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National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice briefs House and Senate Republicans on the situation in Iraq. The closed-door briefing comes near the end of a series of Congressional hearings examining troop deployment extensions, military costs and the planned June 30 transfer of power to an Iraqi government. Rice also met with some Senate Democrats in a meeting that was arranged at the last minute. NPR's Andrea Seabrook reports.

NPR's Michele Norris talks with NPR's Michele Kelemen about Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld denial today that he had kept Congress and the American people in the dark about the abuse of Iraqi prisoners under U.S. control. Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, he vowed to take all steps neccessary to bring those who committed the abuse to justice. General Peter Pace, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff defended the pace of the investigation, saying it had to be reviewed independently at many levels of the chain of command.

Proper tutoring for a child who's struggling to read can change the way the brain works, a Yale University study finds. Published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, the study examined tutoring that focuses on the sounds of letters and words. After one school year, brain scans showed lasting changes in the children. NPR's Rachel Jones reports.

California's fire season begins with two wildfires raging in Southern California, where more than 4,000 homes have been evacuated. Experts predict an especially harsh summer because warm weather in April caused an early snow melt. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel and Rick Ochoa, manager of the National Fire Weather program.

Six U.S. soldiers face courts-martial over allegations of prisoner abuse in Iraq. A military spokesman says seven other soldiers have been reprimanded. Iraqis gather outside Abu Ghuraib prison, where the abuses took place, hoping for news of their relatives. Details of how the abuses were allowed to occur are still emerging. Hear NPR's Peter Kenyon and NPR's Jackie Northam.

The Chicago Botanic Garden announces the creation of a new coneflower -- in orange, not the usual purple. The flowering plant was derived from some 96 cross-breedings of hybrids in order to get the desired color and shape. Hear NPR's Michele Norris and Jim Ault, director of ornamental plant research at the garden.

In White House interviews with Arab television journalists, President Bush calls the reported abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. forces "abhorrent" and vows to punish those responsible. The interviews were part of an overall White House effort to limit the political damage from a scandal it admits has hurt America's image in the Arab world. Hear NPR's Don Gonyea.

President Bush's two-day bus tour to promote his re-election bid continues Tuesday with four stops in Ohio. On Monday, Bush traveled across Michigan. The two states are among the most fiercely contested this year. NPR's Don Gonyea reports.

China's booming economic growth has sparked a tremendous need for raw materials like cooper, steel and scrap metal. China must import this material, and prices have shot up. U.S. companies are having financial difficulties competing with China in the scrap-metal market. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports.

The Georgia Supreme Court overturns a high school student's conviction for aggravated child molestation. Student Marcus Dixon, who is black, was serving 10 years in prison for having sex with a 15-year-old white girl. The court ruled that Dixon should have been prosecuted on a lesser charge. NPR's Kathy Lohr reports.