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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators meet for a rally at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in a show of support for abortion rights. The event, dubbed the March for Women's Lives, caps a weekend of rallies in the capital. Other issues raised included universal access to health care and same-sex marriage. NPR's Andrea Seabrook 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.

In 1975, Pulitzer-Prize winning author Alice Walker wrote an essay that helped lift from obscurity Zora Neale Hurston, the most widely published black woman author of the 1930s Harlem Renaissance. For Intersections, a series on artists and their inspirations, Walker tells NPR's Vertamae Grosvenor about the guiding role Hurston's work has played in her own art.

The Senate Armed Services Committee receives a closed-door briefing from Army officials on the alleged abuse of Iraqis detained by U.S. military police. Lawmakers want to know if the problem is more widespread than has been reported. Critics say Pentagon leaders aren't doing enough to address the allegations. Hear NPR's David Welna.