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A Catholic bishop in South Africa has become a leading opponent of the church's ban on the use of condoms. Bishop Kevin Dowling presides over Rustenburg, an impoverished mining town that has been ravaged by HIV/ AIDS. With so much suffering caused by the virus, Dowling considers the Vatican's ban morally unacceptable.

New York has always served as a muse for rock icon Lou Reed, and his photography is inspired by his sense of the city. The photo exhibit Lou Reed New York opened recently at the Hermes and Steven Kasher galleries. Reed tells Scott Simon about his work.

Commentator Tamar Jacoby believes the individual immigration reform proposals from the Bush administration and members of Congress may not be perfect. But out of them, she thinks will come a workable plan to solve some of the country's immigration problems. This is the second of two commentaries on immigration reform proposals.

The Supreme Court considers New Hampshire's 2003 law requiring the parents of a minor to be notified before their daughter has an abortion. Hear oral arguments.

Over the weekend, four Christian aid workers were taken captive in Iraq. They are part of Christian Peacemakers Teams, a pacifist religious organization that has had members operating outside the Green Zone since 2002.

President Bush reacts cautiously to the success of the militant Hamas party in Palestinian elections. The United States lists Hamas as a terrorist organization, but the president suggests he could work with the new Hamas-led government if it would agree to recognize Israel's right to exist.

Early Friday morning, Kenneth Lee Boyd became the 1,000th person to be executed in the United States since 1977. He died by lethal injection at a prison in Raleigh, N.C. Boyd was convicted of murdering his estranged wife and father-in-law.

Peasants relocated to make room for a reservoir in northern China's Hebei province claim local leaders pocketed more than $7 million in compensation funds owed to them. Those who tried to organize a recall vote were bribed, beaten or jailed into submission. The case typifies recent rural protests.

The trial of Saddam Hussein resumes Monday in Baghdad, along with controversy surrounding the trial. Saddam and seven co-defendants are standing trial for the killing of nearly 150 Shi'ite men after a 1982 assassination attempt against Saddam.

The beginning of January marks the deadline for most college admissions applications. The Unversity of Virginia's freshmen may not be anxious to revisit this period, but they can anyway: A play called Voices of the Class, 2009 offers adaptations of their application essays.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has been talking tough in his bid to take control of the city's large, troubled school district. Such a takeover could put Villaraigosa at odds with the teachers' union, a group he once served as a labor organizer.

Comets are known as the icy bodies of the solar system. But new analysis of dust brought back by a space probe shows comets are also made up of minerals forged by fire.

Dane Cook is selling out big venues. His CD is a smash. He's a Saturday Night Live host. Not bad for a comic who credits the Web with helping him build a loyal fan base.

The U.S. economy is strong -- but faces a crisis if the growing deficit is not reined in, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan says. Speaking at a policy forum in Philadelphia, Greenspan highlighted health care and defense spending as two main challenges to fiscal restraint.

Residents of New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward were allowed to return to their homes Thursday for the first time since Hurricane Katrina hit. Residents were permitted to stay for the day and had to leave by sundown.

Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) has said that in calling for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, he is passing on the views of military personnel. People on all sides of the debate in Iraq say the military is with them. But verifying such claims can be difficult, since troops are supposed to avoid direct involvement in political debates.

Saddam Hussein takes the stand and launches into a political speech, praising the insurgency and urging Iraqis to halt sectarian violence. Reporters are ordered out of the chamber when Saddam ignores the judge's orders to confine his statements to the charges against him.

John Taylor writes about the formative days of the National Basketball Associaton in The Rivalry: Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and the Golden Age of Basketball.

In recent years, there has been increasing speculation that the Vatican is preparing to establish diplomatic relations with China. But China's 12 million Catholics are often still caught between the Church and the state.

Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, testified for the first time on Wednesday at his trial in Baghdad. He called the proceedings a "comedy." The judge closed the session to the public when Saddam refused to follow orders.

When troops stationed in Iraq and elsewhere overseas watch the Super Bowl on TV, they don't see the commercials that everyone else does. Instead, they see taped messages recorded by players during the mayhem of Super Bowl media day.

In his State of the Union address, President Bush said the United States should kick its addiction to oil from "unstable parts of the world" and specifically mentioned the Middle East. Alex Chadwick talks to Eric Weiner about two of America's biggest sources of foreign oil, Nigeria and Venezuela -- nowhere near the Middle East, but just as unstable.

Nanotechnology is finding a home in beauty products. Some skin-cream makers, for instance, say buckyballs can prevent premature aging of the skin by acting as an anti-oxidant. But some experts wonder about the safety of these highly engineered nanostructures.

Slobodan Milosevic, the former president of Yugoslavia, was found dead Saturday in his detention cell at The Hague. He was charged with crimes against humanity related to the wars of the 1990s in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo. New York Times reporter Gregory Crouch and Dejan Anastasiejevic offer their insights to Debbie Elliott.

In New York, a federal jury deadlocks in the racketeering trial of accused mob boss John "Junior" Gotti. It's his second mistrial in eight months. Prosecutors say they'll try Gotti a third time, and the judge indicates she'll set a new trial date on Monday.