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Kurdish commanders say their fighters will withdraw from Kirkuk after working with U.S. forces to gain control of the oil center in northern Iraq. Turkey is uncomfortable with a continued Kurdish presence in Kirkuk. NPR's Ivan Watson reports.

Russian, French and German leaders wind up two days of meetings held to discuss postwar Iraq, and reassert their demands for a leading U.N. role in postwar affairs. But the chief opponents of the U.S.-led war cautiously welcome the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. NPR's Lawrence Sheets reports.

U.S. Marines have moved into the Iraqi city of Kut, which fell with little resistance. NPR's Steve Inskeep spent an afternoon at a checkpoint just outside of Kut, where Marines stood guard trying to prevent Iraqi fighters from fleeing the city. The experience at the checkpoint hints at the challenges U.S. forces face now that central authority has collapsed.

NPR's Melissa Block talks with Barham Salih, the prime minister of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan about the aspirations of the Kurds.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says more peacekeeping forces may be needed to maintain order in Iraq. He says no decisions have been made, but suggests other nations may supply some of their own forces to provide security as Iraq moves to form a new government. Hear Dana Priest of The Washington Post.

Reporter John Lawrence in Baghdad says units of the 101st Airborne Division entered Baghdad yesterday fully expecting to go into combat against Iraqi forces in one part of the city. There was no battle, but the troops had their first encounters with Iraqi civilians.

The New York band The Sharp Things employs a long list of instruments. Strings, wind, and brass contribute as much to their music as guitar, bass, and drums. Their debut album is Here Comes The Sharp Things. Chris Nickson reviews.

Sporadic battles continue in northern Iraq. In the Kurdish-controlled town of Sulamaniyah, many fighters loyal to Saddam Hussein move though the area disguised as civilians. NPR's Juan Williams talks to Michael Ware of Time magazine.

World Health Organization investigators say China under-reports cases of the deadly SARS virus in Beijing military hospitals and bars the release of details. WHO officials think China has 100 to 200 SARS cases, and that's three to five times more than China has reported. In Beijing, Anthony Kuhn reports.

Host Liane Hansen talks to Covita and Christopher Moroney, founder and artistic director of the San Antonio Vocal Arts Ensemble, also known as SAVAE. Their new CD, Ancient Echoes (Rock Paper Scissors), features music and prayers from the time of Jesus to Jerusalem's Second Temple.

Jay Garner, the retired general appointed by the Bush administration to oversee Iraq's reconstruction, arrives in Baghdad. Garner says his first priority is to restore basic services and rebuild damaged infrastructure. Garner's visit comes amid reports that two senior members of the Saddam Hussein regime are in U.S. custody. Hear NPR's Jackie Northam.

Host Liane Hansen speaks with John Malcolm Russell of the Masschusetts College of Art and with Neil Brodie of The Illicit Antiquities Research Centre in London about the black market in looted antiquities, the laws involved and the possibility of recovering lost items. Russell is the author of The Final Sack of Nineveh (Yale Univ Press; ISBN: 0300074182).