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NPR's Steve Inskeep in Baghdad reports on the growing U.S.-trained Iraqi police force, which has become a target for insurgents in the country. More than 100 policemen have been killed in the past year in Baghdad alone.

The U.S. military says a suicide car bombing caused the massive explosion that destroyed the Mount Lebanon Hotel in downtown Baghdad Wednesday, killing and wounding dozens of people. But on the streets, angry Iraqis blame U.S. missiles for the blast. Meanwhile in Baquba, at least six people are killed in two separate attacks on Iraqi journalists and a U.S.-funded TV station. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep.

NPR's Juan Williams talks with Gen. Pete Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about the status of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Pace says the military has gotten better about troop rotation, and that morale is good overall.

Saturday marks two years since final congressional approval of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill. Conventional wisdom predicted the law would reduce big money's influence in Washington and cripple fundraising by Democrats. In fact, both major parties are raising more funds under the new law than before. Hear NPR's Peter Overby.

A fierce debate erupts in the House over a Republican-backed resolution commending U.S. troops for their valor and declaring the world a safer place after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Outraged Democrats accuse the Bush administration of misleading the public about Iraq's banned weapons and of discrediting U.S. foreign policy around the world. Hear NPR's Andrea Seabrook.

Political observers are closely watching the race to win the Illinois Senate seat being vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald. Many see Democratic candidate Barack Obama as his party's best chance to overturn the Republican majority in the Senate. If elected, Obama would become the third African-American senator since Reconstruction. Hear NPR's David Schaper.

The U.S. Army general who wrote the report on prisoner mistreatment in Iraq says the abuse resulted from leadership failures, a "lack of discipline, no training whatsoever and no supervision." Taguba is testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Hear NPR's Renee Montagne and NPR's David Welna.

An Islamic militant Web site posts video purporting to show the beheading of U.S. civilian Nick Berg, 26, at the hands of masked men in Iraq. Berg had been missing since April 9; his decapitated body was found Saturday. A voice on the tape tied the killing to abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison; it also invoked the name of al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Hear NPR's Michele Kelemen.

NPR's Jeff Brady reports that the West is bracing for what is expected to be another very bad wildfire season. He visits a youth camp where staff is busy creating "defensible space" against fire by clearing away trees and brush that is growing too near buildings.

The U.S. Army report on the abuse of prisoners in Iraq is not the first document to record mistreatment. The Red Cross and Amnesty International had warned about prison conditions for months. NPR's Jacki Northam reports.