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Did the Bush administration approve the systematic torture of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan? Many civil rights groups are asking that question this week after the release of two memos prepared by Bush administration lawyers suggesting the president is not obliged to adhere to federal and international standards on the use of torture. NPR's Tavis Smiley talks to Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, about whether torture is ever justified.

The body of the late President Ronald Reagan proceeds to the U.S. Capitol after an apparent false alarm caused the Capitol and Supreme Court to be evacuated briefly. A White House 747 flew the former president's casket across the country Wednesday, after some 100,000 people paid their last respects at the Reagan library in Simi Valley, Calif. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel and NPR's Andrea Seabrook.

NPR's Andrea Seabrook talks to tennis coach Rick Macci about today's upset of Serena Williams by Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon. The 17-year-old Sharapova is the first Russian to win the women's Wimbledon title.

Butler to the Word author Oliver Bullough says the UK has developed a system of bankers, lawyers, accountants and PR managers who work to help Russian kleptocrats hide their wealth.

A militant group in Iraq claims it has beheaded a U.S. Marine of Lebanese descent. The U.S. military says it is checking the report, but has not confirmed the claim, which appeared on a Web site. The Marine, Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun of Utah, appeared blindfolded in a video broadcast nearly a week ago by the Al-Jazeera network. NPR's Philip Reeves reports.

The declines come a day after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by the most in over two decades as it embarks on a high-stakes fight to bring down inflation.

In the Darfur region of Sudan, thousands of people have died and a million have been driven from their homes as result of what many are calling ethnic cleansing or even genocide. Hear NPR's Susan Stamberg, photographer Marcus Bleasdale, and Dr. Jennifer Leaning of Physicians for Human Rights.

One of Iraq's top foreign ministry officials, Bassam Kubba, died Saturday after being shot by unknown gunmen in Baghdad. He is the first member of Iraq's two-week-old interim government to be killed. Kubba worked through the ranks of the foreign ministry under Saddam Hussein and became ambassador to China. NPR's Emily Harris reports.

Energy policy rarely takes center stage in a presidential race, but with gasoline prices soaring, voters seem to be paying attention this year. Both President Bush and Sen. John Kerry are touting long-term plans to cut dependence on foreign oil and develop new sources of energy at home. NPR's Allison Aubrey reports.

Sentencing guidelines encourage harsh penalties for white-collar corporate defendants who cause big losses to investors. But a wide disparity exists in the prison terms handed down, with many white-collar criminals receiving relatively light terms. Hear NPR's Scott Horsley.