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Negotiations continue to end the fighting between U.S. Marines and insurgents in Fallujah. U.S. forces have besieged the Sunni stronghold after the killing and mutilation of four U.S. security contractors there last month. Hear NPR's Liane Hansen and Washington Post correspondent Karl Vick.

Mars' longer days make for a topsy-turvy schedule for the scientists here on Earth operating the two NASA rovers exploring the planet. NPR's Joe Palca reports.

Twenty years ago the nation faced a new drug scourge: crack cocaine. With it came thousands of children born to addicted mothers and labeled "crack babies." When the drug first hit the streets of New York in the 1980s, the city had 17,000 children in foster care. A decade later, that number had soared to 50,000. Many of the children had been exposed to crack cocaine before birth. NPR's Cheryl Corley speaks with several people who were affected in some way by the crack epidemic.

Sen. John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee in the 2004 presidential race, is trying to tout his plan for U.S. economic recovery. But he's finding it difficult to get anyone interested in anything other than Iraq and the commission investigating the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. NPR's Andrea Seabrook reports from Chicago, where Sen. Kerry made a campaign speech Friday.

Next week members of the Sept. 11 commission will hear testimony from the current and former heads of federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Commissioners want to know what structural reforms have taken place in government since Sept. 11, 2001, that would or could prevent future attacks. Hear NPR's Linda Wertheimer, public service professor Paul Light of New York University, and John MacGaffin, the CIA's former associate deputy director for operations.

When Condoleezza Rice gave sworn testimony to the Sept. 11 panel Thursday, her job was to counter former counter-terrorism chief Richard Clarke's charges the Bush administration didn't pay enough attention to terrorism. But the bigger challenge was harder and more subtle: to counter "The Apology" -- the moment when Clarke said he was sorry to Sept. 11 victims' families and to America. Commentator James Poniewozik says that Clarke and Rice demonstrate what's wrong with apologies today -- they are both too easy and too hard.

Commissioners on the Sept. 11 panel call on the White House to declassify a presidential briefing dated Aug. 6, 2001. The document warned that Osama bin Laden was planning attacks inside the United States. In Thursday's testimony, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice said that and other pre-Sept. 11 warnings were too vague to act on. Hear NPR's Pam Fessler.

The Bush administration considers dropping special gasoline formulations aimed at reducing air pollution in an effort to rein in rising gas costs. Advocates in California and New York blame the higher prices on the addition of ethanol, which they say doesn't help prevent pollution. NPR's Allison Aubrey reports.

A presidential daily briefing from Aug. 6, 2001, draws much attention as National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice testifies before the Sept. 11 commission. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel and analysts Reuel March Gerecht -- a former CIA Middle East specialist -- and Daniel Benjamin, a former member of the National Security Council staff.

As U.S.-led forces in Iraq confront a growing insurgency, they face an ominous new developmtent: hostage-taking. American Marines continue to battle for control of the town of Fallujah, west of Baghdad. In southern Iraq, Shiite fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada Sadr are said to be in full control of two towns and parts of another. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel and NPR's Philip Reeves.