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Wisconsin health officials are investigating at least three possible cases of human-to-human infection of monkeypox. If confirmed, they would be the first cases of person-to-person spread of the disease in the United States. The U.S. outbreak of the disease has so far involved people who got infected from pets. NPR's Richard Knox reports.

Pink Martini's debut album, Sympathique, has been selling steadily, racking up a respectable 600,000 sales in the five years since its release. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports on the pressures on the band and its charismatic leader Thomas Lauderdale to avoid the sophomore curse of a second release that doesn't live up to the first.

Mississippi is a much-changed place since civil rights pioneer Medgar Evers was murdered there 40 years ago this week. The civil rights leader refused to leave the state he loved. He believed conditions would improve. And now his state leads the nation in the number of black elected officials. NPR's Melanies Peoples reports from the county where Evers grew up.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends smallpox vaccinations for people exposed to monkeypox, a similar disease transmitted from some animals to humans. And officials ban sales of prairie dogs and imports of six species of African rodents tied to the spread of the disease. Hear NPR's Richard Knox.

NPR's Ivan Watson in Baghdad reports on American efforts to deal with the mound of trash that has accumulated in the Iraqi capital since the end of the war in April. An American from the U.S. Corps of Engineers is in charge of waste disposal now, and he's dubbed himself "Mr. Garbage."

For decades, money and ambition have formed the central ethos of Hong Kong. But SARS was such a blow to the city that many people there are pausing to think about what really matters. NPR's Rob Gifford reports that volunteerism is up, at least for now, in a kinder, gentler Hong Kong.

Babies' babbling is the stuff of scientific study. Writing in the current issue of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers have discovered that babies change and improve their babbling sounds in rapid response to affectionate behaviors from their mothers. NPR's Michelle Trudeau reports.

This weekend, a young gelding has a chance to win the Triple Crown at the Belmont Stakes in New York. Funny Cide won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. Commentator Frank Deford says winning the coveted crown could end his racing career.

David Banks, an editor and producer of NPR's Web site, talks about a treasure trove of audio tapes that chronicle the correspondence between his father, a U-2 spy plane pilot in the Vietnam War, with his young wife and family at home in Arizona.

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a federal court can't consider new evidence to support arguments in ineffective counsel cases. The evidence must be introduced at the state level.