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Continuing a week-long series on problems common throughout Latin America, NPR's Martin Kaste reports on the prevalent black market economy in Caracas, Venezuela. Confronted with a shortage of jobs and economic hardship, many residents of the metropolitan capital area have resorted to joining the so-called "informal economy" in order to make ends meet.

A northern pintail duck was also killed and three other flamingos were injured, according to the zoo.

Clarke is the former national coordinator for security, infrastructure protection and counterterrorism. He held the position in President Clinton's administration and continued for President Bush. He resigned in March 2003. His new book is Against All Enemies: Inside America’s War on Terror. In the book he criticizes the Bush administration for failing to heed warnings about al Qaeda before Sept. 11, and for invading Iraq without evidence of a connection to al Qaeda. Clarke also worked for the Reagan Administration and the first Bush administration.

In the second part of our series on the Inland Empire, NPR's Ina Jaffe reports that subdivisions are swiftly replacing orange orchards in this area 50 miles east of Los Angeles, and shopping malls are replacing ranches. But some farmers here who want to hang on to their way of life are finding it's still possible.

NPR's Liane Hansen talks with Scott Billington of Rounder Records. Under the name Tangle Eye, Billington and producer Steve Reynolds have released a CD that puts a modern spin on the archival tapes of late folklorist Alan Lomax.

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry collects lopsided wins in Tuesday's primaries in four Southern states, edging closer to clinching the Democratic nomination for president. Turning his attention to the November election, Kerry ratchets up his attacks on President Bush and steps up efforts to raise $80 million in campaign funds. Hear NPR's David Welna.

Former counter-terrorism official Richard Clarke tells the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks that the Bush administration ignored his proposals to take aggressive action against al Qaeda in the months before the attacks. The White House denies Clarke's charges, and says it was developing its own anti-terrorism strategy at the time of the attacks. Hear NPR's Pam Fessler.

NPR's Mike Shuster reports that despite all the missed signals, poor intelligence and lousy communication between counter-terrorist agencies, politics did play a role in early 2001 in the inability of the U.S. government to anticipate al Qaeda attacks in the United States. Testimony before the commission investigating the government's actions before and after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks paints a picture of an incoming Bush administration unwilling to see the threat from al Qaeda as urgently as the outgoing Clinton administration did.

After months of delays due to sabotage and looting at oil installations, Iraq is exporting oil again -- more than two million barrels of crude each day, worth about $1 billion a month. NPR's Ivan Watson reports.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has refused to disqualify himself from a case involving Vice President Dick Cheney, a good friend. Though apparent conflicts of interest have occurred repeatedly throughout the high court's history, recusals remain rare. Hear NPR's Nina Totenberg.