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The White House and Congress react to North Korea's suggestion it might launch pre-emptive attacks should it feel threatened by the United States. The administration calls the threat "saber rattling." But senior Democrats in the Senate demand the situation be treated as a crisis. NPR's David Welna reports.

The United States "burned" some intelligence sources when Secretary Powell told the U.N. Security Council yesterday what those had revealed. But American intelligence agencies believe the sources were not of great importance and contend that the loss of sources was outweighed by the need to convince the world that Iraq still conceals illegal weapons programs. NPR's Mike Shuster reports.

NPR's Lynn Neary talks with New York Times reporter Ben Weiser about Attorney General John Ashcroft's decision to pursue the death penalty in 12 cases in New York and Connecticut, against the wishes of local federal prosecutors.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) has sponsored a change in House ethics rules to allow members of Congress to take free trips to charity events. One such event is the spring excursion sponsored by DeLay's own foundation for the benefit of foster children. NPR's Peter Overby reports that the rule change has critics crying "foul."

We read from listener comments to the program including thoughts on our coverage of the cost of medical malpractice insurance, our series on debt and the food Lewis and Clark's expedition survived on during their expedition.

A video filmed in the Caribbean island of Dominica shows workers, who were clearing part of a rainforest, hoisting an enormous boa constrictor off the ground with the help of construction equipment.

Today at the U.N. Security Council, Secretary of State Colin Powell presented newly declassified satellite photos, voice intercepts and intelligence from human sources, trying to make the case that Iraq is deliberately deceiving weapons inspectors rather than complying with them. For example, one set of photos purported to show four active chemical munitions bunkers with a decontamination vehicle nearby in case of accidents. Photos taken later, as U.N. weapons inspectors were arriving at the site, show that the bunkers had been sanitized and the telltale decontamination vehicle removed. Powell's remarks had little immediate effect on other council members. France and Russia, both of which have veto power, continued to argue that the inspectors should be given more time before a decision is made on whether to go to war against Iraq. NPR's Vicky O'Hara reports.

At the Security Council today, Iraq's U.N. ambassador dismissed the evidence presented by Colin Powell. Mohammed Aldouri said the Secretary of State could have "spared the council the time." Programs to develop weapons of mass destruction are "huge" Aldouri said, and not "easily hidden." He accused the United States of fabricating evidence. Meanwhile, in Baghdad, Gen. Amir al-Saadi told a news conference, "What we heard today was for the general public and mainly the uninformed in order to influence their opinion and to commit aggression on Iraq." NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

John Dillon reports one in seven Vermont dairy farms are expected to go out of business within the year, victims of the lowest milk prices in 25 years. The situation in all the northeastern states is just at grim. Economists say the smaller New England farms just can't compete with bigger operations in the west.

NASA engineers are pursuing competing theories about what may have caused the catastrophic breakup of the space shuttle Columbia. NPR's Larry Abramson reports on how forensic investigators keep a constantly open mind until the evidence for one theory becomes so strong that it leaves no room for doubt.