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NPR's Guy Raz reports from the Macedonian city of Tetovo that fighting escalated today between ethnic Albanian rebels and Macedonian security forces. The two sides exchanged fierce gunfire just outside the city -- Macedonia's second largest. Occasional shells and bullets landed in the central square. Most activity has come to a halt. The government says it's preparing for all-out war. Although Macedonia was the one republic to secede from Yugoslavia without bloodshed and an ethnic Albanian party is included in the ruling coalition, the rebels say they're fighting for greater rights for the Albanian community.

Lynn Neary reports on today's speech by John DiIulio, the head of the White House Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives. DiIulio continues to promote the Bush administrations plans for involving faith based organizations in public social service despite growing questions and criticism.

NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from Cornwall, England, where the curtain goes up tomorrow on the world's largest greenhouse. The "Eden Project" -- with its tropical rain forest under a giant geodesic dome -- is a huge conservation project for endangered plant species.

Belle Waring wonders why kissing portrayed on television is so savage. She longs for more restrained passion. Waring is a registered nurse and a writer who lives in Washington, D.C.

Commentator Donald McCaig talks about the everyday proximity of life and death on his sheep farm.

NPR's Jim Zarroli reports that Wall Street staggered through another down day, capping a ghastly week for investors. The gloom has spread from tech stocks to even the most stolid blue chip companies. And many small investors are dismayed by portfolios that are worth a lot less than they were a year ago.

The Senate next week will begin a historic 10 days of debate on limiting the sources of cash in political campaigns. Senate Republican leaders have been looking for a compromise bill with the help of President Bush, who wants to restrict money from unions and corporations but allow more leeway for individual contributors. Senate Democrats generally oppose that distinction, and their leader, Tom Daschle of South Dakota, has called the president's approach an attempt to destroy campaign finance reform. NPR's David Welna reports on the pre-debate positioning of the parties.

NPR's John Nielsen reports that when elephants stamp their feet they are actually talking, or at least sending seismic messages to other elephants. These signals actually are important to a herd, and human activities that interrupt transmission of signals through the ground could disrupt elephant behavior, migration and the like.

Noah Adams talks with Mott Linn, coordinator of Archives and Special Collections at Clark University, about the 75th anniversary of the first rocket launch. Robert Goddard pioneered the way for space flight when on this day three-quarters of a century ago he launched a 10-1/2 pound rocket from his aunt's farm in Auburn, Mass.

NPR's Michele Kelemen reports from Kiev that Ukraine is going through its worst political crisis since the break-up of the Soviet Union. The now independent country has long been mired in corruption and economic hardship. But with revelations that President Leonid Kuchma may have rigged elections and ordered the disappearance of a murdered journalist, more and more Ukrainians are calling for his ouster. Despite a series of demonstrations in recent months, however, the opposition remains fractured and leaderless.