he would consider major changes to the nation's intelligence services in response to the report expected this week from a bipartisan commission. The panel has been probing what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, and how it might have been prevented. One idea is to create a cabinet-level chief of all intelligence operations. NPR's Don Gonyea reports.

U.S. warplanes strike a suspected safehouse of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Fallujah. Bombs created a 30-foot crater and killed at least 10 people, including women and children, according to Iraqi witnesses. Meanwhile, three Marines are killed in a guerrilla attack in Anbar province. Hear NPR's Philip Reeves.

The Supreme Court rules against a law intended to keep pornography away from children using the Internet. The court ruled 5-4 that the 1998 Child Online Protection Act likely violates the First Amendment, citing less restrictive alternatives such as filtering software. The case now returns to an appeals court for further review. NPR's Nina Totenberg reports.

The Pentagon announces new procedures for investigating the deaths of people in U.S. military custody. The new rules call for every death to be reported to military investigators and the Armed Forces medical examiner, who will decide if an autopsy is required. The guidelines are seen as an attempt to quell criticism of detainee deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

Iraq's interim government unveils new security laws aimed at curbing the country's deadly insurgency. The new powers would allow the interim government to impose emergency rule in trouble spots. On the same day the new measures were announced, insurgents battled U.S. troops in the heart of Baghdad. NPR's Philip Reeves reports.

Two memos prepared by Bush administration lawyers and high-ranking officials suggest the president cannot be held to federal and international rules prohibiting torture. Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft refused to turn over the documents or say whether President Bush has authorized force or other techniques in interrogation. NPR's Nina Totenberg reports.

The western Sudanese region of Darfur has been the scene of what many are calling an ethnic cleansing campaign by government-backed Arab militias against the local tribes. The Bush administration is now ratcheting up the rhetoric against the same government that the United States has praised for signing peace protocols to end a separate decades-old conflict. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.