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Iraq's interim government unveils new security laws aimed at curbing the country's deadly insurgency. The new powers would allow the interim government to impose emergency rule in trouble spots. On the same day the new measures were announced, insurgents battled U.S. troops in the heart of Baghdad. NPR's Philip Reeves reports.

Conflicting reports have emerged regarding a U.S. Marine held hostage in Iraq. The Lebanese-born corporal, Wassef Ali Hassoun, is being held by militants whose website posted a claim Saturday that he was beheaded by the Army of Ansar al-Sunna. The group has since denied killing him. NPR's Philip Reeves reports.

NPR's Philip Reeves in Baghdad reports the ongoing battles between American troops and Iraqi insurgents are taking a toll on the U.S.-appointed Iraqi governing council. One council member has suspended participation and several others have threatened to resign in protest over the offensive by Marines in Fallujah and the battles between U.S.-led forces and supporters of a radical Shiite Muslim cleric.

A team of three women have won the right to represent the United States at the Athens Olympics later this year in a new sport: "Yngling" class sailing. With an average age of 40, the team is older than most other Olympian athletes -- but these women say the extra years they've spent out on the water are the key to their success. NPR's Philip Davis reports.

U.S. Marines have reportedly halted street-to-street battles with insurgents in the Iraqi city of Fallujah. But despite a unilateral U.S. call for a truce, skirmishes continue there and in several other Iraqi cities on the first anniversary of the fall of Baghdad. NPR's Philip Reeves reports.

An international tribunal rejected China's claims to almost all the South China Sea. China dismissed the ruling. The next flashpoint between the Philippines, China and the U.S.: the Scarborough Shoal.

In India, several states have banned the sale of Coke and Pepsi after a group called The Center for Science and Environment said the soft drinks contain unacceptably high levels of pesticide. The national government of India has said the Center's data is flawed. But the state governments continue to ban the products.

Sonia Gandhi tells supporters she "humbly declines" to become India's next prime minister, a post she was offered after her Congress Party's surprise win in recent parliamentary elections. Had she accepted, she would have become the nation's fourth prime minister from the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. Sources close to Gandhi say she never wanted the post. Hear NPR's Philip Reeves.

For a candidate who loves to rail against Washington, Donald Trump's choice seems a bit of a head-scratcher. Trump hired Manafort back in the '80s to lobby on gambling and real estate.

Sonia Gandhi is likely to become India's next prime minister. She's the Italian-born daughter-in-law of the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and the widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Her Congress Party staged a surprise electoral victory in recent parliamentary elections. Hear NPR's Linda Wertheimer talks to NPR's Philip Reeves.