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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.

The close-quarter battle inside the steel plant — the last Ukrainian stronghold of the strategic port city of Mariupol --appeared increasingly desperate.

Former Rep. Cynthia McKinney is seeking to win back her congressional seat in Georgia. She lost her re-election bid two years ago after making controversial statements suggesting that the U.S. government had advance warning of the Sept. 11 attacks. Joshua Levs reports.

The 9-11 Commission will reportedly urge that a new "czar" be created to oversee all U.S. intelligence-gathering operations. Hear NPR's Susan Stamberg and New York Times reporter Philip Shenon.

Jean-Pierre will also be the first openly gay person to have the most visible post at the White House aside from the president.

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.

NPR's Alex Chadwick talks to Peter Hahn of The Los Angeles Times, reporting from Baghdad, about the reported beheading of a South Korean man captured and held hostage by Islamic militants in Iraq. The Arabic TV network Al-Jazeera reports contractor Kim Sun-il, 33, was killed even as negotiations were underway to free him. The hostage has been threatened with death unless South Korea reconsidered plans to send thousands of troops to bolster the U.S.-led military coalition in Iraq.

Israel's attorney general has decided not to prosecute Prime Minister Ariel had been accused of accepting bribes from a real estate developer, but the attorney general concluded there was not enough evidence to pursue the case. Hear NPR's Peter Kenyon.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has nominated a four-star general to take command of U.S. forces in Iraq. Gen. George W. Casey, Jr. would replace Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez. Colleagues say Casey has demonstrated the ability to work closely with U.S. diplomats, a skill that will be needed in Iraq when the U.S. embassy goes into business in July. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

During a campaign stop in the battleground state of Missouri, President Bush faces criticisms over the new Medicare prescription-drug discount card. Critics say the program is too confusing and unlikely to attract those it could benefit the most -- low-income seniors. NPR's Julie Rovner reports.