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President Bush is asking Congress to approve his rules for military commissions to try detainees accused of war crimes. He says court-martial rules are not appropriate for what he terms "illegal combatants." Some legal analysts are concerned that the president's rules leave defendants without enough rights.

The Audubon Aquarium of the Americas re-opened in New Orleans Friday, nine months after Hurricane Katrina killed thousands of fish and animals there. Lance Ripley of the aquarium tells Melissa Block that generous donations rebuilt and revived the facility.

Illegal border crossings are up in the San Diego area, even though a large National Guard contingent is providing support for the U.S. Border Patrol. Experts say beefed-up enforcement in Arizona and New Mexico is pushing illegal crossers toward California.

Alfred W. McCoy's new book, A Question of Torture, chronicles the CIA's development and use of torture since the Cold War. He speaks with Steve Inskeep about the past, present and effectiveness of torture.

NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer talks with Jon Levy, professor and chair of the Department of Environmental Health at Boston University School of Public Health, about the thread he wrote about wearing a mask.

A Russian sergeant pleads guilty for killing a Ukrainian civilian in the war's first war crimes case. Such cases usually occur after a war ends. Ukraine wants to prosecute while the evidence is fresh.

President Bush this week is expected to sign a $70 billion tax-cut package into law. It will lower rates for investors and save billions of dollars for families with above-average incomes. Now Republicans in Congress are turning their attention toward the estate tax. They want it repealed permanently.

Syria's ruling Baath Party opened a congress Monday to discuss political and economic reforms. Syria, which has a centrally planned economy, suffers from a high unemployment rate. Economists and businessmen say they have seen positive changes in recent years, but warn that the government must do more to battle corruption and streamline the inefficient state bureaucracy.

Vice President Dick Cheney says he did not know Ambassador Joseph Wilson. But Cheney's life intersected with Wilson's during the first Iraq war. Wilson is the husband of Valerie Plame, the undercover CIA agent whose name was leaked to the press.

President Bush has called for more than $7 billion to find and guard against any dangerous new strain of influenza. The lawmakers who would have to approve that request generally welcomed the initiative, but some have criticized elements of the plan.