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As warplanes continue to pound Republican Guard positions near Baghdad, Gen. Tommy Franks says there has been no "operational pause" in the war in Iraq. But he warns the toughest fighting in Iraq is still ahead. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.

Iraqi television broadcasts an alleged statement from Saddam Hussein, urging Baghdad's residents to fight U.S. forces with their hands if necessary. Hoping to avoid drawn-out urban warfare, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld appeals to Iraqi soldiers to surrender, saying they "can still survive and help to rebuild a free Iraq." NPR's Scott Horsley reports.

Speaking to Marines at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, President Bush says "a vise is closing" on Saddam Hussein's regime and that the United States "will not stop until Iraq is free." Bush also offers condolences to families of U.S. Marines killed in the war with Iraq. Hear NPR's Bob Edwards, NPR's Christopher Joyce and NPR's Don Gonyea.

NPR's Michele Norris talks with Craig Smith, reporter for the New York Times, in Umm Qasr in southern Iraq. Smith spoke with a Shiite cleric who told him that Ba'ath Party officials in Basra are seeking a way to surrender. The cleric says that the party officials have no support among Iraqi people there and are worried about mob violence against them if they step down.

NPR's Jack Speer visits the headquarters of a small company outside Washington, D.C., to see how employees at one firm are managing to follow news about the war and get their work done. Pal-Tech has a diverse workforce, and company management encourages employees to speak freely as a way of easing tensions in the office. Employees say they appreciate the openness but want to know more about what the company is doing to protect them if there is another terrorist event in Washington.

The U.S. military investigates reports that an American warplane bombed a convoy of Kurdish fighters and U.S. Special Forces soldiers in northern Iraq, killing several people. A BBC reporter traveling with the convoy says he counted at least 10 bodies lying near the burning vehicles. NPR's Liane Hansen talks to NPR's Ivan Watson.

Scientists studying Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome say the flu-like illness may be caused by a previously unknown form of the corona virus, which is also causes the common cold. SARS has killed more than 80 people and sickened more than 2,400, mostly in Asia. Hear NPR's Joanne Silberner.

NPR's Joanne Silberner looks at the chronology of events in the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS. It was only three weeks ago that the World Health Organization captured the world's attention by stating the illness posed a world-wide health threat. It said there had been hundreds of SARS cases in Guangdong province, and that the disease had spread to Hong Kong. Then other countries reported cases, mainly among travelers to China and their contacts. There were fears that the relatively rapid spread in China and Hong Kong might signal an epidemic, similar to the flu epidemic of 1918, which killed millions. The situation today looks less frightful, but scientists are still concerned.

Peace activists shift efforts from trying to prevent war to stopping one under way. With steady support among Americans for the assault on Iraq, activists also look for ways to oppose the war while showing support for the troops who are fighting it. Nancy Solomon reports.

NPR's Michele Norris talks with Owen Bennett-Jones, a BBC reporter, who sailed into the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr on the British supply ship Sir Galahad today. Bennett-Jones talks about the immense security precautions used to guard the Sir Galahad from mines and small crafts as it sailed into port with the first military shipment of relief aid for Iraqis.