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Thomas Ricks, senior Pentagon correspondent for The Washington Post, discusses this week's long-awaited progress report from Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, the top two American officials in Iraq.

President Bush's three recent Supreme Court nominations reveal the complications and motives involved when politicians choose the nation's top judges, legal observers say. Political science professor David Yalof is an expert on the history and evolution of the Supreme Court nomination process.

in the ethics investigation of House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Republicans believe that it was Representative Jim McDermott, the House Ethics Committee's top Democrat, who leaked the recording of an incriminating phone call made by Gingrich. McDermott says he'll not participate in the committee's continuing investigation of Gingrich, calling it "a charade."

States Figure Skating Championship in Nashville, where the competition for national titles continues into the weekend. 1996 World Champion Todd Eldredge is a favorite for top place in the men's programs, after skating a nearly flawless program last night. The long programs will decide the U.S. world team on Saturday.

of Mexico's top drug enforcement official for allegedly having ties to the country's number one drug trafficking organization. The dismissal of General Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo comes barely a week before the U.S. is expected to recertify Mexico as a reliable partner in fighting illegal narcotics.

the Democratic National Committee's top fund-raiser among Asian-Americans, John Huang. Huang raised four and a half million dollars for the D-N-C and then disappeared from sight last week, after the legality of some contributions was challenged. Today, Huang is scheduled to give a deposition in a civil suit against the Commerce Department, where he used to work.

Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and top White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey resign as a jump in unemployment figures and United Airlines' financial woes stir more concern about the U.S. economy. Hear more from NPR's Scott Simon and Joe Nocera of Fortune magazine.

David Callahan's book Kindred Spirits chronicles the achievements of Harvard Business School's class of l949. The year produced leaders of many top American enterprises, including Xerox, Bloomingdale's, Capital City-ABC and the Sequoia Fund. Callahan speaks with NPR's John Ydstie and Joe Nocera of Fortune magazine.

The State Department has collected essays of 15 top authors on what it means to be an American writer. The anthology, aimed at promoting American values abroad, will be distributed free at U.S. embassies worldwide. An anti-propaganda law makes it illegal to disseminate the works in the United States, but they are available on a government Web site aimed at foreign audiences. NPR's Susan Stamberg interviews novelists Bharati Mukherjee and Charles Johnson about their participation in the project.

Code breaker Leo Marks died January 15th at the age of 80. He served as one of Britain's top code makers during WWII. There he revolutionized the military's code making methods. He wrote about his experiences in Between Silk and Cyanide: A Codemaker's War 1941-1945. Marks was also a screenwriter. His most famous film was the 1960's cult-classic Peeping Tom.