Search results for

The World Health Organization cautions travelers to avoid China's Shanxi province, Beijing and Toronto, saying the regions are high-risk areas for the deadly respiratory disease called SARS. But Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman and other officials call the warning an overreaction. Hear NPR's Richard Knox.

Although past experiences have taught the military to prepare for looting and lawlessness after the destruction of a government, the U.S. failed to prepare adequately in Iraq. NPR's Tom Gjelten reports that not enough resources or troops were devoted to security.

A snappy new CD by the Charlie Hunter Quintet features harmonica, sax, trombone, drums, and guitar, underpinned by a funky bass line — but there's no bass player listed in the liner notes. That's because Hunter does double duty, playing bass and guitar lines with his custom-made eight-string guitar. NPR's Liane Hansen talks with Hunter about his unique playing style.

President Bush underscores tax day by renewing his call for another round of tax cuts. Bush wanted $726 billion more in cuts, but the Republican-controlled Congress set the target lower. A poll by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government indicates Americans don't see a need for more tax relief. NPR's David Welna reports.

In a further sign the U.S. is shifting its focus in the Persian Gulf from fighting to nation building, Gen. Tommy Franks went to the Iraqi capital for the first time since the start of the war. Meanwhile the Pentagon's comptroller estimates the cost of the Iraq war so far at $20 billion. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.

NPR's Michael Sullivan reports that while security remains an issue in the southern port city of Basra in Iraq, the real issue for the city's million residents is water. A month after the war in Iraq began, there still is no running water in Basra and what fresh water there is is being trucked in to be distributed, by the bucket, by British Marines.

Alan Cheuse reviews the novel Shelter from the Storm by Michael Mewshaw. Cheuse says Mewshaw is a thinking person's thriller writer.

The CDC revises estimates of the number of SARS cases in the United States. The new number is much lower than previous counts, since the CDC no longer includes in the total those "suspected" of having the illness. NPR's Joanne Silberner reports.

NPR's Kate Seelye in Damascus reports on the large Iraqi community in Syria. Many are political exiles; others came on a religious pilgrimage. All plan to return home, where many fear an uncertain future.

Huge crowds of Iraqi Shiite Muslims converge in Karbala, Iraq. They are making a pilgrimage for one of Shiite Islam's holiest celebrations -- one banned for decades by Saddam Hussein. Some Shiite leaders hope pilgrims will demonstrate against the United States. NPR's Steve Inskeep reports, and NPR's Melissa Block talks to Mahmoud M. Ayoub, professor of Islamic studies and comparative religion at Temple University.