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Residents of Florida, Alabama and other Gulf of Mexico areas are preparing for Hurricane Dennis. The Category 2 storm is expected to make landfall as early as Sunday. Hurricane Dennis is blamed for at least 10 deaths in Cuba and another 10 deaths in Haiti. From member station WJCT, Lucy Nalpathanchil reports.

More American paratroopers arrive in northern Iraq as Kurdish fighters seize positions abandoned by Iraqi paramilitary forces. The Kurds say they're within 15 miles of the oil city of Kurkuk. The Kurdish advance follows heavy U.S. bombing of the area. NPR's Ivan Watson reports.

Tensions rise in the slum area of Baghdad known as Sadr City. A radical young Shiite cleric there, Muqtadah al-Sadr, has refused to recognize the authority of the U.S. appointed governing council and has proclaimed a rival administration. Hear NPR's John Ydstie and NPR's Guy Raz.

Combining Cuban-influenced rumba with elements of soul, blues and reggae, the paraplegic street musicians in Staff Benda Bilili used to perform all over the zoo grounds of the Kinshasa area, attempting to earn money for a living. Along the way, they caught the attention of Massive Attack and Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz.

The governor of Afghanistan's southern Kandahar Province survived a car bomb attack Sunday. Three people in the governor's convoy were killed. Also Sunday, the new commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan said that he plans to double the number of coalition forces in southern Afghanistan, in response to increased violence in the area.

Thousands of tourists remain stranded at beach resorts on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula after Hurricane Wilma. Emergency crews are trying to reach outlying areas. In hard-hit Cancun, long lines have formed for water and food as truckloads of army and police try to pass flooded roads to restore security.

Days after the Supreme Court's landmark decision on the health care law, lawyers say they're still teasing out the consequences in other areas of the law — including civil rights. That's because the ruling involves two federal powers that happen to be the backbone of most civil rights legislation.

Four years ago, an earthquake heavily damaged Port-au-Prince and killed more than 200,000 people. Many areas of the Haitian capital now look much like they did before the 7.0-magnitude quake. But nearly 150,000 are still living in temporary structures.

July 10 is the 100th anniversary of the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth, and a large crowd is expected in Death Valley to celebrate it. In fact, summer is the area's busiest tourist season. Many of these "heat tourists" come from Europe, eager to feel temperatures they don't get at home.

John and Heidi talk with Allison Barta, former science teacher and lepidopterist (butterfly expert) extraordinaire! She discusses her upcoming presentation "On the Hunt for Northwoods Butterflies," as well as some of the highlights from her 12-year hunt for all 90-some species native to the Bemidji area.

With trailer parks destroyed and hundreds of homes ruined by Hurricane Irma, rents have skyrocketed and housing has become unaffordable for many in the Florida Keys. Local officials are scrambling to find ways to provide low-cost rentals affordable for waitresses, fishing guides and others vital to the area's tourist economy.

Widespread police brutality under Hosni Mubarak helped fuel the uprising of 2011. But two years later, many say the police have begun to act like armed gangs, meting out collective punishment in restive areas. The police say they are the victims, under attack by anti-government protesters.

Moshe Goldwaser's 9-year-old daughter goes to a Jewish day school in the Paris metro area. He talks to Audie Cornish about how he and his wife discussed what happened at the kosher market with their daughter and why they all feel reassured by the security provided by the French government.

Linda Wertheimer talks with Jerry Horton, the superintendent for the North Pontotoc [PAWN-uh-tawk] School District in Ecru, Mississippi. He pledges to keep some religion in the area's public schools, despite a federal court ruling against the district's practice of broadcasting prayers and Bible classes over the intercom system.

Europe is suffering through extremely harsh weather conditions this week. NPR's Michael Goldfarb reports that the normal winter-time weather patterns have changed. This week, Europe is affected by cold winds blowing out of Russia. Temperatures in some areas have dropped to as low as 34 degrees below zero.

At an emergency parliament session, Iraqi lawmakers are urged to rally behind Saddam Hussein and defend the country. Meanwhile, residents flee Baghdad and nearly 300,000 U.S. and British soldiers deployed in the Persian Gulf area prepare to invade Iraq. Hear NPR's Anne Garrels and NPR's Mike Shuster.

Protests and rallies against how "dot-com" culture is changing certain districts in the San Francisco bay area just reached a new level. This month the city of San Mateo banned "dot-coms" from locating in its downtown district. From member station KQED, Caitlyn Kim reports.

Shiite militias in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra have been patrolling the streets and cracking down on the sale of music, pornography and alcohol. Many residents now fear criticizing the city's Islamic parties, and British forces occupying the area worry the militias are undermining their activities. NPR's Ivan Watson reports.

In the second part of our series on the Inland Empire, NPR's Ina Jaffe reports that subdivisions are swiftly replacing orange orchards in this area 50 miles east of Los Angeles, and shopping malls are replacing ranches. But some farmers here who want to hang on to their way of life are finding it's still possible.

A Baghdad marketplace is bombed, killing as many as 30 civilians. Iraqi officials blame the deadly attack on U.S. missiles. The Pentagon says it did not target the area, and is investigating whether stray missiles or Iraqi weapons may have been the cause. Hear NPR's Tom Gjelten and NPR's Anne Garrels.