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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.

U.S. forces suspend offensive operations in Najaf and radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr promises to pull his armed supporters out of the city in the latest sign of a potential end to the standoff there. U.S.-led military and militia loyal to the Shiite leader have been engaged in skirmishes in the area for nearly two months. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

U.S. officials confirm the FBI is investigating whether Ahmad Chalabi told Iranian agents that the United States had broken their country's communications code. Chalabi, a formerly exiled Iraqi leader now back in Baghdad, provided the United States with details, now discredited, about Saddam Hussein's weapons program. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly reports.

A tenuous cease-fire with the militia of radical Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has yet to take full hold in the holy city of Najaf. Units tied to Sadr fired mortar rounds at U.S. forces at a bridge to neighboring Kufa. It's unclear how much control Sadr has over his fighters. Hear NPR's Scott Simon and NPR's Eric Westervelt.

The debate within the Catholic Church over politicians who disagree with church policy -- specifically, the church's opposition to abortion -- could have an affect on the campaign of Sen. John Kerry, a pro-choice Catholic and the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Hear NPR's Liane Hansen and Peter Steinfels, a religion and ethics columnist for The New York Times and author of A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America.

The military judge in the cases of three soldiers accused of abusing prisoner at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison will allow the defense to interview U.S. Central Command head Gen. John Abizaid and Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the ranking general in Iraq. Col. James Pohl made his rulings during pre-trial motions in the three courts-martial in Baghdad. NPR's Emily Harris reports.