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NPR's Jim Zarroli reports the price of a barrel of crude oil dropped today in response to Saudi Arabia's announcement that it is ready to increase its productions. The Saudi decision could mean somewhat lower fuel prices in the United States.

NPR's Gerry Hadden reports from Mexico City on the future of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. In wake of Sunday's defeat at the polls, many PRI supporters are trying to re-establish their party as a player in the new realm of Mexican politics. But others say the victory of the National Action Party's presidential candidate, Vicente Fox, could be the end of the PRI.

Anne Sutton reports from western Alaska on the political debate that could determine whether a family is able to survive. Many families in rural Alaska live off of fish from the rivers, berries from the trees and game from the mountains. Some residents say subsisting off the land is a tradition that keeps them alive.

Noah talks to Bill Kilpatrick, Zoologist at the University of Vermont, about the rising number of opossum sightings in Vermont. Possums are not equipped for cold weather. But each year more of these animals are showing up in Champlain. Kilpatrick believes global warming may have something to do with the animals' movement.

Apart from its better-known roles in bluegrass and Dixieland, the banjo was once a sought-after status symbol in late 19th-century America. Young ladies learned to play parlor music on the banjo; there were banjo societies and banjo virtuosi; and manufacturers fought wars over who could make the fanciest banjos. On top of that, this was primarily a northern phenomenon. It's chronicled in a new book, America's Instrument: The Banjo in the 19th Century, by Philip Gura and James Bollman. Paul Brown reports. (7:45) (America's Instrument: The Banjo in the 19th Century is published by University of North Carolina P

A note on the sale of the Website featuring a computer-generated newscaster named "Ananova." The British mobile phone company Orange bought the site from the UK's Press Association. The price for Ananova -- well over 100-million-dollars.

Quil Lawrence reports on the Kurds living in northern Iraq. Because of UN air patrols, the Kurds are relatively independent of Iraqi control, and have a greater level of freedom and prosperity than many other people in Iraq.

Robert talks to Ed Buttke of the Riverside Cemetery, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, about the theft of American flags from the headstones there. The culprits: some very unpatriotic squirrels.

Robert talks with Yale University History Professor Ron Butler, author of Becoming America: The Revolution Before 1776. Butler says even before the American Revolution, the colonies were really starting to develop the unique character of a modern nation. He contends that during the years 1680 to 1770, ordinary Americans were already becoming revolutionary, merely in how they went about their daily lives. Butler is the William Coe Professor of American Studies and History, and Professor of Religious Studies at Yale University.

Mary Ellen Mark is a celebrated photographer. Her most recent work is an askew shot of controversial Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker and Minnie Mouse in last week's New Yorker. The Philadelphia Museum of Art is currently featuring Mark's work in a major exhibit. Peter Clowney has a profile.