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The federal rental aid program expects to distribute the rest of its money by mid-summer. Some cities have already run out of funding, pushing eviction filings higher than before the pandemic.

Residents of Basra are cleaning up and treating the wounded following the bloodiest day in the southern Iraqi city since the start of the war a year ago. Five suicide bombings left more than 70 people dead and at least 200 wounded. There's no word who carried out these attacks, but U.S officials suspect al Qaeda. Hear NPR's Emily Harris.

Nighttime battles are waged between U.S. forces and militiamen loyal to a radical Shiite cleric outside the holy city of Najaf. U.S. forces used tanks and warplanes in the battle, which left more than 60 militiamen dead, according to a military spokesman. Later, U.S. forces attacked parts of Fallujah from the air. Hear NPR's Michele Norris and NPR's Anne Garrels.

President Bush has reportedly privately scolded Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for failing to tell him about pictures depicting the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners. The White House has asked Congress for $25 billion in reserve funds to continue military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through the rest of the year. NPR's Andrea Seabrook reports.

Khalil Naimi, first secretary to the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, is shot and killed in his car by unnamed assailants. The assassination comes as an Iranian delegation is in Iraq to mediate in the standoff between U.S. forces in Najaf and radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Hear NPR's Philip Reeves.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair meets with President Bush Friday. British officials say Blair hopes to flesh out a role for the United Nations in Iraq's transition. Blair has faced criticism at home for having little influence when it comes to Iraq -- despite Britain's 10,000 troops there. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi says the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council should be disbanded in favor of a caretaker government that would receive sovereignty from the U.S.-led occupying forces on June 30. Brahimi's plan also calls for Iraqi elections to be held by the end of January 2004. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel and NPR's Anne Garrels.

A U.S. civilian working for Halliburton in Iraq has escaped his captors after being held hostage for three weeks, say U.S. military commanders. Truck driver Thomas Hamill, from Macon, Miss., was taken captive during an April 9 ambush on a supply convoy and held in a house south of Tikrit, the U.S. military said. Hear NPR's Peter Kenyon.

U.S. Marines begin pulling back from their positions in Fallujah, a day after negotiating an end to the U.S. siege of the Iraqi city. The Marines will turn over security to an Iraqi unit led by one of Saddam Hussein's former generals. The Marines will remain positioned outside Fallujah. Hear NPR's Philip Reeves.

The American intelligence community was sharply criticized at recent hearings of the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks. CIA Director George Tenet conceded his agency failed to translate knowledge of the dangers posed by al Qaeda to an effective defense of the nation. He also said it will take five years to develop a clandestine service capable of fully dealing with terrorist threats. NPR's Brian Naylor speaks with Daniel Benjamin, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.