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The Bush administration says the war in Iraq has cost $20 billion already, and will require another $20 billion over the next five months. The Pentagon cautions there are variables in the long-term costs. Even so, the estimate is less than private analysts and economists had predicted. NPR's Jack Speer reports.

The official currency of Iraq, the dinar, is nearly worthless. U.S. forces will temporarily replace the Iraqi currency bearing Saddam's face with the U.S. dollar. The greenback already is being used to pay Iraqi civil servants working to restore basic services and clean up after looters. NPR's Allison Aubrey reports.

The United States, Britain and Spain will present the U.N. Security Council with a draft resolution Friday calling for the immediate end to sanctions on Iraq. The resolution also describes a role for the United Nations in rebuilding Iraq and creates an international advisory board to monitor Iraq's oil contracts. NPR's Vicky O'Hara reports.

A mass grave filled with the remains of dozens of people, some with blindfolds and hands bound, is discovered in a southern Iraqi town near Najaf. The bodies are believed to be those of Iraqis executed in a 1991 Shiite Muslim uprising. Red Crescent workers say they believe more graves will be found in the area. Hear Reuters reporter Christine Hauser.

A new survey says most Americans think high-income people don't pay their fair share of taxes. Yet most Americans also want the government to dump a tax paid almost entirely by the wealthy: the estate tax. These findings are in a poll by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Kennedy School of Government. NPR's John Ydstie reports.

Damage to oil facilities by looters hampers efforts to return southern Iraq's oil production to full capacity. At 200,000 barrels a day, production stands at one-tenth of its pre-war levels. The output is being used to help fuel the country's power stations. NPR's Jackie Northam reports.

The University of Hong Kong research team that first identified the coronavirus that causes SARS applies for a U.S. patent for the virus. The group plans to charge licensing fees to companies that want to manufacture related products but says it will give discounts to academic researchers. NPR's Joanne Silberner reports.

Another Iraqi civilian dies in a shooting at a U.S. military checkpoint in Iraq. The incident comes a day after seven civilians were killed at another checkpoint. As the death toll climbs, U.S. troops find it harder to win the popular support of Iraqis. NPR's Mike Shuster reports.

As the conflict in Iraq progresses, Russia's state-run television softens its initial anti-American stance. The media's new tone reflects an effort by the Kremlin to limit damage to U.S.-Russian relations. NPR's Lawrence Sheets reports.

Iraqi forces withdraw from several more frontline positions along the dividing line between Baghdad-controlled Iraq and the autonomous Kurdish enclave in the country's north. The move comes after Iraqi troops clashed with Kurdish militia in what may have been the first ground battle between the two sides. NPR's Ivan Watson reports.