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As San Francisco prepares to mark the centennial of the 1906 earthquake and fire, historians recall how Chinatown, destroyed along with much of the city, almost wasn't rebuilt.

Two infected airline passengers may have helped spread mumps from Iowa to several other Midwestern states, health officials say. The epidemic -- Iowa may have as many as 600 cases -- is a new example of how quickly diseases can spread through air travel. The outbreak is the largest in 18 years.

Many Ukrainians are dissatisfied with the slow progress of democracy in their country. Meanwhile, those who helped organize last year's Orange Revolution are optimistic about upcoming parliamentary elections.

Fresh Air book critic Maureen Corrigan lists her favorite books of 2005, including novels by Mary Gaitskill and Kazuo Ishiguro, and memoirs by Joan Didion and J.R. Moehringer.

A state judge imposes a $1 million a day fine against the Transport Workers Union for defying a state law that prohibits strikes by public employees. Millions of commuters are struggling to get around New York City after subway and bus workers walked off the job early Tuesday morning.

When Margi Scharff felt stomach pain in India, she assumed it was "Delhi Belly," an ailment often afflicting visitors. The 51-year-old artist, based in Los Angeles, was instead told she has advanced ovarian cancer.

The explosion in 1815 of Indonesia's Mount Tambora was one of Earth's largest volcanic eruptions. It buried a tiny kingdom under billions of tons of ash and rock. Little by little, pieces of the village have surfaced.

Commentator John Ridley is critical of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson's offer to pay the college tuition of a woman who has accused several members of the Duke University lacrosse team of rape. The case has taken on strong racial overtones because the accuser is black, and almost all the members of the team are white. Ridley says Jackson should wait until the facts of the case are clear.

Crude oil prices hit record highs of more than $70 a barrel. At the end of trading Tuesday, the price settled at $71.60 -- a 95-cent increase over Monday's record close. President Bush, saying he is concerned about higher gas prices, promised the government would stop any price gouging.

Putting welfare recipients to work is at the heart of the federal welfare law passed 10 years ago. But while the original law allowed states to decide how best to meet federal goals, some officials fear that the Bush administration will remove some of the flexibility that they say has made the law a success.