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The Senate Rules Committee holds hearings on independent groups that run hard-hitting political ads in hopes of influencing voter sentiment in so-called "battleground" states this election season. Lawmakers from both parties are seeking to outlaw the groups, which are unfettered by restrictions placed on candidates and political parties. NPR's Peter Overby reports.

NPR's David Schaper reports on Senate primaries in Illinois, in which seven millionaires are among the candidates seeking to replace retiring Republican Peter Fitzgerald. Many observers see the seat as one that Democrats are likely to pick up in November, but first there are the primaries to deal with. The leading Democratic contender is state Sen. Barack Obama, who if he wins would become the first black male Democrat to win a seat in the Senate.

A U.N. team in Iraq seeks to determine if elections can be held in Iraq by a June 30 deadline established by the Bush administration. Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric is insisting on direct elections instead of the U.S. preference for caucuses to pick a transitional government. Hear NPR's Scott Simon and Les Campbell, Mideast director of the National Democratic Institute, which monitors elections around the world.

While the world has waited for a final outcome in Florida's presidential vote, civil rights activists in the state have been gathering testimony on alleged efforts to discourage minorities from voting. Next week, the NAACP is expected to file suit in Florida circuit court seeking redress for several incidents in which black or Hispanic voters believe their voting rights were violated. While the suit is not likely to affect the result of the Florida vote, it could have an impact on minority turnout in future elections. NPR's Phillip Martin reports.

NPR's Julie McCarthy reports that surgeons in Manchester, England have been separating conjoined twin girls at the center of a lengthy legal battle. The girls were born last August, joined at the abdomen and with a fused spin. They share a single heart and a pair of lungs. Their parents -- devout Roman Catholics -- brought them from Malta to Britain, seeking medical care. But the parents resisted surgery after learning that the operation would in all probability cause the death of one of the twins, in order to save the other. After a long ethical battle in the courts, the parents finally dropped the fight.

For nearly 30 years, school officials in Charlotte, N.C., have been under court order to consider race when making student assignments. A group of parents filed a lawsuit challenging that policy, seeking the end of busing for desegregation. The case, which has lasted three years and produced two contradictory legal decisions, will be heard by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals tomorrow. Writer Andrea Cooper longs for the day when it's easy to answer the question, "Where is your child going to school?"

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.

Gunmen pretending to seek emergency medical care kill an American soldier in western Iraq. The death marks the 29th U.S. military fatality in Iraq since President Bush declared an end to hostilities on May 1. U.S. officials report an increase in coordinated attacks carried out by men they describe as trained military professionals. NPR's Ivan Watson reports.

In the wake of a bankruptcy judge's ruling that United Airlines can terminate its employee pension plan, other U.S. airlines might respond in a similar fashion. The industry is seeking to cut costs as it reels from high fuel prices and stiff competition.

Chief justice nominee John Roberts takes questions from senators seeking definitive answers on issues from abortion to the environment to stopping a war. But Roberts refused to say whether, for example, he would vote to overturn or restrict abortion rights.