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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.

President Bush's 2004 budget proposal includes major new health initiatives to address the AIDS epidemic in Africa and the Caribbean, as well as changes to Medicare and Medicaid. NPR's Julie Rovner reports.

NPR's Jim Zarroli reports on the reactivation of the Space Shuttle Children's Trust Fund, which will solicit donations from the public to provide for the 12 children whose parents died in the shuttle Columbia shuttle disaster. The fund was started 17 years ago after the shuttle Challenger explosion. While the federal government provides death benefits to the children of astronauts, the money is only a fraction of what their parents would have earned had they survived. (The Space Shuttle Children's Trust Fund, P.O. Box 34600, Washington, D.C. 20043-4600)

The Bush administration proposes two new types of savings accounts with higher contribution limits than current IRAs. The White House says the plan will help Americans save more, but critics say the plan is just a tax shelter for the rich. NPR's Elaine Korry reports.

The White House prepares to reveal intelligence to the U.N. Security Council in hopes of persuading reluctant members that Iraq remains in defiance of U.N. resolutions on weapons. Secretary of State Colin Powell is to present the evidence Wednesday. NPR's Vicky O'Hara reports.

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.

As the investigation into the space shuttle Columbia disaster continues, President Bush heads to Houston for a memorial service honoring the seven astronauts who died. Meanwhile, NASA and Congress consider whether to build more spacecraft. NPR's Richard Harris and NPR's Jon Hamilton report.

Secretary of State Colin Powell prepares to share U.S. intelligence with the U.N. Security Council Wednesday, in hopes of persuading members that Iraq is in defiance of U.N. weapons resolutions. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Tony Blair meets with French President Jacques Chirac to discuss Iraq. NPR's Nick Spicer reports.

Commentator Bob Sloan says CBS is bigoted for pushing ahead with its plan to create the Real Beverly Hillbillies reality TV series. He says it will only reinforce the negative perception of people in Appalachia.

NPR s Jeffrey Freymann-Weyr remembers the American composer, Lou Harrison.

Stand-up comic David Cross co-created the 1995 HBO cult hit Mr. Show (an amalgam of live sketch video pieces and occasional animation). He also wrote for the short-lived Ben Stiller Show. One reviewer writes of his act, "foul mouthed and razor sharp, doesn't shy away from vicious social criticism and outright political dissent."

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.