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NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from Cumbria in Northern England, the region hardest hit by the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. Farmers are challenging the government's insistence on slaughtering all animals within two miles of infected sites. With "Keep Out" signs posted throughout the English countryside, the outbreak has caused huge losses in the tourism industry, as well. The government has deployed army troops to help dispose of the animal carcasses that have been piling up.

Commander Scott Waddle, skipper of the USS Greeneville, stunned a Navy court of inquiry in Hawaii today by taking the stand to testify without immunity. He is taking full responsibility for the sub's deadly collision with a Japanese fishing trawler. Waddle and his attorney had said he would not testify in the inquiry unless assured that his answers would not be used against him in a court martial or other criminal proceeding. But in a dramatic opening statement, Waddle said he wanted to be heard by the families of the nine killed in the Feb. 9 collision. Linda Wertheimer talks with NPR's Andy Bowers who's at the hearing in Pearl Harbor.

NPR's Michele Kelemen reports on Russia-Ukraine relations after the death of an opposition journalist. Ukraine is trying to lure investors from the West, but the country's reputation for corruption is not helping.

Commentator Frank Deford says in a world with an increasingly destabilized economy, the choice between athletics as entertainment and more basic needs will mean tough times for major league sports.

The Bush administration's decision to throw out new rules limiting arsenic in drinking water has angered environmentalists. Industries that emit arsenic and small water suppliers who would have had to rebuild purifying plants are relieved. As NPR's Larry Abramson reports, the new rules were proposed by the Clinton administration. Now the EPA says the present limit is good enough and that better health research is needed before a new standard can be written.

NPR's Margot Adler reports on what some are decrying as the "suburbanization" of New York City. She talks to one design critic who laments that national franchises are replacing the city's local greasy spoons, coffeehouses and boutiques, and taking over street-life. (6:40

For the first time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has taken blood samples from a cross-section of Americans to look for a number of toxic substances. These substances show up in pollutants from industry and in products like cigarettes. NPR's John Nielsen reports some good news; chemicals from second-hand smoke seems to be appearing in blood less frequently. There's worrisome news too; there are lots of other chemicals in our blood about which we know very little.

The Bush administration's decision to halt standards for arsenic levels in drinking water is giving local water companies a bit of a reprieve. Under the new standards a municpal water company would have to increase its standards from 50 parts per billion to 10 parts per billion. In most cases that would have meant building new water filtration systems. George Hansen is the general manager of Chesapeake Ranch Water Company in southern Calvert County, Md. Noah Adams speaks with him about the changes he would have to make under new standards and what they are doing now to treat arsenic.

It's been two years since the heads of most leading economies met in person. "We can finally look at the future with great — or with some — optimism," said Italy's Mario Draghi, the summit host.

Race relations loomed large in the news -- and in the lives of 30-year-olds. They talk about being bussed as children and valuing diversity as adults.