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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.

Country singer-songwriter Billy Joe Shaver has lived through some hard times, but nothing compares to the past three years. In that time, his mother, wife and son all died. Then Shaver suffered a massive heart attack. NPR's Bob Edwards interviews Shaver about his new CD and the therapeutic benefit of writing songs.

In a mid-term report card, Secretary of State Colin Powell earns the highest grades among members of the Bush Cabinet, according to a National Journal study. Powell receives the only 'A' in the magazine's report card, which grades the department heads on such criteria as their influence within the administration. NPR's Bob Edwards interviews Jim Barnes, the weekly's chief political correspondent, about the report.

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.

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.

Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen will conduct live performances of Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas' score to Redes during screenings of the film this weekend. Revueltas is considered one of Mexico's greatest composers. NPR's Lynn Neary speaks with Salonen about Revueltas' music.

Commentator Andrei Codrescu tells about his friend's dream of buying a coffee plantation in Costa Rica and making money selling beans on the Web. His friend also wants to use a certain duck that eats raw coffee beans and poops out a better bean. Of course, the friend has no money.

On the weekend following the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, NPR's Brenda Wilson reports on how the Bush administration's policies regarding aid to international family planning have complicated the abortion issue overseas.

He writes about the Five Points neighborhood in Lower Manhattan which is the setting of Martin Scorsese's new film. Anbinder's book is Five Points: The 19th-Century New York City Neighborhood that Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections and Became the World's Most Notorious Slum. Anbinder is an associate professor of history at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Russian television recently broadcast once-secret government files on the trial and execution of Lavrenti Beria, one of Joseph Stalin's more notorious henchmen. The broadcasts feed a public fascination with the bloody Soviet past. NPR's Scott Simon talks with Mark Kramer, director of the Harvard Project on Cold War Studies.

Control of the Senate Judiciary Committee officially switches from Democrats to Republicans, with Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) taking over as chairman. Hatch says the panel will move quickly to consider President Bush's judicial nominees, including controversial candidates recently renominated by the president. NPR's David Welna reports.

The Senate puts limits on the military's "total information awareness" program, pending a review of the program's impact on individual privacy. The program's goal is to analyze huge amounts of information -- including Internet communication -- to identify terrorists before they strike. NPR's Larry Abramson reports.