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NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty reports on how churches must approach politics if they want to keep their tax exemptions. Discussing issues is fine, but endorsing or criticizing candidates by name is not.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is taking a pounding in the local press for his decision to expel a New York Times reporter who wrote an unflattering article about the president's drinking. The case is the latest public-relations disaster for Lula, who has seen his popularity dip after being elected a year and a half ago in a surge of affection and hope. NPR's Martin Kaste reports.

NPR's Melissa Block talks to Oliver and Sheila Lawn, former code-breakers in World War II who have been called in to try to decipher the meaning of mysterious letters carved into a monument at Shugborough House in Staffordshire, England. The letters -- D.O.U.O. S.V.A.V.V.M. -- are believed to be a code, and their meaning has never been established. Some have even speculated that they could be linked to the Holy Grail.

NPR's Michele Norris talks with Shaul Bakhash, professor of Middle East history at George Mason University, about the significance of the shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf, Iraq. Holes are visible in the shrine's dome after heavy fighting in the city. Coalition authorities say they didn't do it, and have suggested the blame might lie with forces loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

NPR's Michele Norris talks with Jad Adams, author of Hideous Absinthe: A History of the Devil in a Bottle, about the cultural role the potent green liquor played among artistic circles in 1890s France.

Google Inc., the company behind the Internet's most popular search engine, files its long-awaited plans for an initial public offering. The prospect of a Google IPO has kept Silicon Valley abuzz all year. Google said it expects to raise $2.7 billion through the stock sale, but the first day of trading is likely months away. NPR's Elaine Korry reports.

The Bush administration is determined to paint the U.S. guards at Abu Ghraib as "a few bad apples" -- but many analysts see the abuses in Iraq as a result of the policies used in the war on terror. NPR's Larry Abramson reports.

Bill Frisell is renowned as a versatile musician with a repertoire of blues, country, and rock — but he says he's a jazz guitarist at heart. Frisell describes his first foray into jazz, when he heard master guitarist Wes Montgomery. Marcie Sillman reports.

Scientists exploring the Gulf of Mexico have discovered seeps in the seabed that resemblesa paved road. Around the asphalt seeps are colonies of shrimp, mussels and tubeworms living off the chemicals from the ocean-floor vent. NPR's Christopher Joyce reports.

The State Department releases its annual report on international terrorism. The official list of "state sponsors" is unchanged, though Libya and Iraq might soon be taken off the list. The other state sponsors listed are Cuba, Sudan, Syria, Iran and North Korea. The report does not define Iraqi insurgents as terrorists, noting that most attacks there are against soldiers. NPR's Vicky O'Hara reports.