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Wednesday marks the 25th anniversary of the Mount St. Helens explosion. An observatory that overlooks the crater has just reopened and volcano enthusiasts are flocking to visit.

The head of New Orleans' police department, Eddie Compass, has resigned. This weekend, he announced that 249 officers, or about 15 percent of the force, are absent without leave after the hurricanes. A special tribunal will determine who has deserted and who has legitimate absences from work.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits Islamabad, Pakistan, to assess the country's earthquake-relief needs. Already, the United States has sent planes and helicopters to help in rescue-and-relief operations. She also visited Kabul, meeting with Afghan leaders.

On the the eve of the MLB World Series, commentator Mark Anthony Neal recalls his first experience with the game at age 5 — and how, decades later, watching baseball has become one of the ways he remembers his youth. Neal is an associate professor with the Department of African and African-American Studies at Duke University and author of New Black Man: Rethinking Black Masculinity.

A Palestinian suicide bomber strikes at a fast-food restaurant in Tel Aviv, Israel. The attack kills the bomber and nine others, wounding dozens. Israel is marking the Passover holiday. It is the first suicide attack since Hamas took control of the Palestinian government.

Dozens of senior officials have left the CIA in the past 18 months. Some simply retired, but many were unhappy with CIA Director Porter Goss. Supporters say Goss is making needed changes at the agency. Critics question the impact on morale.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick is in Nigeria, hoping to mediate a peace deal between rebels and government leaders in Sudan's Darfor region. The African Union has extended a deadline for talks to midnight Tuesday. The three-year conflict has led to nearly 200,000 deaths and 2 million refugees.

G-8 leaders meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, release a statement expressing "deepening concern" about rising civilian casualties on all sides of the violence in the Middle East. It also blamed the immediate crisis on "efforts by extremists forces to destabilize the region."

The U.S., EU, Russia and the U.N. have agreed on a deal to create a trust fund for the Palestinian Authority. The authority is in the midst of a deepening financial crisis created when Hamas was voted into power, prompting Western donors to end their support for the government. The four powers now hope to get aid directly to the Palestinian people.

Over the last 40 years, North American cars and power plants have gotten cleaner. They spewed far less pollution into the atmosphere, a difference visible by satellites.

Paul Tagliabue is retiring as NFL commissioner after more than 16 years on the job. Tagliabue will stay on with the NFL as a senior executive and a consultant through 2008.

President Ibrahim Rugova is mourned in Kosovo by ethnic Albanians he led and by European and U.S. officials who hailed him as a voice of moderation in the turbulent Balkans. Talks on the future of Kosovo have been delayed until February.

It is now up to a jury whether Zacarias Moussaoui is executed or is sentenced to life in prison. Family members of Sept. 11 victims are divided over Moussaoui's fate. The jury continues considering Moussaoui's fate Tuesday after deliberating for three hours Monday.

Among the topics: Matt Holzmann's story of the day he finally got a new kidney; Neil Young's protest music; and the old-fashioned -- and highly successful -- Anniston Star newspaper of Anniston, Ala.

Gasoline prices have been falling over the past month, with the average dropping 20 cents in the last three weeks. But diesel users have not seen the same price improvements.

Brazilian oil company Petrobras officially opens its latest deep-water oil platform. The new rig is expected to end decades of Brazilian dependence on foreign oil, and protect the country's economy from oil-price shocks.

Essayist Clark DeLeon remembers the events of 20 years ago in Philadelphia, when city police dropped a bomb on the headquarters of MOVE -- a radical, armed revolutionary group. Eleven people died in the house, and the resulting fire destroyed 61 neighborhood homes. DeLeon shares his thoughts on how the MOVE confrontation changed his city forever.

Throughout November, hundreds of people are lining up to peer through the telescope at Lowell Observatory in northern Arizona. What they'll see: Mars in close opposition with the Earth. This is the nearest the red planet has been to Earth since 2003. If you miss it this month, you'll have to wait until 2018 for such an incredible view. Sadie Babits has this postcard from the observatory.

Commentator Judy Muller says Americans and their elected officials have ignored the problems of the poor in recent years. But now they're confronted with the overwhelming number of poor residents left homeless by Hurricane Katrina.

World leaders gather in New York with the goal of adopting reforms at the United Nations. The General Assembly has approved a document that touches on issues like human rights, world poverty and terrorism. But the document was watered down greatly in negotiations just prior to the summit.

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) says the United States needs to get out of Iraq as soon as possible. He has a withdrawal plan, which he outlines in this essay.

A Justice Department statement says recent National Security Agency activities -- such as tapping domestic calls without a warrant -- are vital to the defense of the nation.

With natural gas prices soaring, the Bush administration is encouraging all Americans to conserve. The Department of Energy is working with private sector groups to promote energy efficiency. At the same time, it's also cutting funds for research on energy efficiency.

Steve Inskeep talks to News Analyst Cokie Roberts about President Bush's response to the earthquake in Southeast Asia and the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court.

What kind of house can you buy with $206,000 -- the national median? In the more subdued Milwaukee real estate market, Wisconsin Public Radio's Chuck Quirmbach finds a suburban house with 3 bedrooms, a garden and more than enough garage space.