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As many as 25,000 people from around the world have joined in the fight to put out the wildfires in the western United States. Even with the abundance of manpower, the problem remains — there is a lack of skilled workers on the front line. Kathy Witkowsky reports from Montana's Bitteroot Valley on the what kind of skill and training are needed to fight the fires raging in the West.

As potential presidential candidates start to line up, voters will begin thinking once again about who will make the best leader for this country. Daniel talks with historian Michael Beschloss and Charles Cook, of the Cook Political Report, about what qualities the American public typically looks for in a leader. And whether those qualities are necessarily what it takes to be a good president.

Noah Adams talks with Emmanuel Madan and Thomas McIntosh about their sonic project, the Silophone. The two artists, who call themselves The User, have given an old grain silo in Montreal a new function by rigging it with broadcast lines and microphones. People can call into the Silophone or submit sounds over the Internet. (5:30) See www.silophone.net

NPR's Ann Cooper reports from Moscow on the continuing shake-up in the Kremlin. Russian President Boris Yeltsin today fired three of the most powerful members of his administration. The dismissals included his personal security chief, the head of the Federal Security Service...what used to be the K-G-B... and a hard-line deputy prime minister.

The California Supreme Court has accepted a case that schools hope will help them walk the fine post-Columbine line between students' free speech rights and the need for school safety. The court is considering a case from San Jose in which a student was expelled and prosecuted for writing what authorities called "threatening poetry." NPR's Richard Gonzales reports.

Noah talks with Scott Dikkers, the editor-in-chief of "The Onion," an humor newspaper produced on-line and published in print in Madison, Wisconsin. Dikkers and the staff of the Onion conjure up satirical news headlines and stories to match. The story ideas come mostly from brainstorming meetings. A sample headline: "Bob Dole Demands Preemptive Recount."

In the first of several speeches attacking President Bush's national security policies, Sen. John Kerry accused the president of failing to create an adequate multinational coalition to support efforts in Iraq. But Kerry's criticisms seemed constrained to many, a fact that analysts attribute to Kerry's effort to win swing voters by avoiding a hard-line stance. Hear NPR's David Welna.

An American service member was killed on Tuesday after an ISIS attack broke through Iraqi Kurdish defensive lines north of the city of Mosul. Kurdish Peshmerga troops also were killed and wounded. The U.S. responded with air support to beat back the attack, but fighting continued in an offensive the U.S. says was an attempt by ISIS to "show its teeth."

Nearly a year after Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake caused a national uproar over a Super Bowl performance, American families continue to worry about what their children watch on television. NPR's Robert Siegel visits two households that have decided to set strict limits on TV watching, and finds that the concerns run across political lines.

Iraqi forces withdraw from several more frontline positions along the dividing line between Baghdad-controlled Iraq and the autonomous Kurdish enclave in the country's north. The move comes after Iraqi troops clashed with Kurdish militia in what may have been the first ground battle between the two sides. NPR's Ivan Watson reports.

Country music legend Johnny Cash dies at 71 due to complications from diabetes. Over a career that spanned six decades, Cash produced such hits as "I Walk the Line" and "Ring of Fire" and earned 11 Grammys. NPR's Melissa Block talks with W.S. Holland, Cash's longtime drummer, about the prison concerts Cash often performed.

At the international AIDS conference in Toronto, experts tell of successes in delivering treatments to the poorest corners of the world. But stresses are emerging: a weak health care system, a lack of drugs for children, and the high cost of therapies for those whose first-line treatment has failed. The most pressing problem is the failure of HIV prevention efforts to expand as fast as treatments have.

The inspiration for Wolf Parade's "California Dreamer" comes from exactly where you might suspect it does: The Mamas and the Papas' 1965 hit "California Dreamin'." Singer Spencer Krug's curiosity was piqued by the line, "If I didn't tell her / I could leave today," so he imagined the perspective of the woman left behind.

When it comes to selling Texas Latinos on the Republican Party, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz would seem like a natural. But even though he is the son of a Cuban refugee, Cruz is much closer to his Tea Party supporters' hard line on immigration than he is to the Republicans who are urging a more accommodating position for the sake of the party's future.

Long before smart watches became the latest pursuit for tech companies, Gordon Moore of Intel was experimenting with wristwatch computers. Intel's co-founder and his colleagues built a line of chip-powered watches in the late '70s. The concept was visionary, but the business was a failure. Moore now keeps a memento that he calls his "$15 million watch."

The Supreme Court has issued a major decision on legislative re-apportionment. Based on a Texas case, the court ruled that state legislatures may redraw congressional district lines when they see fit. Traditionally, legislatures have reworked districts every 10 years with the census. The ruling may set off a wave of attempts to redraw districts across the United States.

The Internet has exploded the way we do business but according to author Christopher Kush, it hasn't had much impact on how we govern. Many of us can't find the information we want from all that's on line. Kush speaks to host Jacki Lyden about web sites that can make you a more informed voter.

Deborah talks with Ze'ev Chafets, a columnist for the Jerusalem Report, about a poll taken a week and a half ago on the new housing development in East Jerusalem. Opinion on whether to continue development of the housing was split for the most part along ideological lines. Today's violence, he says, is indicative of the fact that ideologues on both sides of the issue are now digging in their heels for a fight.

Laura Sydell of member station WNYC reports on the oddly shaped Congressional district in Queens which is represented by Nydia Velaquez. (NID-e-uh vel-LAZ-kez) When drawn on a map, it's said to remind people of Bullwinkle. The majority Hispanic district is the most recent to be struck down by the courts as unconstitutional because it was constructed along racial and ethnic lines.

Researchers estimate that children 19 and younger influenced half a trillion dollars worth of purchases in the U.S. last year. With that kind of buying power on the line, advertisers are eager for help in targeting the nation's youngest consumers. Increasingly, marketers are getting their intelligence from psychologists who use their expertise. NPR's Elaine Korry reports that now, some psychologists are calling for the practice to be banned.