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NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from Brussels that Secretary of State Colin Powell wrapped up a foreign tour with a stop at NATO headquarters today. He reassured allies that the United States has no plans to withdraw prematurely from the Balkans. When Powell arrived, plans for missile defense and a European rapid reaction force were high on the agenda. But the allies decided to focus on events in the Balkans -- particularly attacks by ethnic Albanian rebels in southern Serbia and Macedonia.

Host Bob Edwards talks with William Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International. He says the United States is a leading exporter of devices of torture, and calls for an end to the export of thumbscrews, serrated handcuffs, stun belts, and other instruments.

NPR's Alex Chadwick traipses through an Australian forest custom-grown for koala bears. He learns that koalas have the finicky appetites of toddlers -- they eat eucalyptus leaves, or nothing at all.

Mark Moran, from member station KJZZ, reports on a new tax on tourists in Arizona, that will help build a state-of-the-art football stadium in Phoenix.

Arguments began yesterday in Microsoft's appeal of the court order that the company be split apart. NPR's Larry Abramson reports on the proceedings.

NPR's Howard Berkes reports on a newly released CD-ROM with searchable archives of a Civil War-era bank used by former slaves. For more information on the searchable archives, check out www.media.lds.org

Host Bob Edwards highlights the life of award-winning poet, A.R. Ammons. He died Sunday at the age of 75.

In the last part of Morning Edition's February series on what makes a city great, NPR's Susan Stamberg hears how a rich cultural mix, great shopping, and exotic food made people head to London and Amsterdam in droves -- in the 1600's. She speaks with author and historian Simon Schama about the color -- and the dreck, drugs and drink -- of these great cities three centuries ago.

NPR's Larry Abramson reports that federal judges are questioning the order to break up Microsoft. An appeals panel is finding complications with the government's reasoning in the case, and questions the ethics of Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson in commenting to the media about Microsoft executives.

Commentator Amity Shlaes says the wealthy are still waiting for the tax cut they were promised back in 1986. Fifteen years later, Shlaes hopes the new president will make-good on a promise that previous administrations have ignored.