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The U.S., EU, Russia and the U.N. have agreed on a deal to create a trust fund for the Palestinian Authority. The authority is in the midst of a deepening financial crisis created when Hamas was voted into power, prompting Western donors to end their support for the government. The four powers now hope to get aid directly to the Palestinian people.

The Da Vinci Code is expected to be a blockbuster hit this summer. Sony Pictures is hoping that the millions of people who bought Dan Brown's book will also buy movie tickets. Father James Martin is hoping that after fans see the movie, they won't come looking for him. He's tired of having everyone he meets ask him about the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei. Martin, a Jesuit priest, is the author of My Life with the Saints.

A show in Washington, D.C., features paintings, lithographs and other representations of the banjo. One of America's most endearing musical instruments also played a turbulent role in racial history.

Jack Devine, a 32-year CIA veteran, says the next person put in charge of the agency needs to rally the organization's sagging morale, and then turn his attention to the problems of Iraq and Afghanistan. Devine worked in the CIA's clandestine services. He left in 1999.

The saga of slugger Barry Bonds is being watched closely by sports fans -- including young baseball players who dream of someday playing in the big leagues. To many of them, Bonds represents a tangle of fame, glory and bad press. As Bonds approaches Babe Ruth's home run mark, NPR's Tom Goldman discusses steroids and stardom with top high school prospects.

Gary Shteyngart came to the United States in 1979 as a 7 year old Soviet-Jewish kid. He left behind a life of childhood bliss to become a self-described depressive nerd. He's all grown up now, and his new novel, Absurdistan, imagines an oil-rich country run by kleptocrats and oil giants.

The popular Burmese rock band Iron Cross is using music to challenge the nation's infamously repressive regime. Writer and radio producer Scott Carrier recently visited Burma, and he reports that in the great tradition of rock and roll, Iron Cross is taking on Burma's military government with song.

The last one-room school in the state of Hawaii closed in 2005, just a few weeks before the school year began. There had been a school in the village of Ke'anae, on the north coast of Maui, for 96 years.

Chris Wood of Modeski, Martin and Wood and his brother, Oliver Wood, take listeners on a rootsy journey through American music on acoustic bass and guitar.

The United Nations says Iran has ignored the Security Council's call to suspend all nuclear fuel enrichment. Instead, the U.N. says Iran has accelerated its program. Bush administration officials say it is now time for the Security Council to act against Iran.