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NPR's Richard Harris reports on how people are deciding whether to take the smallpox vaccine. Some hospitals are announcing they won't participate in President Bush's plan to vaccinate one-half million health workers. They say the risk of a smallpox attack hasn't been clearly outlined and seems too low to justify the risks of taking the vaccine. The vaccine causes side effects in many people and can lead to life-threatening illnesses and death in a few cases.

One month after the deadly bombing of a tourist resort hotel in Kenya, police believe a key suspect in the attack is in hiding somewhere near Kenya's border with Somalia. NPR’s Jason Beaubien reports the U.S. State Department warns that terrorists may try again to shoot down planes in Kenya’s capitol, Nairobi.

Opponents of the strict ban on ownership and possession of handguns in Washington, D.C., are mounting a legal battle to overturn the law. NPR's Brian Naylor reports the legal fight will focus on the testimony of "sympathetic plaintiffs" -- ordinary citizens, who will argue that the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution guarantees their right to keep and bear arms.

The U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments on Virginia's law against cross burning. The state says burning a cross should be illegal because it's a tactic of intimidation. Opponents say that in some cases, cross-burning should be protected by freedom-of-expression provisions. NPR's Nina Totenberg reports.

Polls predict gains for India's Hindu nationalist BJP Party as elections are held in the turbulent western state of Gujarat. Last March, the worst Hindu-Muslim violence in decades left more than 1,000 people dead. The BJP's leader is accused of condoning violence against Muslims. NPR's Michael Sullivan reports.

The two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporters have written together since the 1970s for several major newspapers and magazines. Their latest piece covers Native American-owned casinos and appears in this month's Time magazine. This September, they also published The Great American Tax Dodge: How Spiraling Fraud and Avoidance Are Killing Fairness, Destroying the Income Tax, and Costing You.

NPR'S Jim Zarroli reports the nation's second largest airline, United, is one step closer to bankruptcy today after federal officials turned down its request for loan guarantees. The Air Transportation Stabilization Board last night said United wasn't eligible for federal aid, saying its business plan was not financially sound. Today United's chairman said the company is exploring new financing options. But many in the industry say a bankruptcy filing is now almost inevitable.

Two senior U.S. senators -- George Voinovich (R-Ohio) and Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) -- are asking the Congressional Budget Office to recalculate its 10-year budget projections. If last year's tax cuts are made permanent and spending continues to increase, they say the federal government faces a $900 billion deficit in 2012. NPR's Andrea Seabrook reports.

For weeks, the song I Can't Wait by Hillary Duff has been in the top three on Radio Disney stations across the country, but elsewhere the song hasn't even made it to the top 50. How can this be? Some critics say that's what happens when a company controls the recording artist, the record label and the radio network. Others say it's just good marketing. NPR's Laura Sydell reports.

Several Palestinians working for a Texas computer firm face charges of money laundering and exporting computers to Syria and Libya. A leader of the Palestinian group Hamas is also indicted. The Justice Department says the case represents a major success in its efforts to stem the flow of money to terrorist organizations. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports.