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Calling the move "a difficult decision," U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announces his resignation from the Bush administration. Ridge made a formal announcement in a news conference Tuesday afternoon. Ridge has served in the position since the department's creation in 2003. Hear NPR's Korva Coleman.

U.S. forces raid three homes near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, detaining several Iraqis. Six months after the end of major combat in Iraq, progress in rebuilding the country is offset by continued disenchantment with American occupying forces. NPR's Guy Raz reports.

An overnight attack on a U.S. convoy leaves another American soldier dead in Iraq, while a search for missing military guards ends with the discovery of two more bodies. Persistent Iraqi resistance is complicating efforts to restore order. Hear NPR's Scott Simon, NPR's Deborah Amos and State Department adviser Faisal Istrabadi.

The nightmare of urban warfare comes true as U.S. forces battle pockets of resistance in Baghdad. An American armored column invades a presidential palace, daylight hours are filled with sounds of bombs, artillery and automatic gunfire which quiet toward night. Electricity and phones are out. NPR's Anne Garrels reports.

U.S. forces consolidate their hold over Baghdad, but continue to engage in sporadic clashes with forces loyal to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. At least one Marine is reported killed and almost 20 wounded after a three-hour battle to seize a presidential palace. Hear NPR's Anne Garrels.

The U.N. Security Council overwhelmingly approves a resolution ending more than a decade of sanctions against Iraq. It also gives the United States and Britain authority to run the country and use oil profits to fund reconstruction until a new Iraqi government is established. Hear NPR's Vicky O'Hara.

At the United Nations, President Bush defends his decision to go to war in Iraq and calls on the international community to help in reconstruction. But some member countries and Secretary-General Kofi Annan still question the legitimacy of the U.S.-led war. NPR's Vicky O'Hara reports.

U.S. authorities temporarily suspend offensive operations in Fallujah to allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid, but shooting can still be heard. Members of the Iraqi governing council will travel to Fallujah to meet with local Muslim clerics and rebel leaders in the town. Insurgents take more foreign civilians hostage. Hear NPR's Anne Garrels.

In another day of scattered violence in Iraq, a suicide bomber breached tight security around a Baghdad hotel and blew himself up where Sunni sheiks allied with the U.S. in the fight against al-Qaida were meeting. At least 12 people were killed.

Moving into their third day of fighting, U.S. troops in Fallujah capture close to one-third of the city. In Baghdad, kidnappers seize three family members of interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and demand an end to the Fallujah offensive. Hear NPR's Philip Reeves.