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Some 265 girls and boys competed this week for the 77th Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee. We listened in on some of the participants. The decisive word was "autochthonous." A 14-year-old David Tidmarsh, of South Bend, Ind. -- who tied for 16th in last year's event -- triumphed over a 13-year-old from Colorado who was eliminated by the word "schwarmerei." Hear NPR's Robert Siegel.

CIA Director George Tenet resigns, effective in July. The move, announced by President Bush on the White House's South Lawn, comes after Tenet faced harsh criticism over intelligence failures related to Iraq and the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The president praised Tenet's leadership and work in seven years at the CIA. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly reports.

NPR's Scott Simon remembers Ray Charles, who died this week, with a musical selection.

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with veteran journalist Richard Ben Cramer about his new book How Israel Lost: The Four Questions.

NPR's Alex Chadwick talks with former Assistant Secretary of State Princeton Lyman about a letter he and 25 other former diplomats and military commanders have signed, calling for the defeat of George W. Bush in the November 2004 presidential election. In the letter, the group says Bush has so harmed international relations that only a new leader can repair them.

NATO leaders meeting in Turkey agree to use NATO forces to train the military, security and police forces of the new Iraqi interim government. NATO's involvement in Iraq will remain limited, and no NATO troops are scheduled to be deployed there. Hear NPR's Renee Montagne and NPR's Don Gonyea.

NPR's Alex Chadwick talks to Tess Vigeland of Marketplace about the U.S. Federal Reserve's expected decision to raise interest rates, and how that could affect consumers who've racked up a lot of debt.

Rights groups are afraid that reversing Roe v. Wade could have consequences for same-sex marriage, access to contraception, and transgender rights. And now they're mobilizing.

Many Kurds distrust the Arab-dominated interim government now in charge of Iraq and feel betrayed by a lack of guarantees over the future of their autonomy. Although most Kurds would prefer independence, Kurdish leaders are seeking a compromise that would allow Kurdistan to be part of an Iraqi federation. Hear NPR's Ivan Watson.

Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi says that if violence continues in Iraq, it may become necessary to delay a deadline to hold elections by the end of January of next year. Allawi's comments came just days before the June 30 U.S. handover of power to the new government. NPR's Deborah Amos reports.