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The Pentagon issues a denial of charges that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld began a secret program to collect intelligence from foreign detainees independently of the CIA. The report, in a New Yorker article by Seymour M. Hersh, describes Rumsfeld approving the use of Special Access Programs personnel for interrogations in Iraq. Hear NPR's Liane Hansen and Hersh.

NPR's Peter Kenyon, reporting from Baghdad, reports a senior United Nations envoy has resumed talks in Baghdad aimed at selecting the members of an interim Iraqi government that would be granted limited authority by U.S. occupation authorities at the end of June. Some members of Iraq's U.S.-appointed governing council have been sharply critical of Lakhdar Brahimi's mission, saying it violates the country's interim constitution. Many, if not most, of the council members are likely to lose their jobs when the new government is formed.

Later this year, vibraphonist Gary Burton will resign as vice president of Berklee College of Music, ending a three-decade affiliation with the school. NPR's Cheryl Corley talks with Burton about the move and his desire to do more performing and recording.

The campaigns of President Bush and Sen. John Kerry are pouring resources into states that may provide them with leverage in key regions. Bush is staking a claim to Minnesota, which he narrowly lost in 2000, while Kerry is attempting to solidify his support in Louisiana. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel, Lawrence Jacobs of the University of Minnesota and John Maginnis, publisher of LaPolitics.com.

Heard described years of alleged abuse at the hands of the movie star.

Troy, a movie starring Brad Pitt as the heroic warrior Achilles and based on Homer's epic poem The Iliad, opens in theaters Friday. NPR's Bob Mondello says the film is a throwback to an earlier Hollywood era of sword and sandal epics.

As President Bush campaigns in the Midwest, he highlights an improved economy but finds he can't ignore the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. Hear NPR's Don Gonyea and Brian Bull of Wisconsin Public Radio.

U.S. officials in Baghdad announce that military policeman Spc. Jeremy Sivits will be the first to face a court-martial over prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison. The May 19 proceeding will determine whether Sivits merits a "bad conduct discharge." Observers say the speed with which the charges are being brought reflects the military's desire to put the abuse scandal to rest. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

Two more Israeli soldiers die in Gaza after gun battles with Palestinian militants Friday. In the past three days, 13 Israeli soldiers have been killed in clashes with militia gunmen, and well over 100 Palestinians have been killed or wounded. NPR's Julie McCarthy reports.

This week's letter to ethicist Randy Cohen comes from a listener in Beijing who wants to know whether a friend is obliged to pass on damning information about a former manager now applying to business schools.