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Republican Jack Ryan announces he will end his campaign to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate. In a press release, Ryan says he decided to pull out "to avoid a brutal scorched-earth campaign" over racy allegations in his divorce with actress Jeri Lynn Ryan. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel and Tony Sarabia of Chicago Public Radio.

With only five days before the beginning of an Iraqi interim government and increased United Nations presence there, the United States is scrambling to find countries willing to send forces to protect U.N. representatives. President Bush asked European Union nations for troops Friday; he is expected to repeat his requests at NATO meetings this week. Hear NPR's Liane Hansen and NPR's Vicky O'Hara.

President Bush makes another appeal to U.S. allies for assistance in helping Iraq's transitional government establish a democratic society. Bush, whose requests for NATO involvement in Iraq have been rebuffed by French and German leaders, said at the close of the Group of Eight summit that NATO member nations could send troops to help train Iraqi security forces. Hear NPR's Michele Norris and NPR's Don Gonyea.

On Friday, President Bush named a bipartisan commission to investigate questions about intelligence gathering in the lead-up to the war in Iraq. James Woolsey, former director of the CIA during the Clinton administration, speaks with NPR's Brian Naylor about the commission and the scope of its investigation.

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry claims victory in the Virginia and Tennessee primaries, saying the wins demonstrate his electability in any U.S. region. Kerry handily defeats Southern rivals Sen. John Edwards and retired general Wesley Clark. Clark, who placed third in both contests, is expected to drop out of the race Wednesday. Hear NPR's Mara Liasson.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia refuses to remove himself from a case involving his friend Vice President Dick Cheney, responding to a request by the Sierra Club. The high court will soon hear a case testing whether Cheney may keep certain records of his energy policy panel secret. Scalia says a hunting trip taken with Cheney did not cloud his impartiality. NPR's Nina Totenberg reports.

The U.S. military says seven American servicemen have been killed in fighting in and around Baghdad, including the volatile region west of the capital that includes Fallujah. In Nasiriyah, gun battles erupt between Italian forces and militiamen loyal to radical Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. U.S. officials have declared al-Sadr an outlaw and issued a warrant for his arrest. Hear NPR's Anne Garrels.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says Iraqi elections should not be held before June 30, the deadline the United States has set for transferring power to an Iraqi government. Leaders of the Shiite majority are calling for elections to be held earlier. Annan's statement follows the return of a U.N. team that assessed the political situation in Iraq. NPR's Vicky O'Hara reports.

Key documents are missing from the batch of newly declassified documents the White House released this week on its policies on torture and the treatment of prisoners, critics say. Absent are any memos to and from the FBI and CIA and any documents dated after April 2003. No documents address the State Department's concern over the Bush administration's interpretation of the Geneva Conventions. Hear NPR's Jackie Northam.

As Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry prepares to accept his party's nomination Thursday, Kerry's running mate, Sen. John Edwards, formally becomes the Democrats' entry for vice president.