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President Bush's long-term plan to send humans back to the moon and on to Mars meets with skepticism in the House Science Committee. Lawmakers Thursday grilled Bush administration officials about the long-term costs of the plan. Among their concerns is that valuable science at NASA will fall victim to an agency budget crunch. NPR's Richard Harris reports.

The high cost of homeowner's insurance is a main issue in Tuesday's GOP primary in Florida. Giuliani has endorsed the creation of a national catastrophe fund. Other GOP candidates have been discussing the economy in broader terms.

The National Endowment for the Arts has released a study on reading trends in the U.S. The study shows "startling declines" in "how much and how well" Americans are reading.

Every six weeks, hundreds of people in Baghdad's Green Zone line up to take a picture with Gen. David Petraeus, the head of coalition forces in Iraq. He gets thousands of requests from people who want their picture taken with him.

NPR's Alex Chadwick speaks with Scott Baldauf of The Christian Science Monitor, reporting from Baghdad on the religious significance of the city of Najaf and the ongoing skirmishes between militias loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, U.S.-led forces and the newly minted Iraqi army.

Sometime early next year, tons of African ivory will be sold at auction to Japan. Despite the international ban on the trade, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia will be allowed a one-time purge of their stockpiled ivory. Conservationists hope the sale won't reignite widespread demand for elephant tusks.

Why is Ronne Froman resigning from the San Diego mayor's office earlier than she had originally planned? We speak to Froman about her decision to resign after 18 months as the city's chief operating o

A new poll shows that the GOP is in danger of losing its dominance in Texas. With its anti-immigration rhetoric, it's losing support among Hispanic voters. Young Republicans also say they're not wedded to voting along party lines.

NPR's Alex Chadwick speaks with Dan Murphy of The Christian Science Monitor about Tuesday's mass arrests by Iraqi police of more than 500 criminal suspects in Baghdad. The new Iraqi government claims the move will help to quell violence and crime in the Iraqi capital.

NPR's Alex Chadwick talks to Christian Science Monitor reporter Scott Baldauf to discuss the political agenda of anti-American religious leader Muqtada al-Sadr. The radical Shiite cleric, who recently ended his standoff with U.S. and Iraqi forces in the holy city of Najaf, plans to form a political party within the interim Iraqi government.