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Author Susan Sontag died Tuesday in Manhattan, after a long struggle with cancer. Sontag was the author of many essays and 17 widely translated books. She wrote about photography and AIDS, film and choreography, Vietnam and the Sept. 11 attacks. Her novel In America won the National Book Award for fiction. Sontag was 71. Hear NPR's Kim Masters.

Appellate Judge Michael Chertoff's influence on post-Sept. 11 legal strategies will prompt debate as Congress considers his nomination to head the Department of Homeland Security. Chertoff played a key role in shaping the Patriot Act, seen by many critics as damaging to U.S. civil liberties. NPR's Pam Fessler reports.

Officials in Pakistan now say as many as 40,000 may have been killed in Saturday's earthquake, and the toll could go higher. Neighboring India also saw an impact, with widespread damage and at least 2,000 killed. Relief from donor countries is beginning to trickle in, but more is needed.

Sophie Milman has a classic jazz voice that evokes smoky lounges, softly clinking glasses and the cool of the night. Her second CD, Make Someone Happy, contains her interpretations of many jazz standards, but also includes some surprising choices.

Melissa Block talks with Stephen Labaton of The New York Times about an investigation into payments made to Republican lobbyists retained by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. According to Labaton, the CPB has said for many years that it's not allowed to hire lobbyists to push for measures.

In the final installment of our Changing Face of America series on the changing face of sports and society, NPR's Uri Berliner travels to Orange County, California, to see how girls fast-pitch softball has changed. The game has become big business, with highly paid pitching and hitting instructors, and super elite travel teams that all but assure scholarships to major universities. But gone too are the days when softball was just a game, and many girls are feeling the pressure to succeed in the sport on and off the field.

Commentator Askia Muhammad addresses the recent arrest of Lynne Stewart, attorney for imprisoned Egyptian cleric Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman. The Manhattan defense attorney and three others are accused of passing messages between third parties and Abdel-Rahman, in violation of prison conditions imposed on the sheik. Muhammad, a black Muslim, says the government's actions against Stewart only feed the paranoia of many Muslims in America.

She sings the jingles from many familiar TV ads and provides backup vocals for hundreds of Nashville studio recordings. Brahms and bluegrass, too. Kathy Chiavola's most recent release, From Where I Stand, is a tribute to her late partner in music and in life, Randy Howard. Host Lisa Simeone visits with Chiavola Saturday on Weekend All Things Considered. (12:15)

With tax revenues waning, many public schools are looking for new sources of money. In the second part of Beyond the Bake Sale, a Morning Edition series, NPR's Emily Harris reports on private foundations that are being set up to help pay for public schools. She also looks at funding disparities between rich and poor school districts.

Anti-war protests are held in many U.S. and world cities. The White House says a weekend summit between President Bush and two key allies seeks a peaceful resolution to the Iraq issue. But senior administration officials tell The Washington Post it's too late for diplomacy. And U.S. bombers take out an Iraqi radar facility. Hear NPR's Tom Gjelten.