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A senior U.N. envoy wraps up a week of talks with Iraqi leaders with an apparent consensus on the need for elections later this year to choose members of a transitional national assembly. The fate of U.S. plans to transfer sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government by the end of June remain in doubt. NPR's Deborah Amos reports from Baghdad.

Difficulties and disagreements remain as the U.S. vies to meet a June 30 deadline to transfer the governing of Iraq to Iraqis. NPR's Steve Inskeep discusses prospects for Iraqi sovereignty with Joost Hilterman of the International Crisis Group, Juan Cole of the University of Michigan and Isam al-Khafaji, of the Open Society Institute.

Puzzle master Will Shortz quizzes one of our listeners, and has a challenge for everyone at home. This week's winner is Gary Stock from Kalamazoo, Michigan. He listens to Weekend Edition on member station WMUK in Kalamazoo and WUOM in Ann Arbor.

In 1943, a Marine pilot kept a diary during his service in World War II. Lt. Charles C. Winnia chronicled his missions flying against the Japanese in the Pacific, and his love for a girl back in Nashville, Tenn. Winnia was shot down, and never came home. His diary -- nearly forgotten for over 60 years -- was recently discovered and read by his sweetheart, Violet Jane Watkins, for the first time. Read diary excerpts and hear Watkins read Winnia's last letter to her.

President Bush courted NASCAR fans and potential voters Sunday at the Daytona 500 in Florida. So-called "NASCAR dads" are considered key swing voters in this year's presidential election. Analysts say the group tends to vote conservative on social issues, although Democrats may be able to win votes on economic concerns. Hear NPR's Ari Shapiro.

NPR's Michele Norris talks with retired Maj. Gen. Robert Scales about the changing security situation in Iraq. Scales is the author of The Iraq War: A Military History.

U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi says he supports a prominent Shiite cleric's calls for direct elections for an interim authority in Iraq. The cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, wants elections before the transfer of power the U.S. wants to occur on July 1. U.N. officials say elections by that date are unlikely, though they could occur late this year or early next year. Hear NPR's Deborah Amos.

Amid continuing violence in Iraq, the struggle continues to establish democratic government. In Baquba, a city about an hour north of Baghdad, elections for district council attract only about two percent of potential voters. NPR'S Emily Harris reports.

Mad cow disease and related illness are thought to be spread by an infectious protein, not a germ. But some prominent scientists don't agree. NPR's Richard Harris travels to a National Institutes of Health lab in Montana, where a group of scientists have been trying for several decades to get to the bottom of brain-wasting diseases.

Sen. John Edwards and his fellow Democratic presidential candidates fight for the 72 delegates at stake in Wisconsin's primary Tuesday. Edwards gains support comparable to frontrunner Sen. John Kerry. Hear Chuck Quirmbach of Wisconsin Public Radio.