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David Bellos' new book is a comprehensive guide to Les Misérables, and a compelling story in its own right, packed with detail about the creation and publication of Victor Hugo's massive masterpiece.

Madeleine Brand speaks with Washington Post homeland security correspondent Spencer Hsu about Friday's U.S. Senate committee hearing on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Former FEMA director Michael Brown defended his own actions and laid much of the blame for the slow federal response on the Department of Homeland Security.

Huge explosions shook Gaza City as Israeli planes bombed three government buildings and the parliament on the sixth day of the Israeli offensive. On the diplomatic side, both Israel and Hamas are resisting international pressure to agree to a ceasefire. NPR's Mike Shuster talks with Steve Inskeep about the situation in Gaza.

Florida wants to start taking mountains of waste material from phosphate mining to use in road construction. The hitch: It's mildly radioactive, and environmental groups say it poses a health risk.

How did Sen. John McCain manage to make 150,000 votes enough to win South Carolina when the 250,000 votes he got in 2000 left him a loser to George W. Bush? He had a lot of help from Fred Thompson.

Published images of a vast nuclear submarine base on China's Hainan Island trouble Indian officials, who fear the base will enable the Chinese navy to dominate crucial sea lanes in the Indian Ocean.

For mystery writer Randy Wayne White, Florida isn't all beaches and amusement parks — it's a landscape only known to those who have spent time with it, and a place where sinister crimes begin and end.

Sen. John McCain unveils his proposed energy policy Tuesday. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee argues the United States should lift its ban on offshore drilling.

Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain have been sparring over energy policy. McCain's plan to expand offshore oil drilling seems to be catching on. Obama has responded with his own call for energy rebates, to be funded by a windfall tax on oil companies.

The number of people killed in a gun attack on a synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba during an annual Jewish pilgrimage has risen to five. The motive for the attack was under investigation.