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A group of leading Shiite clerics are holding talks to resolve the U.S. standoff with radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose anti-American rhetoric touched off a wave of attacks on U.S.-led forces in several Iraqi cities. Al-Sadr's militiamen have withdrawn from police and government buildings they had occupied, but the security situation remains unstable. Hear NPR's Anne Garrels.

The highway bill signed by President Bush Wednesday is nearly $30 billion richer than what Bush proposed -- and it tops the figure he said he'd veto. The president has said he expects to cut the federal budget deficit in half by 2009, warning that Congress must control spending.

For the seventh year in a row, Lance Armstrong has won the Tour de France. And this was a victory lap of sorts. Armstrong will retire at 33. Racing fans will miss him, but look forward to new competition.

The non-profit College Board reports that the average annual cost of a four-year private college is now above $30,000. Sending a student off to a year at a public school now costs, on average, nearly $12,800.

The Michigan Chamber of Commerce hopes the legislature will pass several pro-business laws before election year politics starts throwing obstacles in the…

American Electric Power, an Ohio-based company, has agreed to a $4.6 billion settlement of a lawsuit over pollution controls at its power plants. The Justice Department says it's the biggest environmental enforcement settlement ever.

With voters in the swing state of Iowa today joining those in two-dozen other states who can already cast their vote for president, experts say the surge in early voting is necessitating a change in campaign strategy.

In an upsurge of Mideast violence, Israeli soldiers kill at least six armed Palestinians in raids in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It was the first Israeli incursion deep inside the Gaza Strip since it withdrew settlers and troops from there last year.

Alistair Campbell, British Prime Minister Tony Blair's top media strategist, steps down amid accusations that he helped exaggerate evidence on Iraq's weapons programs. The British media had dubbed Campbell the "real deputy prime minister." Campbell cites family reasons for his resignation. Hear NPR's Guy Raz.

Even as it loses its chief executive, the CIA's recently retired third-ranking official is under investigation for possible improper relations with a defense contractor, says Newsweek magazine correspondent Michael Isikoff. Federal investigators are investigating CIA Executive Director Kyle "Dusty" Foggo.