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Reports of detainee abuses in Iraq have focused on Abu Ghraib prison, west of Baghdad. But now, a Canadian civilian has filed a lawsuit claiming he was tortured by U.S. troops at the Camp Bucca detention center in southern Iraq, and witnessed the abuse of other prisoners. Camp Bucca officials deny abuses ever took place. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports.

The Al Jazeera news network broadcasts a videotape showing a man who appears to be a U.S. soldier held hostage by mask-wearing gunmen in Iraq. The soldier identifies himself as Pfc. Keith Maupin of Battavia, Ohio, with the U.S. Army's 724th Transportation Company. Maupin has been listed as missing since April 9. Listen to NPR News.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld calls the reported abuses of Iraqi prisoners at the hands of U.S. soldiers "unacceptable." The U.S. Army says it is investigating the deaths of 10 prisoners and the alleged abuse of 10 more in prisons across Iraq and Afghanistan. Rumsfeld speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep.

Sen. John Kerry launches a $25-million TV ad campaign focusing entirely on his record of service -- in Vietnam, as a prosecutor and in the Senate. The ads, which include testimonials from Kerry's wife and daughter, are designed to introduce Kerry to voters and counter a barrage of negative ads from the Bush campaign. Hear NPR's John McChesney.

American Thomas Hamill, who escaped from his Iraqi captors over the weekend, is on his way home by way of Germany, where he will be checked by doctors. After learning Hamill was safe, residents of Macon, Miss., began celebrating the U.S. civilian contract worker's escape. Melanie Peeples reports.

Scientists in Japan prove that it is possible to get a live, fertile mouse by activating an egg containing only DNA from female mice. The process of getting an unfertilized egg to start dividing is called parthenogenesis. Although many non-mammalian species reproduce this way, the Japanese mouse is the first known incidence in mammals. NPR's Joe Palca reports.

President Bush visits an estuary in Wells, Maine, to mark Earth Day, an event observed since 1970 to highlight environmental-conservation efforts. The president said his administration is tough on polluters but friendly to industry as well. Democratic challenger John Kerry took a far dimmer view of Bush's environmental record. NPR's Don Gonyea reports.

A top Vatican official says Catholic politicians who favor abortion rights for women should be denied communion, the most sacred act of faith for Catholics. The proposed Vatican policy could affect Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, a Catholic who supports abortion rights. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and John Feuerherd of The National Catholic Reporter.

Four U.S. soldiers are killed and six are wounded as insurgents fire on a base north of Baghdad. Dozens of Iraqis are killed in rocket attacks, roadside bombings and fighting with U.S.-led troops around the country. An the oil terminal off the southern city of Basra comes under attack, apparently by suicide bombers. Hear NPR's Cheryl Corley and NPR's Philip Reeves.

It's been 10 years since South Africa held all-race elections and ended apartheid. The country has been been more successful than other African nations in its transition to democratic rule. Its stability is due in large part to Nelson Mandela, the man who ended apartheid and became the nation's first post-apartheid president. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports.