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The U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously that Internet file-trading networks can be held liable and sued if their customers use their software to violate copyright protections on downloaded videos or music. The ruling is a blow to companies such as Grokster and Streamcast.

Scientists have uncovered problems that may limit the usefulness of human embryonic stem cells. After several months of growing in a lab, the cells exhibit genetic abnormalities. Scientists will have to address that issue before stem cells can be used to treat disease.

Iran holds a runoff presidential election Friday. Voters will choose between Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president who is casting himself as a reformer, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the younger, hard-line mayor of Tehran.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin says businesses in some parts of the city will reopen this weekend, and residents of the Algiers neighborhood will be welcomed back next week. Announcing the gradual return, officials also warned of remaining health threats.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin discusses racial tensions in the city post-Katrina after Latino workers flocked to the city for the cleanup and rebuilding process. He says he expects New Orleans to remain majority African-American, but that it will have to adjust to shifting racial demographics.

The Senate votes 56 to 43 to confirm California Judge Janice Rogers Brown to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. All Republicans in the Senate supported Brown, while all but one Democrat opposed her nomination. Her nomination was brought up for a vote as part of a deal to retain the right of filibuster in the Senate.

The Base Closure and Realignment Commission adds two military facilities to its list of proposed base closings -- the Navy Broadway Complex in San Diego, Calif., and the Naval Air Station in Brunswick, Maine. Any final decisions on base closures will be made in August.

Researchers have figured out how to turn microscopic green algae into tiny beasts of burden capable of shouldering surprisingly big loads. The technique could lead to the harnessing of microorganisms for use in industry and biotech.

A U.S. federal judge has granted a request by lawyers for an Australian prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to postpone the resumption of his war-crimes trial this week so the U.S. Supreme Court can rule on the legality of such military tribunals.

A car bomb explodes in Afghanistan's capital city, Kabul, killing at least seven people. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the blast. The violence is reportedly part of a stepped-up pattern of attacks in the weeks leading up to Afghanistan's October elections. NPR's Jennifer Ludden talks to Pamela Constable of The Washington Post.