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For Quincy Mosby, a promising start in high school turned into a cycle of procrastination, denial and self-esteem problems. But the novelty and independence that dropping out of school brought didn't last long.

Syria's ruling Baath Party opened a congress Monday to discuss political and economic reforms. Syria, which has a centrally planned economy, suffers from a high unemployment rate. Economists and businessmen say they have seen positive changes in recent years, but warn that the government must do more to battle corruption and streamline the inefficient state bureaucracy.

Alicia Rose Parlette was a copy editor at the San Francisco Chronicle when her doctor told her she had a rare, difficult-to-treat form of cancer. Her journal about her struggle became the basis of a week-long series of articles.

The violent exchange followed intense clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians in Jerusalem, prompting Jewish organizers to cancel the annual Jerusalem Day march.

Volunteer "Minutemen" have spent the past three weeks on Arizona's border with Mexico, trying to deter illegal crossings. The group claims success. But other factors are also at play, including increased warnings by the Mexican government and traditional migration patterns that shift westward this time of year.

Much of the world's cotton comes from Texas, even though it's not a particularly great place to grow the crop. Big subsidies and heavy technology and R&D spending have helped the United States dominate the global cotton trade for two centuries.

The House Judiciary Committee holds hearings on the "Downing Street Memo," notes that suggest the Bush administration decided to invade Iraq months before the conflict began. The memo is from a meeting of British Prime Minister Tony Blair with his aides in July 2002.

The alleged mistreatment of detainees at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay sets off a heated Senate debate. Senator Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, compared a description of mistreatment -- submitted to a Pentagon investigator by an F-B-I agent -- to actions carried out by Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia. Some Republicans accused Durbin of maligning American military personnel.

Virginia Gov. Mark Warner says Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor, is putting states in financial peril, especially as Congress eyes $10 billion in federal cuts. The Democrat is chairman of the National Governors' Association, which has developed its own plan for Medicaid reform.

Anne Bradstreet is considered America's earliest poet, and a new biography details her life. Scott Simon speaks with Charlotte Gordon, author of Mistress Bradstreet: The Untold Life of America's First Poet.