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Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge says at a Senate briefing and a news conference that al Qaeda is actively interested in disrupting this year's presidential election season. The nation's terror alert level remains unchanged. Ridge offered few details about potential threats, leading some Democrats to question the timing of his remarks. NPR's Pam Fessler reports.

Israel's attorney general has decided not to prosecute Prime Minister Ariel had been accused of accepting bribes from a real estate developer, but the attorney general concluded there was not enough evidence to pursue the case. Hear NPR's Peter Kenyon.

During a campaign stop in the battleground state of Missouri, President Bush faces criticisms over the new Medicare prescription-drug discount card. Critics say the program is too confusing and unlikely to attract those it could benefit the most -- low-income seniors. NPR's Julie Rovner reports.

Music critic Banning Eyre looks at the latest additions to the Ethiopiques series of CDs. Volumes 17 and 18 focus on the rich musical tradition of Ethiopia from the 1960s through the present.

She is Kabul bureau chief for The Washington Post. She has covered South Asia for the Post since 1999, reporting from India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. She has a new memoir, Fragments of Grace: My Search for Meaning in the Strife of South Asia.

President Bush had hoped the No Child Left Behind Act would help him counter the view that Democrats care more about public education than Republicans. But growing criticism of the law makes it unclear if the president's record on education will give him an edge against John Kerry. Bush's stance on education has polarized residents in West Virginia, a state that's up for grabs in the November presidential election despite its Democratic majority. NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews the new reissue Black Christ of the Andes (Smithsonian label) by pianist Mary Lou Williams.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has nominated a four-star general to take command of U.S. forces in Iraq. Gen. George W. Casey, Jr. would replace Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez. Colleagues say Casey has demonstrated the ability to work closely with U.S. diplomats, a skill that will be needed in Iraq when the U.S. embassy goes into business in July. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

Commentator Daniel Pinkwater tells the story of his father's business success in the Catskills. He says his father understood the symbolic and economic value of a little well-placed patriotism.

When former President Bill Clinton met with George W. Bush before leaving office, he told his successor that Osama bin Laden, the Middle East and North Korea posed more of a threat to U.S. national security than Iraq, Clinton says. In the first part of a two-part interview, Clinton also tells NPR's Juan Williams that bin Laden dominated intelligence discussions at the White House.