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Frank Browning reports on the number two cancer killer in America -- colon cancer. More than 45-thousand Americans die from it every year. A study in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association confirms that screening people over 50 for colorectal cancer saves lives. Malignancies are detected earlier, at a more treatable stage. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health and several private groups have launched an aggressive colon cancer prevention campaign. But it's been difficult to get people over 50 to get tested.

New numbers from the American Public Transportation Association say that public transportation use rose 3.5 percent in the past year, the highest level in more than four decades. Americans also drove 2.7 trillion miles last year, the same amount as in 1999. Linda Wertheimer speaks with James Hughes about the figures and what they mean for public transportation. Hughes is the dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.

A new poll delves into the problems Americans face with their health care. Four out of 10 families report trouble paying their medical bills. NPR's Patricia Neighmond reports that most Americans are against what are called "defined contribution" health plans -- where employers give employees money to pay for health care benefits they find themselves. Find the complete poll results online.

Filmmaker Liz Mermin's new documentary, The Beauty Academy of Kabul, is about a group of American hairdressers who open a beauty school in Afghanistan to teach local women how to cut hair and apply make-up, thus making them financially independent.

At a briefing in Baghdad, Iraq's defense minister says he expects U.S. forces to encircle the city within five to 10 days. Sultan Hashim Ahmed says the forces will battle each other in the city's streets, but that American troops ultimately will fail to take Baghdad. In the end, Americans will be forced out, he says, because Iraqis have the advantage of fighting on their own soil for their own country. Hear NPR's Anne Garrels.

Another U.S. soldier is shot and killed in Baghdad. More than 30 American troops have died since major combat actions ended in May. Opposition to the U.S. presence appears to be more organized than before, and is fueled by media images of "aggressive" American troops. Hear NPR's Scott Simon and NPR's Guy Raz.

Al-Jazeera and other Arabic-language satellite networks broadcast photographs of American soldiers humiliating Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghuraib prison -- a prison made notorious for torture during Saddam Hussein's rule. Some Iraqis say the photographs prove the Americans are not much better than their former dictator. NPR's Philip Reeves reports.

An uncut version of the 1954 Japanese sci-fi movie Godzilla is finally premiering in U.S. theaters. The original film was in part a meditation on the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But its American distributors, who wanted to emphasize the film's monster-movie aspects, cut out 40 minutes and added new scenes starring American actor Raymond Burr. David D'Arcy reports.

NPR's Scott Simon talks to documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple. Her work includes the Academy Award winning Harlan County, USA and American Dream. She's made films on subjects ranging from Woodstock and the Hamptons to biographies of Woody Allen, Mike Tyson and Gregory Peck. She's about to receive a lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute's documentary festival.

Security forces in Saudi Arabia continue to search for the body of American engineer Paul Johnson, who was beheaded by Islamist militants in the capital, Riyadh, on Friday. The murder of Johnson and several other foreigners this month has deeply shaken the American expatriate community in the Saudi Kingdom. NPR's Julie McCarthy reports.