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In an effort to name the U.S. sports organization with the grandest tradition of losing, Commentator Frank Deford explains how the U.S. Olympic Committee continues to heap blunder on top of blunder, all the while hampering U.S. Olympic stature around the world.

Host Jacki Lyden talks with singer Aaron Neville about the ups and downs of his 30 year music career. Neville has just released Devotion, his first-ever collection of inspirational songs and a new book, The Brothers, which tells of his colorful past encompassing drug addiction, burglary and chart- topping records.

There were toes tapping and heads nodding in Louisville, Kentucky, last night when the city played host to the Bluegrass music awards. The Del McCoury Band and Dolly Parton both took home top awards. The event isn't televised, but is broadcast live in more than 3,000 U.S. radio markets.

Throughout this campaign year, education has ranked among the top concerns of voters -- especially those suburban women who often cross party lines and decide electoral outcomes. NPR's David Welna went to the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights to talk to moms with school-age children in a neighborhood George W. Bush visited this week.

Number 21 on the Billboard top 100 this week: India Arie, with her first CD, Acoustic Soul. She has drawn impressive comparisons to Roberta Flack, Tracy Chapman and Bill Withers. Reviewer Sarah Bardeen says that Arie deserves the success. India Arie's Acoustic Soul is on Motown Records.

Today President Bush conferred with China Vice Premier Qian Qichen -- the highest ranking official from Beijing since the administration took office. Qian's top priority is waylaying the proposed sale of advanced anti-missile technology to Taiwan. The Bush administration must decide next month whether to make the sale. Human rights was also a topic of discussion.

Pentagon top adviser and one of the chief architects of the war in Iraq, Douglas Feith, resigns. Feith, a staunch neo-conservative with close ties to Israel, is a controversial figure, especially for his role in the use of intelligence to justify the war in Iraq.

President Bush nominates Trade Representative Rob Portman as the White House budget director. Portman is a Washington insider and longtime friend of the president. Bush also selected Susan Schwab, the deputy trade representative, to move up to the top trade job, replacing Portman.

Two top executives and the outside auditor exit the federally backed mortgage giant Fannie Mae after the Securities and Exchange Commission finds fault with the company's accounting. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Mike McNamee of Business Week.

NPR's Howard Berkes reports on the women's bobsled competition for the 2002 Olympic in Salt Lake City. After competing in three Olympic competitions, Bonny Warner, one of the top American drivers, is making her last attempt to win an Olympic medal.

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.