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The election of Iraq's first parliament since the fall of Saddam Hussein is a big step in the country's attempt to redefine itself. Security analyst Anthony Cordesman says its just a beginning.

The Senate begins debate on overhauling the nation's immigration laws. Senators will consider a measure passed on Monday by the Senate Judiciary Committee that would clear the way for 11 million illegal immigrants to seek U.S. citizenship. It would create a guest worker program, something President Bush supports and the House of Representatives has rejected.

Georgia lawmakers are expected to pass a bill authorizing a Bible literacy class in public high schools. The class, "History and Literature of the Old and New Testament," will be taught with the Bible as the text. The bill does not require that schools teach the course, or that students take it. Emily Kopp of Georgia Public Broadcasting reports.

House Republicans basked in triumph after razor-thin passage of a sweeping budget cut plan in the wee hours of Friday morning. But intra-party tensions are sure to flare again when negotiations begin next month on a House-Senate compromise measure.

A federal lawsuit against the Massachusetts Department of Education accuses the state of censorship and political interference for using the word "genocide" in its high school curriculum to describe the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Armenians in Turkey during World War I. Plaintiffs in the suit say that designation is up for debate - but opponents say the evidence of genocide is clear.

Senators and outside experts testify before a Senate panel on the need to reform rules governing lobbying. A consensus appears to be developing around some areas of reform, such as gift giving and slowing the movement between Congress and the lobbying industry. But other issues are not so clear-cut.

Authorities say results from a DNA test released Thursday support the guilty verdict delivered against Roger Keith Coleman, who was executed in Virginia in 1992. Coleman claimed he did not rape and murder his sister-in-law. Gov. Mark Warner ordered the first-ever post-execution DNA review.

The White House releases its review of the government's response to Hurricane Katrina. The 217-page report was far less harsh in its assessment of what went wrong than a similar report last week by a House committee. But the administration admits the response was flawed, and recommends more than 100 ways to address problems that emerged during the storm.

The Senate passes a spending measure totaling $14 billion more than President Bush said he would accept. But the president has eased his veto threat, waiting to see how a conference committee will handle the gap between the Senate plan and the House's $91.9 billion proposal.

Searchers are still looking for victims of a tsunami that hit the Indonesian island of Java on Monday, killing more than 300 people. There was no warning, despite efforts across the region to establish a tsunami warning system. John Ydstie speaks to Nate Cooper of the American Red Cross.