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As members of Congress head home for their spring break, they have little to tout in the way of legislative success. A pattern has developed: Republicans propose legislation, Democrats attach amendments that win support from moderate Republicans, and the Republican leadership pulls the bills before a vote, apparently out of deference to the White House. Hear NPR's Howard Berkes and NPR's David Welna.

At the annual convention of the National Rifle Association in Pittsburgh, Vice President Dick Cheney uses his keynote address to paint Sen. John Kerry as an enemy of the right to bear arms. NPR's Janet Babin reports.

On Friday, the mother of the youngest of three Japanese hostages being held in Iraq appealed to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to withdraw Japanese troops. But Koizumi says he has no intention of withdrawing the troops, and pledges that Japan will do its utmost to rescue the hostages. NPR's Rob Gifford reports from Tokyo.

Amid fighting in several Iraqi cities, an increasing number of foreigners are missing or held hostage by insurgents. Meanwhile, Vice President Cheney goes to Japan as a crisis builds over threats to kill three Japanese who are captive in Iraq. Hear NPR's Philip Reeves and NPR's Rob Gifford.

Authorities in Iraq announce that an arrest warrant has been issued for Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in connection with the murder of a rival cleric last spring. Attacks by Sadr's followers left at least eight coalition soldiers dead in Najaf and Baghdad Sunday. Hear NPR's Philip Reeves, NPR's Michele Norris and professor Juan Cole of the University of Michigan.

It's a compelling story about rape, race and discrimination in the town of Springfield, Ill. Renatta Frazier was an African-American cop whose inaction was blamed for the rape of a young white woman and discovered she was part of a police department cover-up. In an exclusive three-part series, Frazier tells her story.

NPR's Daniel Schorr, senior news analyst, talks about how a recent poll shows that the conflict in Iraqi and the raising gas prices are contributing to President Bush's falling image with the public.

U.S. Marines besiege the Iraqi town of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, where crowds mutilated the bodies of four American civilians killed in a roadside attack last Wednesday. The Marines are preparing a new offensive in Fallujah to root out those responsible for the killings. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and Eric Niiler of member station KPBS in San Diego.

The U.S. military concedes disappointment with the performance of some U.S.-trained Iraqi units in the wake of widespread attacks by both Sunni and Shiite Muslim insurgents. Chief U.S. administrator Paul Bremer acknowledges that the Iraqi army and civil defense force will not be in a position to control the country when the U.S. hands over sovereignty to an interim government at the end of June. NPR's Anne Garrels reports.

Jack Miles is a former Jesuit seminarian and literary critic. In 1996 he won a Pulitzer Prize for his book, God: A Biography. In the book he examines God as a character -- the protagonist -- of the Old Testament. He is currently a contributing editor at The Atlantic Monthly, a director of Trinity Press and a senior adviser to the president of the J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles.