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Presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry barnstorms through Midwestern states. At some stops, he's made time to meet with small groups still trying to fill out a picture of the candidate from Massachusetts.

The Senate Intelligence Committee hears testimony about reforming U.S. intelligence services, weeks after it released a report criticizing the agencies. Committee chairman Pat Roberts said the hearings were the beginning of a major re-examination of how the CIA and other intelligence organizations should work. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and NPR's Mary Louise Kelly.

Microsoft stock rises, a day after the software giant said it would give some $75 billion in cash to shareholders over the next four years -- roughly $3 a share. Analysts say the company's decision to release some of its cash reserves shows that Microsoft is no longer a "growth" company, but has matured into a company that must pay dividends. NPR's Wendy Kaufman reports.

U.S. troops and Iraqi forces storm into the center of Najaf in what Marine commanders are calling a final push to crush a rebellion by supporters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The cleric and hundreds of his followers are believed to be inside the Imam Ali shrine, one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and NPR's Ivan Watson.

In his new book, You Call it Madness, musician and writer Lenny Kaye brings back the forgotten voice of Russ Columbo, one of the great crooners of the 1930s.

Speeches at the Republican Convention portray President Bush as a strong wartime leader. After Sen. John McCain made the case for war in Iraq, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani assailed Bush's opponent, Sen. John Kerry. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and NPR's Robert Smith.

The Supreme Court decides to consider the constitutionality of federal sentencing guidelines. The court agreed to fast-track the case, since a related ruling this summer about state sentencing guidelines threw courts across the country into confusion. At issue is the power of judges to single-handedly adjust the length of criminals' sentences. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and Douglas Berman, professor at the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University

Former Vice President Al Gore speaks on the opening night of the 2004 Democratic Convention, four years after his run against President Bush. Gore urged Democrats to remember the power of the ballot in the close 2000 election. Hear NPR's David Welna.

Sen. John Kerry seeks to define his campaign by his combat experience in the Vietnam War -- a tour of duty that earned him three Purple Hearts and a Bronze and Silver star for valor. But Kerry's campaign has come under fire by a group of GOP-linked activists who question his wartime conduct in a television ad. NPR's Mara Liasson reports.

On Friday -- for the first time in more than a year -- Osama bin Laden appeared in a videotaped message to the United States. Bin Laden appealed directly to the American people to change American policies in the Middle East. He also threatened more attacks if those policies are not changed. NPR's Mike Shuster reports.