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It may not be possible to reduce U.S. troop levels in Iraq this year, according to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's testimony before a Senate committee. Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says it will be months before Iraqi army units are ready to operate on their own.

Singer, songwriter and pianist Regina Spektor's new CD is Begin to Hope. The Russian emigre, who came to the United States when she was 9, says her songs aren't about herself and likens writing songs to writing fiction.

For more on the new Hispanic census numbers, Robert Siegel talks with Jeffrey Passel, senior research associate at the Pew Hispanic Center. The latest numbers put the Hispanic population in the U.S. at about 41.3 million people. One-in-five kids under the age of five is now Hispanic.

Americans are highly critical of President Bush's handling of Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, according to a new poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. And for the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks, the public thinks the president should focus more on domestic policy than on the war on terrorism.

As the 10th anniversary of his record-breaking streak approaches, retired Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken Jr. talks about baseball's steroids scandal, the sad state of sportsmanship and his life off the field.

Bolero is perhaps best known from the 1979 movie 10 soundtrack. But Maurice Ravel didn't strictly have romance in mind when he composed the classic piece, music commentator Miles Hoffman says.

Andrew Ragsdale of Gainesville, Fla., plays the puzzle with Puzzlemaster Will Shortz, who was recently spotlighted by the New York Times.

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with listener Gerry Reynolds of Chicago and puzzlemaster Will Shortz.

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with winner Alex Gallamore of Charlottesville, VA, and puzzle master Will Shortz.

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with Weekend Edition puzzlemaster Will Shortz and this week's puzzle winner Susan Gilmore of West Hartford, Conn.