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An ordinance proposed by City Commissioner Joe Carollo would outlaw planting new mangroves or other tall plants at city parks to protect water views.

A White House official said Biden's comments did not reflect a policy shift, even though the U.S. traditionally has avoided making such an explicit security guarantee to Taiwan.

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.

Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald could announce grand jury indictments in the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity as early as Wednesday. The probe's likely targets could include some of the most powerful advisors in the Bush White House. Noah Adams discusses the political and legal ramifications with Slate political correspondent John Dickerson.

Rep. Ramon Alexander, six months away from becoming the state House Democratic leader, became embroiled in controversy this week after a report detailed allegations made by a former Florida A&M University employee.

The levees of Southern Louisiana remain under the control of local districts, but Hurricane Katrina revived a call to join them under a central authority. Some question whether surrendering local power would prevent a levee failure in the future.

More than 5,000 police are guarding Indonesian government buildings ahead of expected protests over fuel-price hikes. President Yudhoyono will raise prices 87 percent Saturday to help cut crippling energy subsidies. Panic buying has already begun.

Steve Inskeep discusses the current state of intelligent design in American classrooms with Barbara Bradley Hagerty and with Greg Allen, who covered the intelligent design movement in Kansas.

The search continues for insight into the views and legal philosophy of Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito. Alex Chadwick speaks with Slate financial writer Henry Blodget about Alito's finances, and what they tell us about the man under the judge's robe.

Tim Carney, the last American ambassador to Sudan before the United States downgraded relations in 1997, wants to promote a broader view of the country through a new collection of photographs. NPR foreign correspondent Michele Kelemen reviews Carney's book, Sudan: The Land and the People.

The jury in Zacarias Moussaoui's sentencing trial decides that he is eligible for the death penalty. Moussaoui was defiant in the face of the ruling, yelling out in court, "You will never get my blood." In the next phase of the proceedings, the jury will hear more testimony and decide whether Moussaoui should receive the death penalty or life in prison.

The Zimbabwean government's campaign to wipe out shantytowns has left an estimated 200,000 people homeless. President Robert Mugabe says the three-week-old operation is a "cleanup" designed to restore the country's "sanity." Critics say it's intended to punish city dwellers for opposing Mugabe and have launched a two-day strike.

The sentencing phase of Army Pfc. Lynndie England's court martial begins. She testified Monday that she was not coerced into abusing detainees at Abu Ghraib, and she pleaded guilty to most of the charges against her.

A state judge imposes a $1 million a day fine against the Transport Workers Union for defying a state law that prohibits strikes by public employees. Millions of commuters are struggling to get around New York City after subway and bus workers walked off the job early Tuesday morning.

The Winter Games kicks off with several suspensions, including eight cross-country skiers suspended for five days because they had high red blood cell counts. Two Americans are among those suspended. Robert Siegel talks with Wall Street Journal sportswriter Stefan Fatsis.

Pope Benedict XVI led an outdoor mass in Krakow, Poland, Sunday morning, addressing a crowd estimated at 900,000. Later he moves to the site of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz, where he is expected to stress his commitment to improving relations with Jews and fighting anti-Semitism.

West Virginia's coal mines are expected to temporarily shut down for safety reviews. West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin called for the halt in production after two miners were killed in separate incidents Wednesday. The state has seen 16 mine-related deaths since January. Anna Sale of West Virginia Public Broadcasting reports.

Insurgent attacks appear to be growing in Iraq, less than two weeks before scheduled national elections. Nineteen Iraqis died Saturday in one attack, and 10 U.S. Marines were killed in Fallujah earlier in the week.

Madeleine Brand talks with NPR senior correspondent Juan Williams about events on Capitol Hill this week, including the departure of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX). The powerful conservative resigned amid a string of ethics controversies, and will join a lobbyist group in Virginia.

In the immigration debate, the most sweeping claims deal with jobs and pay. Some say that illegal immigrants work in jobs that Americans are unwilling to take. Others claim that illegal immigrants drive down wages for blue-collar workers. Economists say the reality is a lot more complicated.

A new National Academy of Sciences report finds that transportation accidents involving nuclear waste pose minimal risks. The academy recommends further study of scenarios involving long-duration fires or terrorist attack, and it points out another issue the government needs to address: public fear.

In Rio de Janeiro, rather than gather round the Christmas tree, people choose to watch it float. For 10 years, the city has come together once a year to celebrate the holidays and watch the world's largest Christmas tree float in Rio's lagoa -- a small lake that sits behind the narrow strip of land known as Ipanema.

Voters in Spokane, Wash., recalled Mayor Jim West Tuesday in a special election -- a vote sparked by a local paper's reports on allegations West misused his office to solicit sexual liaisons with young men. Madeleine Brand speaks with Seattle Times chief political reporter David Postman about the election and the requirement that West leave his office by December 16.

The prosecution rests in the first phase of the Zacarias Moussaoui sentencing trial. Prosecutors, seeking the death penalty, needed to convince the jury that at least one person who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks could have been saved if Moussaoui had told authorities about his involvement with al-Qaida's plans.

After 15 years of lawsuits and delays, the Army Corps of Engineers is finally releasing enough water for a "spring rise" flood in the Missouri River. The goal is to spur breeding of an endangered fish, the Pallid Sturgeon. But the flood is controversial -- especially with down-river farmers. Frank Morris of member station KCUR reports.