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Delma Banks is scheduled to be executed tomorrow evening for the murder of Richard Wayne Whitehead. Independent producers Matt Ozug and Karen Callahan recorded interviews with Whitehead's parents and the mother of Delma Banks, who talk about their feelings as execution day looms.

Across the United States, National Guard reservists are preparing to go overseas, and in many cases leaving police and fire crews critically understaffed. NPR’s Howard Berkes visits the small rural town of Beaver, Utah as its National Guard unit prepares to leave -- possibly to serve in the Mideast -- and finds conflicting emotions among the soldiers, town residents and the families they leave behind. See photos of Beaver and its residents.

The limited U.S. strikes on Iraqi targets in and around Baghdad draw mixed reaction from many parts of the Muslim world. Iran calls the attack "unjustifiable and illegitimate," and Malaysia says the strike represents "a black mark in history." But Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak criticizes Iraq's role in the conflict. Hear NPR's Michael Sullivan.

Across the nation, educators are balancing mandates to improve test scores and a chronic lack of resources with the need for children to have enough time to simply be children. To wrap up the four-part series on homework, Morning Edition host Bob Edwards talks with Shirley Igo, national president of the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), about the PTA's parent guide to homework.

Puzzle master Will Shortz quizzes one of our listeners, and has a challenge for everyone at home. (This week's winner is Ed Rush from Los Osos, Calif. He listens to Weekend Edition on member station KCBX in San Luis Obispo.)

We sample the mailbag and read from your letters and e-mails... including comments on Chef Bobo's recipes for lunch at The Calhoun School.

NPR's Melissa Block talked to people in Martinsburg, W. Va. about their reactions to President Bush's address last night about the crisis with Iraq. West Virginia has always been a state whose sons and daughters have served and died in high proportions in wars. Block finds almost universal support for settling the conflict in Iraq with force. But people express varying degrees of fear about what will happen next. Some fear chemical attacks and even a spread of war around the globe. More than 100 Martinsburg reservists are in southwest Asia.

NPR's Robert Siegel talks with NPR's Ivan Watson in northern Iraq about the exodus of Kurds from their homes and villages, in anticipation of an American assault on the forces of Saddam Hussein. Many Kurds are heading to the relative safety of the mountains, fearing that Saddam might respond to a U.S. assault with chemical or biological weapons attacks on Kurdish areas.

An organism similar to viruses that cause measles and mumps may be behind a global outbreak of a new form pneumonia, known as SARS. World health officials also report it looks like the disease is on its way to containment. NPR's Patricia Neighmond reports.

NPR's Michele Norris talks with NPR's John Burnett, who's with U.S. troops from the 1st Marine Division in Kuwait. Burnett says the marines there have started to pack up, and convoys of vehicles are moving out in what officials have said is a scheduled dress rehearsal. He says the mood among troops is jubilant following President Bush's 48-hour ultimatum delivered to Saddam Hussein last night.