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that, so far, 28 states have submitted their welfare reform plans. The deadline is July 1st in order to take advantage of a new funding mechanism which will allow them to receive more money from the federal government. Other states in other circumstances have no incentive to file their plans early.

Nearly 20,000 people have been declared dead in the wake of Monday's earthquake in southwestern China. NPR's Melissa Block and Robert Siegel were on the ground, covering the quake and its aftermath from the beginning. Today, they take a step back to discuss their experiences with Michele Norris.

A new report from the Kew Gardens in London is billed as the first comprehensive report on the state of the world's fungi.

For the past week, only four militants have remained at the refuge near Burns, Ore. They're among the 16 whom a grand jury indicted on charges of conspiracy and using threats and intimidation.

It took 20 years to get a piece of land in Georgia ready to host endangered woodpeckers. U.S. Fish and Wildlife recently approved moving some of the birds to the site.

on the $35 million campaign the AFL-CIO is planning this year to defeat 75 House members -- almost all of whom are Republicans. Labor hopes to reassert itself as the important voting block it once was. But many union members voted Republican in the last election and getting them to follow the union leadership's guidance on election day is a formidable task.

Daniel Zwerdling talks to education researcher Gerald Bracey about the state of American education. Bracey feels, contrary to public opinion, that the education system is in fact doing very well. He says that the school system includes a more diverse group of students than it did 50 years ago and education standards compare very favourably with the rest of the industrialized world.

that Ford Motor Company has announced what could be the largest recall program in the history of the auto industry. Ford is offering to fix faulty ignition switches on more than 8 million vehicles manufactured between 1988 and 1993. The ignition switches can short circuit, leaving Ford vehicles vulnerable to fire.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the latest album from Fountains of Wayne. It's the band's first collection of songs in four years.

Federal, state and local agencies are racing to determine the cause of the spill, which is at least 13 square miles in size.