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President Bush names Treasury deputy secretary Samuel Bodman as his new secretary of energy. Bodman, a chemical engineer and former business executive, was previously deputy secretary of the Commerce Department in Bush's first term. NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

Former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik has withdrawn as President Bush's nominee to head the Homeland Security Department. Kerik cited questions about the immigration status of a housekeeper/nanny he employed. Hear NPR's Scott Simon and NPR's Don Gonyea.

President Bush and Sen. John Kerry answer the most recent video tape released by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Both pledge an all-out war on terrorism, while their campaigns snipe at each other over their respective responses. Hear NPR's David Welna and NPR's Scott Horsley.

Congress nears an agreement on a bill to restructure the nation's intelligence-gathering operations. The House passed the measure by a wide margin Tuesday night. The Senate is expected to vote Wednesday. However, even some who backed the bill wonder how it will affect civil liberties. NPR's David Welna reports.

In Kuwait, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld takes questions from U.S. soldiers bound for Iraq. Spc. Thomas Wilson of the Tennessee Army National Guard asked the secretary why soldiers have to scrounge around in scrap piles to find material to armor their vehicles.

Thousands of European survivors of last week's Indian Ocean tsunami search for loved ones who disappeared from the popular resort area of Phuket in southern Thailand. At least one-half of the thousands killed in the area were foreign tourists. Doualy Xaykaothao reports.

President Bush names the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte, to be the first national intelligence director. The post involves oversight of 15 agencies including the CIA. In a White House ceremony, the president said the director will play a key role in waging the war on terror.

President Bush taps a career civil servant and biologist to become the next head of the Environmental Protection Agency. Stephen Johnson has worked at the EPA for 24 years, most recently as the agency's acting head. He will be the first career EPA official to head the agency.

The International Atomic Energy Agency meets in Vienna to examine Iran's recent pledge to freeze its nuclear enrichment program. Washington has repeatedly accused Tehran of plans to develop nuclear weapons. Greg Webb, editor for Global Security Newswire, discusses the IAEA meeting.

President Bush is aggressively touring the country to promote his call for private Social Security accounts. Yet polls show support for the president on this issue has declined in recent weeks. Even backing from some Republicans is in doubt on an issue the president acknowledges is politically risky.