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A U.S.-backed Iraqi governing council met for the first time Sunday. The 25-member interim council can appoint ministers, approve a national budget and review laws -- but ultimate authority will still rest with the U.S.-led occupying powers. NPR's Kate Seelye reports from Baghdad.

The 25 representatives of Iraq's new Governing Council hold their first meeting in Baghdad -- an event one representative says puts "Saddam in the rubbish heap of history." The council members are appointed by U.S. officials, and Shiite Muslims have a majority of seats. NPR's Kate Seelye reports.

The Federal Reserve is expected to ask the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to produce 100 million copies of the $2 bill within the next year. The government hasn't printed the currency in seven years and is slowly running out. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.

An uneasy calm returns to the southern Iraqi city of Basra after weekend rioting sparked by chronic gasoline and electricity shortages. For two days, Iraqi protesters set fire to vehicles and threw stones at British soldiers. At least one person was killed and three others were wounded in the unrest. NPR's Ivan Watson reports.

For centuries, the Iraqi city of Najaf was the center of Shiite religious learning. But consistent persecution under Saddam Hussein helped shift the center of Shiite power to Iran. Some think Najaf's growing influence since the fall of Saddam's regime could pose a threat to Iran's more radical clergy. NPR's Kate Seelye reports.

Baghdad's continuing electricity shortage creates growing frustration in the restive postwar atmosphere. Summer temperatures reaching 120 degrees contribute to the distress. And consumers violently oppose a plan to equalize distribution of electricity across the country. Restoring 24-hour service to the Iraqi capital may take two years. NPR's Anne Garrels reports.

U.S. soldiers with the 1st Armored Division in Baghdad are recruiting and training Iraqis to serve as security guards at government ministries and other public buildings in the city. The move is aimed at lowering the profile of U.S. troops on the city's streets. NPR's Deborah Amos reports.

Capella Tucker reports from Houston, Tx., on the funeral of 20-year-old U.S. Army Cpl. Tomas Sotelo, Jr., who died June 27 in Baghdad when a rocket-propelled granade hit his vehicle.

Oil wealth has long generated dreams of prosperity, but in the lands of production, the reserves have often brought political and economic instability. In the second of a three-part series for Morning Edition, Sandy Tolan and collaborating reporters look at Ecuador, where citizens wonder what happened to oil's long-promised benefits.

U.S. soldiers consolidate their hold on the international airport outside Baghdad, with reinforcements on the way. The airport is likely to serve as an important strategic base as commanders consider whether to cut through the city or to surround it. NPR's Tom Gjelten reports.