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As Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld prepares to testify Friday before a Senate panel investigating the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, critics call for his resignation. President Bush has privately rebuked Rumsfeld for failing to tell him about pictures of prisoner mistreatment. A White House spokesman says Bush wants Rumsfeld to stay on the job. Hear NPR's Don Gonyea.

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry criticizes the stay-the-course strategy President George Bush reiterated in his White House news conference Tuesday night. Kerry, the presumed Democratic nominee for president, said at a news conference in New York that the president has been too inflexible in his plans and has alienated U.S. allies. NPR's David Welna reports.

In the second of three stories on the mood of the country, NPR's John Ydstie visits a farm cooperative in Lincoln County, just outside St. Louis. The biggest issue is growth and development, as farm land turning into housing divisions and suburbs. On the national and international front, the war in Iraq is most important - and views are mixed. The economic outlook has brighten a lot in this region with corn and soybean prices up so overall, there's a pretty optimistic outlook.

Commissioners on the Sept. 11 panel call on the White House to declassify a presidential briefing dated Aug. 6, 2001. The document warned that Osama bin Laden was planning attacks inside the United States. In Thursday's testimony, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice said that and other pre-Sept. 11 warnings were too vague to act on. Hear NPR's Pam Fessler.

A day after the White House released a briefing document on the al Qaeda threat that President George Bush received a month before the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush says the brief lacked "actionable intelligence." Security experts say the paper leads them to question the Bush administration's judgment of the information. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly reports.

In a joint news conference at the White House Friday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush reaffirm their commitment to "stay the course" in Iraq. Bush affirms that he will invite the United Nations take the lead in guiding Iraq's transition to self-rule, scheduled to begin June 30. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba authored the investigative report about abuses of Iraqis at the Abu Ghraib prison at the hands of American soldiers. His report has proved embarrassing to the Pentagon and the White House. But Taguba, the second-highest ranking Filipino-American officer in the U.S. Army, is a source of pride to the Filipino-American community. NPR's Cheryl Corley reports.

President Bush holds his first formal news conference of the year Tuesday night, as the White House finds itself on the defensive. Bush faces intense questioning about the ongoing violence in Iraq and about the administration's handling of intelligence regarding terrorist threats prior to the Sept. 11 attacks. Hear NPR's Bob Edwards and NPR's Don Gonyea.

Three major inquiries into U.S. intelligence failures -- by Senate and House intelligence committees and the commission investigating the government's response to terrorism before and after the September 11 attacks -- are drawing to a close. Their reports will assess the performance of all American intelligence agencies, but the Central Intelligence Agency is bracing for especially harsh criticism. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly reports.

NPR's Scott Simon talks to New York Times entertainment critic Elvis Mitchell about this year's nominees for the American Spirit Awards, which showcase independent films. This year's nominees include House of Sand and Fog, In America, The Fog of War and Pieces of April. Mitchell says the American Spirit Awards have a long track record of celebrating exceptional films overlooked by the major studios.