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Researchers are suggesting that flawed construction -- not storm surges -- likely caused key floodwalls around New Orleans to fail. They say the waters of Lake Pontchartrain never got high enough to rise above the walls and erode their foundations, the early explanation for the levee collapses.

Millions of Afghans vote for a new parliament despite the surge of violence in the weeks leading to the election. There were reportedly several dozen Taliban attacks in the country's south and east, and two rockets landed near an election center in Kabul. But officials said the election overall was remarkably peaceful.

Germany faces weeks of political uncertainty following the inconclusive results of Sunday's elections. The opposition Christian Democrats, led by Angela Merkel, failed to win a clear majority. The current chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, says he can form a government, and has refused to step down.

Trying to ignore a series of violent disruptions, Afghan voters go to the polls for the nation's first free legislative elections in three decades.

Germany holds general elections this weekend. If Angela Merkel becomes Germany's next chancellor, she will be the first woman in history to hold that post. Some say this is a watershed moment for women in German society. But others say Merkel has failed to champion women's issues.

President Bush addresses the nation in a televised speech from the French Quarter in New Orleans. The president pledged a massive federal effort to help the Gulf Coast re-build. He offered words of encouragement for a stricken region, and took responsibility for the federal government's failings in the relief effort.

The Senate Judiciary Committee wraps up hearings on the nomination of Judge John Roberts to be U.S. chief justice. Thursday, the committee worked into the night to hear 30 witnesses evenly divided between Roberts supporters and doubters.

A visit to Capitol Hill Tuesday by Iraq's provisional president, Jalal Talabani, forced lawmakers to turn their attention to a war that's been overshadowed by Hurricane Katrina and Supreme Court vacancies. Some say the Iraq war is now competing with emergency spending at home.

Kenneth Jost, Supreme Court editor for CQ Press, writes that federal appeals court Judge John Roberts will face increased scrutiny in his nomination for Chief Justice of the United States, but that his credentials and GOP solidarity seem likely to assure his confirmation.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak sweeps the country's first competitive presidential election. He wins a fifth consecutive term, with more than 88 percent of the vote. But opposition candidates and independent monitors condemn widespread irregularities at the polls.