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From NPR news in Washington, I'm Nora Raum.

Iraqi and US forces raided a suspected terror site in Sadr city Iraq today, a stronghold of militias loyal to Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr. Officials say one man was detained who they suspected has ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. US and Iraqi forces also called in air strikes against suspected terrorists. In cars that appeared to be preparing to attack American forces after the raid, at least 5 suspects were killed.


President Bush has signed the bill to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through September 30th. It provides about 95 billion dollars for military operations. The president had vetoed an earlier bill that would have required the withdrawal of troops in Iraq by October 1st. The Iraq war spending bill also includes money to help states pay for health care for the poor. NPR's Julie Rovner reports.
The measure includes up to 615 million dollars for nearly a dozen states that have or expect to exhaust their share of federal funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program. SCHIP pays for health insurance for children in low and moderate income families who earn too much to qualify for the medicate health program. Congress is working on separate legislation expected later this summer to renew the SCHIP program which will otherwise expire at the end of September. The emergency spending bill signed by the president also blocks for a year, and in administration regulation that would limit how states can raise funds to pay for their shares of the Medicate program. Both Medicate and SCHIP are jointly funded by the states and the federal government. Julie Rovner NPR news Washington.


A bomb went off in a crowed market in India today killing at least 7 people. The attack occurred in Assam where several groups have been fighting for an independent homeland since 1979. Peace talks between the separatists and the Indian government broke down last September.


There is more trouble for agro-business giant Monsanto. France is considering banning one of its leading strains of genetically modified corn. Frank Browning reports from Paris.
Genetically modified food crops have never been popular in France, and activists here regularly invaded and destroyed GM research fields. The new case concerns Monsanto’s MON810 seed which German regulators put on restriction earlier in the week. France's new “super minister” in charge of ecology transport and public works Alain Juppe said that while he is not opposed to food and medical research using genetically modified plants, the MON810 corn represented problems because Monsanto has provided no more monitoring program. Does he help that corn might interact with Jason fields and plants? Juppe has set a-summer-long review of France's policies on research and production of genetically modified crops. For NPR news, I'm Frank Browning in Paris.

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Stocks generally rose yesterday, but ended lower for the week. Steven Beckner of Market News International reports.
The week began strongly enough with the Standard & Poor's 500 index setting intraday record highs, but various warnings from former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan helped trigger profit-taking that beat down stock prices through Thursday. But just ahead of the Memorial Day weekend, a flurry of ban in relatively light trading enabled stocks to recoup some of their losses, despite rising oil prices and weak existing home sales. With two shares rising for everyone that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones Industrial rose half a percent. The S&P gained more than half a percent, while the technology-heavy NASDAQ Composite climbed three quarters of a percent. For the week the Dow was off more than a third and the S&P closed to half a percent. The NASDAQ fell only slightly. For NPR news, I'm Steven Beckner.

Prosecutors in Los Angeles say they have decided not to charge two teenagers for causing a wildfire March 30th. They say the boys were hiking in the Hollywood hills. One found a lighter and set some twigs on fire. They thought they put it off, but the fire later spread to 150 acres, and sent smokes wafting behind the famous Hollywood sign. Officials say they don't have enough evidence to consciously disregard the risk of causing a wildfire.


It's Memorial Day weekend when many Americans take to the highways. AAA estimates that 38 million people will travel at least 15 miles this weekend. Most of them 83% will drive despite higher gas prices this year. AAA says the price of gas nationwide is $3.22 a gallon for self-serve regular, 36 cents higher than a month ago.

I'm Nora Raum, NPR news in Washington.