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Massachusetts lawmakers consider amending the state's constitution to ban same-sex marriages. Supporters of the proposed ban differ on how it should be enacted as opponents protest what they call an attack on civil rights. The debate has attracted thousands of demonstrators at Boston's old Statehouse. Hear NPR's Michele Norris and NPR's Tovia Smith.

In 1943, a Marine pilot kept a diary during his service in World War II. Lt. Charles C. Winnia chronicled his missions flying against the Japanese in the Pacific, and his love for a girl back in Nashville, Tenn. Winnia was shot down, and never came home. His diary -- nearly forgotten for over 60 years -- was recently discovered and read by his sweetheart, Violet Jane Watkins, for the first time. Read diary excerpts and hear Watkins read Winnia's last letter to her.

Wesley Clark officially withdraws from the Democratic presidential race. The retired general, who got into the contest late, leaves having won only one primary, in Oklahoma on Feb. 3. He is the fourth major candidate to withdraw. Hear NPR's Korva Coleman and NPR's Greg Allen.

South Korean and U.S. researchers say they have successfully cloned a human embryo and extracted embryonic stem cells from it. The experiment, reported in the journal Science, is the first instance of cloned human stem cells -- an important step toward therapeutic cloning, in which patients' own replacement tissue would be generated to treat them. Hear NPR's Joe Palca.

Mad cow disease and related illness are thought to be spread by an infectious protein, not a germ. But some prominent scientists don't agree. NPR's Richard Harris travels to a National Institutes of Health lab in Montana, where a group of scientists have been trying for several decades to get to the bottom of brain-wasting diseases.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the new CD by newcomer Dan Reeder.

Amid continuing violence in Iraq, the struggle continues to establish democratic government. In Baquba, a city about an hour north of Baghdad, elections for district council attract only about two percent of potential voters. NPR'S Emily Harris reports.

The White House makes more than 300 pages of documents available to the news media in an effort to answer questions about whether President Bush fulfilled his National Guard service during the Vietnam War. It's presented as the complete record of the president's service, but there are few specifics to place Bush at an Alabama air base in 1972 and 1973. NPR's Don Gonyea reports.

NPR's Michele Norris talks with retired Maj. Gen. Robert Scales about the changing security situation in Iraq. Scales is the author of The Iraq War: A Military History.

At just about every event or campaign stop, there are young people holding up signs. Their mission: to get their candidate's name on television. High school senior Robert Mack, a volunteer for Sen. John Edwards' campaign, talks about why he signed up.