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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.

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.

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.

When former President Bill Clinton met with George W. Bush before leaving office, he told his successor that Osama bin Laden, the Middle East and North Korea posed more of a threat to U.S. national security than Iraq, Clinton says. In the first part of a two-part interview, Clinton also tells NPR's Juan Williams that bin Laden dominated intelligence discussions at the White House.

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.

President Bush had hoped the No Child Left Behind Act would help him counter the view that Democrats care more about public education than Republicans. But growing criticism of the law makes it unclear if the president's record on education will give him an edge against John Kerry. Bush's stance on education has polarized residents in West Virginia, a state that's up for grabs in the November presidential election despite its Democratic majority. NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports.

A group claiming ties to al Qaeda beheads U.S. hostage Paul Johnson in Saudi Arabia. The 49-year-old engineer, an employee of Lockheed Martin working on Apache attack helicopter systems in the Saudi capital city of Riyadh, was taken hostage last weekend. His captors warned they would kill him unless al Qaeda suspects were released from jail. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and Knight Ridder correspondent Dave Montgomery.

Attorney General John Ashcroft refuses senators' demands for copies of legal memos, prepared by Bush administration lawyers in 2002 and 2003, that reportedly state the president has the right to order torture in his role as commander in chief. Ashcroft said his advice to the president must remain confidential.

NPR's Alex Chadwick talks to NPR's Deborah Amos, reporting from Baghdad, about the reaction in Iraq to the United Nations resolution supporting the American and British plan for handing over power in Iraq. The U.N. Security Council unanimously passed the resolution on Tuesday.

The war crimes trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic is thrown in doubt over reports of Milosevic's worsening health. The trial, already two years old, has faced many delays, as Milosevic, acting as his own lawyer, has required many concessions over his health. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports.