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The Iraqi National Assembly fails to achieve consensus on a permanent speaker Tuesday after a short, tumultuous session. The meeting was only the second for the parliament since elections were held in January.

The 115 members of the College of Cardinals -- from six continents -- are sequestering themselves in the Sistine Chapel and begin voting Monday to elect a new pope. The process will mix medieval pageantry with ultramodern technology.

The oposition seizes control of the government of Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia. President Askar Akayev has not been seen in public and is believed to be outside the country. Robert Siegel talks with Moscow Times correspondent Greg Walters.

A judge, a court reporter and a deputy are killed at Atlanta's Fulton County Courthouse Friday. The man sought in the shooting, Brian Nichols, was in court on a rape charge and escaped by stealing a car.

Mahmoud Abbas, the presumed favorite in Sunday's Palestinian elections, is running a robust campaign, backed by the late Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement. Seven candidates are running to succeed Arafat as Palestinian Authority president. NPR's Julie McCarthy reports.

Recent violence in Iraq reflects continuing resiliency among various groups of insurgents. Meanwhile, arguments over how much power to give Sunni Muslim politicians has slowed the development of the fledgling Iraqi government.

House Republicans are ready to roll back the new ethics rules instituted earlier in the year. Democrats had claimed the change was designed to protect embattled Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

Advocacy groups are rousing support across the country ahead of a possible showdown over Senate rules on the use of the filibuster to block President Bush's nominees to federal judgeships.

The Department of Homeland Security raises the terror alert level in Washington, New York and New Jersey. Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge says financial institutions like the New York Stock Exchange and the International Monetary Fund could be targeted. NPR's Libby Lewis reports.

The Russian government approves the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty that seeks cuts in "greenhouse gas" emissions in order to slow global warming. The measure is now expected to be ratified by Duma, the Russian parliament. Hear NPR's Lawrence Sheets.