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China suspends international adoptions indefinitely on fears that prospective parents arriving from abroad may spread SARS. The news comes as Chinese health officials release a report explaining how a faulty drainage system helped spark a massive SARS outbreak in a Hong Kong apartment complex. Hear NPR's Brian Naylor and NPR's Joe Palca.

Artist Stefanie Nagorka is creating her own studio space of late in the aisles of Home Depot stores. She creates sculptures out of common building materials, and she hopes to produce a piece of original work in Home Depot stores in all 50 states. NPR's Susan Stone reports.

Democrats accuse the Bush administration of hiding the scope of a post-war Iraq oil contract awarded to a subsidiary of the Halliburton Corp., formerly run by Vice President Dick Cheney. But the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the "operation of facilities and distribution of products" does not represent an expansion of Halliburton's role. Hear NPR's John Ydstie.

NPR's Joe Palca reports from Hong Kong on how scientists tracked down the cause of SARS and identified the virus. The quick identification of the virus is credited with helping to contain the epidemic in many places. And it provides a model for future epidemics involving new viruses or bacteria.

Singer-songwriter Jonatha Brooke is something of an underground sensation, with an adoring fan base built largely on word of mouth and extensive touring with her band. Hear five full-length cuts from her recent performance in NPR's Studio 4A, and view a video of Brooke and her band performing the title track to her latest CD, Steady Pull.

The World Health Organization says it's developing a $100-million fund to combat SARS in China. The money would go to disease-control measures and research into the origins of SARS. WHO officials say the fund does not represent dissatisfaction with China's response to the disease. Hear NPR News.

Before the war in Iraq, the Pentagon assumed that much of the Iraqi army would survive the conflict and would help with postwar reconstruction. U.S. military planners hoped that surviving Iraqi forces would form the basis of a new national army, which would stabilize the country and protect it from outside aggression. But the war did such damage to the Iraqi military that U.S. occupation authorities have little to work with as they try to reconstitute an army. In addition, they have to contend with a demoralized officer corps and ethnic and religious differences in the ranks. NPR's Eric Westervelt reports.

As Cleveland's mayor in 1978, Rep. Dennis Kucinich saw his city plunge into financial default. The Ohio Democrat tells NPR's Bob Edwards that event, triggered by his refusal to privatize the municipal electric system, shows he's politically courageous enough to be president. Hear an extended interview.

Music critic Michelle Mercer reviews new recordings from two Brazilian artists: Natural by Celso Fonseca, and the self-titled Blue Note debut by the Tribalistas. She says both will put you in the mood for summer.

As U.S.-led forces continue their search for biological and chemical weapons in Iraq, Congress and the British Parliament consider launching investigations into whether intelligence findings about possible illegal weapons in Iraq were exaggerated to justify going to war. Hear NPR's Tom Gjelten.

NPR's Deborah Amos reports on the difficulties facing American officials trying to create a new civil administration in Iraq. One particular problem is whether and how to work with members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party. Paul Bremer, the head of the U.S. civil administration in Iraq, has outlawed the Baath Party.

In the third of a four-part National Geographic Radio Expedition, NPR's Alex Chadwick follows Wade Davis to Araouane, a caravan town at least 1,000 years old.

In the conclusion of a four part series on Wal-Mart, NPR's Scott Horsley reports on labor problems facing the company. As the nation's largest private employer, the company has faced multiple class-action lawsuits from disenchanted employees. Critics say that Wal-Mart's system of reducing labor costs to keep its prices down is short-sighted and ineffectual when less than half of its workers are covered by the company's health plan.

At a school for autistic children in China, a volunteer falls ill with SARS. When parents ignore a quarantine and take their children home, school director Tian Huiping is faced with a difficult decision: should she report them to authorities? NPR's Richard Harris reports.

An Iraqi exile group that provided the Bush administration with what it said was intelligence of evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq today defended itself in the face of charges that no weapons had been found. A spokesman for the Iraqi National Congress said that the growing discoveries of mass graves justified the US-led assault on Iraq. NPR's Nick Spicer reports from Baghdad.

The Federal Communications Commission votes to relax restrictions on media ownership, allowing media conglomerates to buy more TV stations and own a newspaper and broadcast network in the same city. Critics say the move will lead to less diversity of content and viewpoints. Hear NPR's Rick Karr.

U.S. Army engineers begin excavating a rubble-filled crater in Baghdad that was the site of an April 7 bombing which officials believe may have killed Saddam Hussein. Residents of the area say the former Iraqi ruler's remains were not among those pulled from the devastated home. NPR's Nick Spicer reports.

Public concern is growing that the justifications for a war in Iraq were exaggerated, as those searching for weapons of mass destruction have turned up empty-handed. Commentator Andrea Carlisle ponders the fate of lost weapons of mass destruction.

A harsh new report on the state of the nation's oceans and coastal areas calls for a massive overhaul of the laws and agencies meant to keep those waters healthy. NPR's John Nielsen reports.

In the second of a three-part series, Laura Sydell reports on how changes in FCC regulations might impact the communities that broadcasters are serving.

Every few weeks, All Things Considered likes to quiz people around the country on the music that grabs them right now. This week's selections come from Nicole Jefferies, a 24-hour copy shop employee in Muncie, Ind.

In the final report of a four-part NPR/National Geographic Radio Expedition to Mali, Chadwick descends into one of the biggest salt mines in the Sahara Desert, where West African miners still extract salt by hand, the way it's been done for centuries. Such mines have been the destination of camel caravans for at least a millennium.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair defends his Iraq policy under a firestorm of House of Commons criticism from both the opposition and members of his own party. The Blair government is accused of doctoring a dossier that was said to prove Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capability. Members of Parliament are calling for an investigation.

NPR's Jim Zarroli visited a town in southwest Wisconsin where downtown merchants have found a way to compete with the local Wal-Mart. Many store owners say they can coexist because they offer an expertise not easily found in the larger retail chains.

New York Times Executive Editor Howell Raines and Managing Editor Gerald Boyd step down in the wake of a scandal involving former reporter Jayson Blair. Raines and Boyd faced intense criticism after Blair was accused of various ethical transgressions during his four years at The Times. Hear Jack Schaffer of Slate magazine.