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NPR's John Ydstie reports the Federal Reserve caught the financial markets by surprise today moving to cut interest rates in a bid to keep the economy growing. Acting between regularly scheduled meetings, the Fed cut the federal-funds rate by a half-point and reduced the largely symbolic discount rate by a quarter-point. Both the Dow and the Nasdaq shot up on the news.

NPR's Gerry Hadden reports from Port au Prince on the beginning of Jeanne Bertrand Aristide's second term as president of Haiti. There is concerted opposition to Aristide and his Lavalas Party from a coalition of smaller parties known as Convergence, which has formed its own government and called for new elections.

After three weeks of delay, the countdown has finally begun for the launch of Destiny, NASA's billion-dollar space station laboratory. The new module will allow scientists to carry out a wide range of experiments, some of which may benefit future space travelers, and others that are designed to tell us more about life back on earth. NPR's Larry Abramson reports.

The prospects for a long-term peace agreement in the Middle East have declined sharply with yesterday's election of Ariel Sharon as prime minister of Israel. In the short time since his election, Sharon has sent numerous signals that the 7-year-old Oslo peace deal is dead. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from Jerusalem.

NPR's Guy Raz reports from Germany on the controversy marking this year's celebrations of the three hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Kingdom of Prussia. Many Germans are looking back in appreciation of Prussia's cultural achievements -- the genius of Bach, the rococo palaces, civil rights for minorities and a state social security system. But for others, Prussia represents, above all, the militarism and unquestioning respect for authority that gave rise to Nazism.

NPR's Melissa Block reports on the second day of testimony from a Sudanese man in the trial of four men accused in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. He testified today that he warned U-S officials about a plot to attack U.S. embassies - two years before the bombings.

NPR's Emily Harris reports on the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Michael Powell. He says he believes in less regulation and more free market competition in the telecommunications industry. He also says he is not concerned about rising cable TV prices and programming that might be bad for children to watch. He says people can choose not to buy, and not to watch.

In the New York trial of the U.S. embassy bombing suspects, a former member of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network is taking the stand again today. NPR's Melissa Block reports that Jamal Ahmed Al-Fadl is publicly offering an unprecedented look into bin Laden's12-year-old organization.

This summer, the worst wildfires in decades ravaged the American countryside. Millions of acres burned and 16 firefighters were killed. Still, most residents escaped unharmed. It wasn't a summer but an October weekend, in 1871 when the country's deadliest forest fire ever broke out. It happened in the Northern Wisconsin town of Peshtigo. From Wisconsin Public Radio, Patty Murray reports.

A panel of former NASA engineers and military officials prepares to take over the Columbia investigation. More than a week after the space shuttle broke apart upon re-entry, NASA says it has no clear answers. NPR's Eric Niiler reports.