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A miniature poodle is the upset winner of the nation's most prestigious dog show. Surrey Spice Girl, a 3 year old with black pompoms, beat out the favorites with her performance. Robert Siegel talks with Deborah Woods, author of Top Dogs: Making it to Westminster. Woods' book is published by Hungry Minds, January 2002.

Investigators looking into the space shuttle Columbia accident say NASA workers made safety a top priority, but may have become so comfortable with successful missions that they didn't keep track of small issues that can turn deadly. NPR's Richard Harris reports.

Mike Luckovich, the Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, got a behind-the-scenes look at the Pentagon this week. He was allowed to sit in on briefings with the defense secretary and top generals and came away with some surprising insights. Read his War Diary and see a sketch from his visit.

Despite commentator Joseph C. Phillips' diatribe against the movie Soul Plane and the African-American stereotyping he says it represents, the film still made it back into the top 12 films nationwide last weekend. This Father's Day, Phillips is looking outside the multiplex to gatherings taking place in cities across the country.

Tom Terrell has a review of a new boxed set of reggae music that spans 1960-1975. The four CDs include music from top artists such as The Wailers and Jimmy Cliff, and lesser-known singers from reggae's early beginnings.

The new Israeli film Broken Wings has garnered international praise, winning top prizes not only in Israel but at film festivals in Toyko and Berlin as well. Critics say the melodrama about a dysfunctional family could take place anywhere. Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan has a review.

Illinois Republicans are scrambling to find a senatorial candidate to run against Democratic rising star Barack Obama. NPR's Noah Adams talks with the vice-chair of the Illinois GOP about their political strategy and their top contenders.

Noah talks with NPR's national political correspondent Elizabeth Arnold, who is with the Dole campaign today in Ohio. Dole spoke at a Christian school in Dayton, where he talked about his education proposals and criticized plans for elections next week in Bosnia-Herzegovina. His campaign was shaken up today by the resignation of two top media advisors.

Jacki speaks with Edward Murphy, president of the Medal of Honor Historical Society about the importance of combat medals to military personnel. This week, the Navy's top naval officer Admiral Jeremy 'Mike' Boorda took his own life. His suicide has been linked to questions over whether he was qualified to wear two Vietnam war decorations.

David Welna reports from Tijuana, Mexico on the on-going controversy in the fight against drugs in that country. Last night, military forces replaced Tijuana's civilian agents. This comes amidst disclosures that the army general in charge of Mexico's drug fighting agency worked for the country's top drug lord. Welna says Mexicans are now skeptical about the effectiveness of this military takeover.

NPR's Mike Shuster reports from Sarajevo that in the face of continued manipulation by the leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Radovan Karadzic, no one seems to know what to do next. Neither the top civilian in Bosnia, Carl Bildt, nor the IFOR Commander, Admiral Leighton Smith or any of the Western powers seem to want to take responsibility for the next steps in the peace process.

NPR's Michael Goldfarb reports on the European Union summit to be held in Dublin, Ireland, beginning tomorrow. At the top of the agenda is a single currency for Europe. When Europeans agreed to a single, common market four years ago, they also agreed to a single currency. But the simple idea of one currency for all of Europe has set off a complex set of reactions.

Organic dairy farmers have been making much more than their conventional competitors for the last decade. And the number of organic farms has been skyrocketing. But the top buyer of organic milk just cut the price it pays its suppliers. That may signal a change in the industry. Naomi Schalit of Maine Public Radio has a report.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair says battling crime will be a top priority in the government's new legislative agenda. His pledge comes as officials are investigating the murder of a ten-year old Nigerian boy in London, which sparked loud public outcry. NPR's Julie McCarthy has the story.

NPR's Jack Speer reports on an agreement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and top accounting firms for guidelines requiring the companies to disclose the value of their consulting contracts with businesses they also audit. Both sides agree the new voluntary rules will help assure investors that they're getting a reliable look at a company's financial health.

Oregon's college football teams are accustomed to losing. But they are laughing stocks no more. This season, as NPR's Tom Goldman reports, the University of Oregon and Oregon State University are both ranked in the top 15. The Ducks and the Beavers don't have fearsome nicknames, but the two schools could square off in one of the most important games in Oregon's history --- for a berth in the Rose Bowl.

Unemployment benefits expire for nearly 800,000 Americans as a congressional logjam holds up a possible extension. The new Congress, which meets in January, is expected to take up the issue as a top priority. NPR's David Molpus reports.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell is resigning after four years in the agency's top job. His efforts to lift ownership restrictions on media properties earned him critics on both the left and right.

In Alabama, the key runoff was for U.S. Senate, where Katie Britt topped Rep. Mo Brooks in the Republican race.

Guest host Jacki Lyden gets a demo of the Web site meetup.com from one of its co-founders, Scott Heiferman. The Web site has helped Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean move to the top of the fundraising list. But it also helps pug lovers, gardeners and knitters, among others, to "meet up."

Saddam Hussein's top scientific adviser surrenders to U.S. forces in Baghdad. Lt. Gen. Amer al-Saadi has been tied to Iraq's chemical weapons program, though he insisted as he gave himself up Saturday that Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction. Hear NPR's Anne Garrels.

The governor's race has top billing, as Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, who has the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, is challenging sitting Republican Gov. Brad Little.

The Senate votes of 53-45 to approve former Alabama Attorney General William Pryor's nomination to a lifetime seat on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Republicans hailed Pryor as a top-notch public servant, even as many Democrats described him as a right-wing extremist.

Two worlds have come together in a rare teaching program at one of the nation's top universities. Students at Stanford University are reaching across a cultural divide to help tutor the Mexican immigrants who clean their classrooms and dorms.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) reflects on his rise to the top in his new book, Speaker: Lessons from 40 Years in Coaching and Politics. He speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep.