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Suicide bombings and mortar attacks in Iraq leave more than 140 people dead and hundreds wounded in Baghdad and the holy city of Karbala. The nearly simultaneous attacks targeted Shiite shrines, where more than 2 million Shiite Muslims -- many of them pilgrims -- had come to observe the holy day of Ashoura. NPR's Ivan Watson reports.

The World Health Organization extends a travel warning to Taiwan and two more Chinese provinces, as the number of SARS cases rises. In Hong Kong, also under a WHO travel advisory, officials say the rate of SARS infection has slowed. But streets and public facilities remain empty as residents seek to avoid contracting the disease that has infected more than 1,600 in the city. Hear NPR's Joe Palca.

Three-and-a-half months after the fall of Baghdad, resentment to the presence of U.S. soldiers seems to be growing. When Saddam Hussein's regime collapsed and looting erupted across Baghdad, doctors at the city's Al Kindi hospital begged American troops to protect them. But now, relations between U.S. soldiers and the medical staff are strained. NPR's Anne Garrels reports.

News of dangerous levels of lead in Washington D.C.'s drinking water sparks an outcry from the community -- especially because city water officials knew about the problem and did little to warn the public. In the first of two reports, NPR's Daniel Zwerdling explains that weak federal laws regulating drinking water are to blame.

A group of leading Shiite clerics are holding talks to resolve the U.S. standoff with radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose anti-American rhetoric touched off a wave of attacks on U.S.-led forces in several Iraqi cities. Al-Sadr's militiamen have withdrawn from police and government buildings they had occupied, but the security situation remains unstable. Hear NPR's Anne Garrels.

Negotiations to ease the crisis in Fallujah produce a ceasefire that provides amnesty for insurgents who disarm and refrain from future attacks, but U.S. forces remain poised to strike the Iraqi city if the pact fails. Officials from Fallujah, U.S. authorities and the Iraqi Governing Council met over the past three days in an effort to end the standoff. NPR's Emily Harris reports.

Scattered clashes are reported in the region around Fallujah, though a cease-fire declared over the weekend is largely holding. Iraqi officials report 600 civilians have died in Fallujah since U.S. Marines launched an offensive there last Monday. Those fleeing the city accuse U.S. forces of firing randomly, causing numerous civilian casualties. Hear NPR's Philip Reeves.

Commentator David Greenberger has a personal appreciation of the music of Ella Johnson. With her brother Buddy Johnson, a bandleader, the singer was a regular fixture on the New York City club circuit in the 1940s and 1950s. She had many popular hits, including "Since I Fell for You," "Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit that Ball?" and "When My Man Comes Home." Johnson died last month at age 86.

The Bush administration warns U.S. travelers not to visit Haiti, citing rising safety and transportation concerns. A small military team is also being sent to Haiti to assess the security of the U.S. embassy. Leaders of militant anti-Aristide groups have called on Haitian police to abandon their posts, promising new assaults on the nation's cities. Hear NPR's Michele Norris and NPR's Martin Kaste.

U.S. forces move closer to one of Shiite Islam's most sacred sites, the Imam Ali shrine in the city of Najaf. Militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr engage in fierce firefights in the vast cemetery surrounding the shrine with U.S. troops backed by tanks. There are reports the shrine may be damaged by the fighting. NPR's Eric Westervelt reports from Baghdad.