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One of Iraq's top foreign ministry officials, Bassam Kubba, died Saturday after being shot by unknown gunmen in Baghdad. He is the first member of Iraq's two-week-old interim government to be killed. Kubba worked through the ranks of the foreign ministry under Saddam Hussein and became ambassador to China. NPR's Emily Harris reports.

The Bush administration's top housing official announced his resignation Monday. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson says much has been accomplished during his tenure, but critics say they hope the change will bring about policies that will help solve the housing crisis.

Ken Khachigian, senior adviser to Fred Thompson's exploratory presidential campaign, says Thompson has caught up with top GOP candidates in fundraising. It helps that Americans have some comfort and familiarity with Thompson, he tells Michele Norris.

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.

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.

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.

President Bush today tried to keep the focus on the tax cut plan he will submit to Congress tomorrow. But the shooting just off the White House grounds got most of the media attention. Earlier in the day, top aides to the president had scrambled to deny stories that said they were shutting down White House offices devoted to AIDS research and to promoting better race relations. NPR's White House correspondent Don Gonyea reports.

The Bush administration condemns the assassination of a top commander of the Kurdish resistance in northern Iraq. A State Department spokesman says the United States had been working closely with Gen. Shawkat Haji Mushir. Mushir's death is blamed on a Kurdish Islamist movement with al Qaeda ties. NPR's Ivan Watson report.

NPR's Anne Garrels reports from Belgrade that the French foreign minister visited the Yugoslav capital today. He told president Vojislav Kostunica that assistance to Yugoslavia's new leadership is Europe's top priority. The West has been waiting to see some positive signs from Kostunica on Kosovo. The new president today raised the issue of a possible exchange of ethnic Albanian and Serb prisoners. Ironically, Kostunica's easiest task now seems to be dealing with the West. He has yet to consolidate control over the police and governmental bodies in the Serbian republic.

Always wanted to be a character in a novel? Here's your chance. This week, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts is holding an Immortality Auction, in which the highest bidders will buy their way into novels by some of England's top writers. It's all to raise money for a London-based charity. Liane talks with Jon Baguley, who directs fundraising for the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture. (4:00) (NOTE: for more information on the auction and participating authors, visit http://www.bo