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Western-leaning banker and technocrat Shaukat Aziz becomes Pakistan's 23rd prime minister, getting 191 votes in the 342-seat National Assembly. His political opponents boycotted the vote. A close ally of President Pervez Musharraf, Aziz narrowly escaped a recent assassination attempt. NPR's Philip Reeves reports.

Five women are accused of killing a man who they say had been terrorizing them in Nagpur, a central Indian city of 2 million. Akku Yadav, who reportedly committed rape, extortion, theft and murder, was bludgeoned to death in a courthouse while awaiting trial. More than 100 attorneys are offering free legal assistance to the women. NPR's Philip Reeves reports.

Pakistan's recent crackdown on al Qaeda operatives within its borders has helped strengthen President Pervez Musharraf's ties with the United States. But the efforts put Musharraf's political future in jeopardy in a country with strong Islamist extremism and anti-Americanism. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep and NPR's Philip Reeves.

In his new book So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star, Jacob Slichter, the drummer for the band Semisonic, peels away the glamour that gives the world of rock its sheen of cool. He speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep.

Author Jasper Fforde's latest mystery is Something Rotten. It's set in a parallel universe where fictional characters like Hamlet come to life and detective Thursday Next tries to police them. Hear NPR's Linda Wertheimer and Fforde.

Alan Cheuse reviews The Tarnished Eye by Midwestern writer Judith Guest. Cheuse says the book is a sweetheart of a novel, even though the plot is based around the slaying of an entire family.

For many long months, fear has kept the Iraqi people indoors at night. While there's still danger, they are slowly starting to venture out in the evenings. NPR's Philip Reeves reports on nightlife at a Baghdad amusement park.

The mood has changed in Sadr City, the sprawling slum on the outskirts of Baghdad that was at the center of last spring's rebellion by militiamen loyal to a radical Shiite Muslim cleric. The situation is much calmer now, but anti-American sentiment still runs high. NPR's Philip Reeves reports.

A car driven by a suicide bomber explodes outside a U.S. base in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, killing three Iraqis. In Baghdad, gunmen kill a senior member of Iraq's interior ministry. Several kidnappings of foreign workers are also reported. Hear NPR's Philip Reeves.

At an inner city Bronx school, a young teacher from Finland formed a gospel choir to encourage her disadvantaged students to believe in their potential. Three years after their last performance, students and teacher reunite, as a new book tells their story.