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An explosion and fire rip apart a pharmaceutical plant in Kinston, N.C. Several deaths are reported, and The Associated Press reports area hospitals had received people with severe burns. Hear NPR news.

President Bush promises $15 billion over the next 10 years to fight AIDS in Africa. His critics are stunned, yet impressed by the attention he gives the disease in his State of the Union speech. But many critics are skeptical, saying they've heard promises before. NPR's Brenda Wilson reports.

President Bush makes new charges against Iraq in his State of the Union address, saying there's evidence Iraq tried to acquire nuclear materials and has links to terrorists. U.S. allies and U.N. arms inspectors are eager to hear the evidence. Hear from NPR's Tom Gjelten, NPR's Lynn Neary and U.N. chief nuclear weapons inspector Mohamed ElBaradei.

An explosion and subsequent fire demolish a medical plastics factory in Kinston, N.C. The Associated Press reports that at least two people died and about 40 were injured. Three others were feared missing in the burning ruins. Rusty Jacobs of member station WUNC reports.

Upon his return from the North, a South Korean envoy says North Korean leader Kim Jong Il will talk only with the United States over North Korea's disputed nuclear program. The envoy says he had not been able to meet with the North Korean leader himself. NPR's Rob Gifford reports.

It may be six months away -- but during these short cold days of winter, we bring you a taste of summer. NPR's Michele Norris talks with David Mas Maumoto, a writer and farmer in Central California, about the quintessential symbol of summer -- the peach. Masamuto talks about his latest book Four Seasons in 5 Senses: Things Worth Savoring. (W.W. Norton & Company, January 2003.)

In 1992, the Academy Award for best documentary short subject went to Educating Peter, a film by producer/director Gerardine Wurzburg that followed a young boy with Down Syndrome through third grade in a regular class in his Blacksburg, Va. elementary school. Now Wurzburg follows up with Graduating Peter -- view clips from both of the documentaries, and learn more about Wurzburg.

Robert Siegel talks with Shelley Murphy, staff reporter for the Boston Globe about a sighting in London of notorious fugitive James "Whitey" Bulger. Bulger, an FBI informant, has been on the run since 1995. He is wanted in connection with the murder of 19 people in the United States, and is on the FBI's list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. See: http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/topten/fugitives/bulger.htm

China is setting some lofty goals. For the first time, the nation prepares to send people into space. They'll be called Taikonauts. Robert Siegel and Lynn Neary explain.

Marin Alsop, conductor of the Colorado Symphony, gives a behind-the-scenes look at a percussion concerto called UFO, by American composer Michael Daugherty. The piece was written for the soloist Evelyn Glennie, who talks with Alsop about some of the unorthodox instruments that make up a percussionist's arsenal.