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President Bush sends Congress a 2004 budget totaling $2.23 trillion, with the largest increases going to defense and homeland security. But some in Congress say the president should scale back some of the proposed tax cuts and allow more social spending. NPR's David Welna reports.

An independent board appointed by NASA begins its investigation of the shuttle disaster. The disaster probe in part will be modeled after the National Transportation Safety Board investigations of airplane crashes. NPR's Debbie Elliott reports.

NASA officials back away from the theory that a piece of foam insulation, dislodged during Columbia's liftoff, caused the space shuttle's disintegration upon re-entry Feb. 1. As NASA continues its probe, engineers draw on risk assessments done after the 1986 Challenger explosion. Hear NPR's Richard Harris and NPR's Christopher Joyce.

Members of the U.N. Security Council consider U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's report detailing evidence against Iraq. In Brussels, Belgium, NATO ambassadors will meet to discuss the U.S. case for military action against Iraq. Hear NPR's Vicky O'Hara and Guy Raz.

Former CBS correspondent Larry LeSueur died Feb. 5 at age 93. He was one of the last surviving newsmen hired by Edward R. Murrow to cover World War II. He covered the fall of France, the Battle of Britain, the Eastern Front from Russia, and the D-Day invasion at Normandy. His biographer considers him the best and bravest of the 20th century's war reporters.

Singer and songwriter Mia Doi Todd talks about her song "Digital" which is on her new album The Golden State, on Columbia Records.

NPR's Michele Norris talks with Lynne Duke, author of Mandela, Mobutu and Me: A Bittersweet Journal of Africa. Duke talks about her memoir of her experiences as the Johannesburg bureau chief for The Washington Post. From 1995 to 1999, she covered wars, epidemics, and political upheaval all over Africa. The book is published by Doubleday.

Kathy Witkowsky visits Yellowstone National Park to allow listeners to experience the park in winter. Park officials are embroiled in a fight over whether snowmobiles should be part of winter recreation in Yellowstone.

NPR's Lynn Neary talks with Mike Bell, EMS supervisor for American Medical Response in Portland, Ore. He talks about why and how he helped design an ambulance to transport patients weighing up to 500 pounds. The ambulance, called a Bariatric Unit, has already been put into service. Most of the calls they get for this unit are not 911 calls, but calls to get people to the hospital who can't be transported in cars, and need medical personnel in the unit with them.

Secretary of State Colin Powell addresses the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, seeking congressional support for a possible war with Iraq. Powell's testimony comes a day after he presents the U.N. Security Council with a report detailing evidence against Iraq. NPR's Bob Edwards and NPR's Michele Kelemen.

From member station WUWM in Milwaukee, Marge Pitroff reports on a little-known provision in the education law signed by President Bush last year that requires schools to provide information about their students to military recruiters. The new requirements caught many schools and parents by surprise.

The United Nations reports that some 14 million people in southern Africa are at risk of starvation, due mostly to drought and the effects of AIDS. But in Zimbabwe, the food shortage is made even worse by a government land-reform plan that has shut most of the nation's most productive farms. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports.

Kuwaiti police apprehend a suspect the government says has confessed to shooting two U.S. defense workers this week. The Kuwaiti man was arrested in Saudi Arabia and deported, according to a statement. NPR's Anne Garrels reports.

Foreign ministers from Turkey and five Middle Eastern states ponder ways to avert war in Iraq. And British Prime Minister Tony Blair's close alignment with the White House on Iraq has analysts saying Blair risks damaging Britain's relations with Europe. Hear NPR's Ivan Watson and NPR's Guy Raz.

NPR's Mandalit Del Barco reports that in California this month, Spanish-speaking radio listeners are tuning in to a daily soap opera about the lives of Mexican immigrants in Los Angeles. The radio drama -- known as a radionovela -- is based on a novel by Enrique Romero Moreno, a Mexican consulate official. He warns of the perils and frustrations of living in the United States.

A hearing to determine if two American pilots will be court-martialed for dropping a bomb that killed four Canadian troops in Afghanistan has ended. Majs. Harry Schmidt and William Umbach now await a decision. NPR's Lynn Neary talks to Derek Stoffel of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation who's been covering the hearing.

Reports say the U.S. economy grew at a decent pace in much of 2002, but the recovery fizzled in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve releases its analysis of the nation's wealth. Hear from NPR's Jack Speer, NPR's Robert Siegel and Nancy Kimmelman of SEI Investments in Oaks, Pa.

Actress and singer Nell Carter, the star of the 1980s TV sitcom Gimme A Break and of the Broadway smash Ain't Misbehavin', dies of complications from diabetes. She was 54. NPR's Bob Mondello has an appreciation.

When Luciano Pavarotti calls in sick for what was to be his final performance, tenor Salvatore Licitra steps in and wows the audience at the Met in New York. He has since released a CD called The Debut, which has been winning critical acclaim. And he's in New York again tonight for a performance at Carnegie Hall. Salvatore Licitra talks with NPR's Robert Siegel.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell insists the U.N. Security Council remain open to the possibility of using military force in Iraq. Powell's comments come amid growing international opposition to a war with Iraq. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.