NPR People: Steve Inskeep

Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, about 4 million Iraqis have fled their homes. Another 2 million have fled the country entirely. Throughout the war, NPR's Deborah Amos has spent much of her time with Iraqis who fled to Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. She has a new book out: Eclipse of the Sunnis: Power, Exile and Upheaval in the Middle East.

"A moment of opportunity," that's what Vice President Joe Biden is calling the announcement that Israelis and Palestinians will be engaging in indirect negotiations brokered by the United States. Biden is on a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories. He is the highest ranking member of the Obama Administration so far to make that trip.

Democrats are busy working to get past scandals and a messy debate concerning overhauling health care. The party is worried about how November's elections might affect President Obama's effort to get a health bill passed.

The 65-team NCAA men's basketball tournament field won't be officially announced until this coming Sunday, but the first five invitations to the Big Dance were sent out over the weekend as conference tournament play began.

Iraq has held its parliamentary elections, amid threats and violence aimed at keeping voters from the polls. Sunnis and Shiites alike went to the polls Sunday in defiance of insurgents who lobbed hand grenades at voters and bombed a polling station. Thirty-six were killed. Preliminary results are trickling in.

The Obama administration is close to deciding that the admitted mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks will be tried in a military court, reversing plans to hold the trial in a civilian court in New York. Fierce opposition arose to trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantanamo detainees in a civilian courtroom in Manhattan.

The Labor Department reports employers cut 36,000 jobs in February. Still, the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 percent. Analysts had expected the jobless rate to rise to 9.8 percent.

The government's monthly employment report is due out Friday morning. February's bad weather has analysts guessing what the report might show. Surveys indicate business payrolls will likely show another loss. The unemployment rate is expected to increase, despite falling to 9.7 percent in January.

Congressman Charles Rangel of New York was, until Wednesday, the chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. Cases pending against him in the House Ethics Committee have led him to step down, at least temporarily. New York Governor David Paterson is being urged to step down because of his intervention in the domestic violence case involving a key aide.

Once a conservative advocate for the No Child Left Behind Act, Diane Ravitch has had a change in opinion. The former Bush administration education official has written a book spelling out the law's missteps and adverse effects on the U.S. education system.

President Obama is still working on his top domestic priority: a health care bill. The administration is optimistic that Democrats will have the votes to pass legislation. The Senate's Democratic leaders are try to devise a strategy for passing the legislation with a simple 51-vote majority. There are 57 Democrats in the Senate and two Democratic leaning independents.

Gov. David Paterson is expected to announce Friday that he will finish his term, but will not run for re-election. That's according to the Associated Press. Paterson's administration has been plagued by allegations that officials and state police inappropriately interfered with a woman who accused a top Paterson aide of assault.

This week has been a crucial one for the U.S. economy. Chairman Ben Bernanke testified before Congress on the Federal Reserve's exit-strategy. That is: How will officials turn the life support system off for the U.S. financial sector without destroying the system? After one of Bernanke's sentences, the Dow gained nearly 1 percentage point in a few minutes.

In Afghanistan, suicide bombers have carried out a series of attacks in the heart of the capital, Kabul. The blasts killed at least 17 people in an area of the city where a number of foreigners live. The Taliban has claimed responsibility. The attacks come as a major operation is under way in southern Afghanistan to dislodge the Taliban from its strongholds.

An Italian court has convicted three current and former Google executives on privacy violations. The judge held them criminally responsible for an online video of a disabled teenager being bullied. Google says it will appeal the convictions. The case was closely followed for its implications concerning Internet freedom in Italy and elsewhere in Europe.