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NPR's Eric Weiner reports that the "Big Box" has landed in Japan. Huge discount warehouse stores are just beginnning to open up there. Japanese consumers are unaccustomed to both the cutrate deals on household items, and the no-frills atmosphere. Stores such as CostCo are providing stiff competition to Mom-and-Pop retailers, who pride themselves on personal service, right down to delivering a single bottle of sake to a customer's front door.

NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from Belgrade on reaction to NATO's decision today to allow Yugoslav forces into a buffer zone along the Serbian border with Macedonia. The allies agreed to let Yugoslav forces into what was a demilitarized zone to oust ethnic Albanian rebels sheltering there. Yugoslav president Vojislav Kostunica welcomed the move. But he blasted NATO for allowing the ethnic Albanian militants to operate in the region and allowing the security situation in the region to deteriorate. The rebels have been staging attacks inside Serbia proper, and recently, in the neighboring country of Macedonia.

The professionals who design and build the nation's infrastructure say vital systems are decaying. The American Society of Civil Engineers reports that, in report card terms, U.S. bridges, roads and schools get a grade of D-plus. The group says the country should start fixing the problems, with an investment of $1.3 trillion dollars over five years. NPR's Emily Harris reports.

Secretary of State Colin Powell voiced concern today about North Korea's "huge army" and told Senators the United States might try to negotiate a reduction in the size of that army. Powell's testimony came as some senators began to question whether the newly installed Bush administration is being as tough as it promised to be on North Korea and Iraq.

Robert Siegel and Linda Wertheimer read selections from this week's letters from listeners.

Robert Siegel talks with Arthur Peacocke, an Englishman who won this year's Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. Peacocke is a theologian and a scientist.

NPR's Richard Knox reports on Merck's decision to offer discounted AIDS drugs to developing countries. While the drug company has improved its image by dropping profit margins in these poorer markets, the move will have minimal effect on the high cost of comprehensive AIDS treatment.

NPR's Brenda Wilson reports on efforts to treat AIDS in Senegal. The West African nation was one of the first to strike a deal with drug companies to reduce the cost of AIDS drugs and its healthcare system is one of the continent's best. But the AIDS epidemic is proving too extensive and too deadly for even the most accomplished doctors to control.

NPR's Mara Liasson reports that despite vows to quell bipartisan rancor, President Bush's brand of compassionate conservatism is still drawing lines of division between Democrats and Republicans.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports on President Bush's visit to Fargo, North Dakota. Mr. Bush is on the road this week, selling his tax-cut plan to citizens.