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In a 5-4 vote with vast repercussions for the U.S. criminal justice system, the Supreme Court invalidates the criminal sentencing system of Washington state. The court's ruling emphasizes the role of juries in determining sentences, and stirs speculation that the sentencing guidelines used by many states and the federal government won't be able to withstand a constitutional challenge. NPR's Nina Totenberg reports.

The United Nations appeals for more help for Sudanese refugees, who have fled into the desert in neighboring Chad to escape civil war and persecution by government-backed militias. The humanitarian crisis is severe and likely to be made far worse by the approaching rainy season. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep and Dr. Jennifer Leaning, professor of international health at Harvard.

The western Sudanese region of Darfur has been the scene of what many are calling an ethnic cleansing campaign by government-backed Arab militias against the local tribes. The Bush administration is now ratcheting up the rhetoric against the same government that the United States has praised for signing peace protocols to end a separate decades-old conflict. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, vowing a crackdown on Iraqi insurgents, says he'll announce emergency measures Wednesday. Iraqi security forces, with U.S. support, have already begun raiding hideouts of insurgents and criminals. Nearly 150 suspects were netted in one recent raid. NPR's Emily Harris reports.

SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded rocket ship to carry a human into space. The craft took off from the Mojave Desert Monday morning, carrying one civilian test pilot. The spaceship appears to have soared 62 miles high -- past the official mile marker for the lower edge of space --though the exact altitude has yet to be confirmed. Hear NPR's David Kestenbaum.

Rend al-Rahim, the designated Iraqi Ambassador to the United States, says the country's new government is considering instituting martial law after the handover of power to the Iraqis Wednesday. But Rahim says that despite the transfer, many security issues will be treated in the same manner as when the country was under the Coalition Provisional Authority. Hear NPR's Andrea Seabrook and Rahim.

The Supreme Court rules that persons seized as potential terrorists must be have access to attorneys and be allowed to challenge their imprisonment in American courts. The court said the president cannot unilaterally order the indefinite detention of accused enemy combatants, whether or not the accused combatants are American citizens. NPR's Nina Totenberg reports.

The Sept. 11 commission finds "no credible evidence" that Iraq was involved in the 2001 terrorist attacks, although al Qaeda did approach Saddam Hussein about a collaboration. Members of the Bush administration have insisted that Hussein had ties to Osama bin Laden. The panel is holding its final two days of hearings in Washington. Hear NPR's Ron Elving.

Lawyers representing Saddam Hussein in his upcoming trial argue their client can't be tried for offenses committed while he was president, because Iraq's constitution at the time granted him immunity. Saddam's legal team is currently based in Jordan. An Iraqi militant group has threatened to kill any lawyer representing the former dictator. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep and NPR's Deborah Amos.

A report ordered by the Veterans Affairs Department concludes an alarming number of U.S. soldiers suffered neurological damage from chemicals encountered in the 1991 Gulf War. But some experts say there's still not enough evidence to conclude that nerve gases, pesticides and other chemicals caused long-term illnesses in veterans. NPR's David Kestenbaum reports