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The cost of AIDS drugs keeps going down in the countries hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic. Yesterday, the giant pharmeceutical company Merck announced that it would lower prices for three important AIDS drugs, and just after that, two other companies that make generic AIDS drugs offered to sell their versions to the government of South Africa. There's a price war going on. NPR's Brenda Wilson in Johannesburg talks with host Robert Siegel about the issue.

Secretary of State Colin Powell voiced concern today about North Korea's "huge army" and told Senators the United States might try to negotiate a reduction in the size of that army. Powell's testimony came as some senators began to question whether the newly installed Bush administration is being as tough as it promised to be on North Korea and Iraq.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from Jerusalem that Ariel Sharon took office as Israel's prime minister today. Security forces were deployed around the country to guard against bomb attacks during the annual Jewish holiday of Purim. The holiday is normally the most festive on Israel's calender, but the mood this year is somber.

The BBC's Andrew Harding reports on a new novel by John LeCarre that has been banned by the Kenyan government. The book is set in that nation and describes deep corruption within the government.

The professionals who design and build the nation's infrastructure say vital systems are decaying. The American Society of Civil Engineers reports that, in report card terms, U.S. bridges, roads and schools get a grade of D-plus. The group says the country should start fixing the problems, with an investment of $1.3 trillion dollars over five years. NPR's Emily Harris reports.

In the second part of our series on the oil century, NPR's John Burnett reports on the environmental legacy of oil and gas production. For every barrel of oil and gas produced, some 50 barrels of salt water or brine are created. The salinity fouls the well and the land around it. A lot of big oil companies have sold their leases to smaller independent companies and many of them have decided not to take care of their wells, leaving a large number of orphan wells leaking brine. In Texas, both the government and the oil industry are in favor of plugging up these polluting wells. The state plugs 1300-1500 wells a year. The activists in this case are not environmentalists, but land-owners.

NPR's Brenda Wilson reports on efforts to treat AIDS in Senegal. The West African nation was one of the first to strike a deal with drug companies to reduce the cost of AIDS drugs and its healthcare system is one of the continent's best. But the AIDS epidemic is proving too extensive and too deadly for even the most accomplished doctors to control.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports on President Bush's visit to Fargo, North Dakota. Mr. Bush is on the road this week, selling his tax-cut plan to citizens.

In the second part of a conversation, host Bob Edwards talks to actors Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. The couple discuss the price they've paid for their political activism and how they've been able to reconcile their personal and professional lives during 52 years of marriage. They also talk about the 1959 Broadway production of A Raisin in the Sun, and their appearances in Spike Lee's movies Do the Right Thing and Jungle Fever. Davis and Dee say they'll be honored Sunday night to receive the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award.

The Bush administration has made missile defense a priority. During the Clinton years, the program was working to develop the means to destroy warheads in mid-course. Some analysts believe the Pentagon may consider an alternative; intercepting enemy missiles within the first few minutes of launch. NPR's David Kestenbaum has the story.