In Ellsworth, Wisconsin, flags are at half staff. Schools will be let out early Thursday, and a couple thousand people are expected for the funeral of one of its residents, an Army reservist, who was killed recently in Iraq. Bert Hoyer, 23, was a specialist with the 652nd Engineer Company, based in Ellsworth. Hoyer was building bridges in Iraq when he was killed by a bomb blast. (03/17/2004)

Minnesota's Democratic senator, Mark Dayton, is in the MPR studios to discuss a wide range of local, national and international issues. He also answers questions from MPR listeners. ( 03/17/2004)

Police reportedly now suspect at least six Moroccans took part in the Madrid train bombings, and the United States is assisting a growing international investigation that is increasingly focused on Islamic militants possibly linked to al-Qaida. Gary Eichten and his guest discuss the latest on international terrorism and terrorist groups-- in Europe and beyond. ( 03/17/2004)

On Monday, Iraq's U.S.-appointed Governing Council signed an interim constitution which will guide the country until a permanent version is drawn up next year. The signing was delayed because of objections from Iraq's most revered Shi'ite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. The cleric issued a statement saying he was still unhappy with the document. ( 03/10/2004)

Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, speaks about the detentions at Guantanamo Bay and related government actions since 9/11 that he says go beyond the fight against terrorism and threaten the freedom of all Americans. ( 03/09/2004)

In her book, <i>World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability,</i> Yale law professor Amy Chua turns inside out one of America's most self-evident truths: that the combination of democracy and free markets is necessarily a good thing. The best-seller provides osme of the most lucid and compelling answers to the qeustion that Americans have been asking since September 2001: &quot;Why do they hate us?&quot; ( 03/08/2004)

Author and Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent, Judith Miller, on the threat of biological warfare. She is the author of <i>Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War</i>. ( 02/25/2004)

A new U.N. report says Iraq could hold elections in eight months if preparations get under way now. But the U.S. plans to hand over control of the country in June. ( 02/24/2004)

Former President Jimmy Carter says Americans aren't doing enough to help people in developing countries. Carter was in Minnesota this weekend to speak at the annual Nobel Peace Prize Forum at St. Olaf College in Northfield. ( 02/23/2004)

Former President Jimmy Carter says the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was completely unwarranted. Carter spoke Saturday at the 16th annual &quot;Nobel Peace Prize Forum&quot; at St. Olaf College in Northfield. Carter was president from 1977-1981, and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts. Carter also said the U.S. should worker harder to peaceably resolve conflicts with other nations. (02/21/2004)

A City Club of Cleveland speech by former U.S. Ambassador Peter Galbraith, who says today's violence in Iraq is rooted in the the violence and looting that broke out after the fall of Baghdad. Galbraith charges that the Bush administration could have and should have been prepared for that &quot;day after Baghdad.&quot; ( 02/17/2004)

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright discusses her thoughts on the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East. She spoke about the United States in world affairs and her new book, <i>Madam Secretary: A Memoir</i>, Thursday at the Commonwealth Club of California. ( 02/13/2004)

Funeral services were held on Thursday in Elk River for Patrick Dorff, an Army helicopter pilot who crashed in northern Iraq late last month and apparently drowned in the Tigris River. Dorff, who grew up in Buffalo, Minn., joined the Army to gain flying experience and to earn money for college. The 32 year old left behind a wife and a young daughter along with a long list of friends and admirers. (02/12/2004)

Sen. Mark Dayton says before the Iraq war, he attended then-secret briefings in which he was told that Saddam Hussein had biological and chemical weapons and was planning to attack the United States. Bush acknowledged Sunday that he apparently was wrong in saying last March that there was &quot;no doubt&quot; Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. ( 02/12/2004)

Gov. Tim Pawlenty wrapped up a two-day trip to Iraq Wednesday. Pawlenty and five other governors spent a second day in Baghdad at the invitation of the Bush administration. Pawlenty says he leaves Iraq convinced that President Bush was right to go to war against Saddam Hussein's regime. (02/11/2004)