Howard Berkes

Crackdowns on methamphetamine ingredients have reduced the number of meth labs in the nation's heartland, but demand for the drug has not gone away. Mexican traffickers are now supplying purer "ice" meth that leads to quicker addiction and more violence.

A woman who claims she was forced to marry her cousin when she was 14 testified Tuesday at a preliminary hearing for polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. The court is trying to decide whether Jeffs should stand trial on rape charges.

The American Red Cross unveils a series of corporate-governance changes, responding to stinging criticism about how the agency dealt with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The changes include cutting the size of the board by more than half and explicitly delegating responsibility for day-to-day operations to the Red Cross' full-time professional management.

Polygamist Warren Jeffs is in jail in Utah awaiting a hearing on charges that he arranged plural marriages of underage girls to much older men. Jeffs is confined in a county jail at Purgatory Flats.

Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs has waived extradition hearings and will soon be sent to Utah to face charges of rape as an accomplice. His capture had been a priority of state and federal officials trying to stem forced polygamous marriages involving underage girls.

Hurricane Katrina hit rural Hancock County, Miss., with stronger wind and higher water than anywhere else along the Gulf Coast. More than half of the county's 19,000 homes were destroyed. A year later, little of it is back.

At a gallery in Bay Saint Louis, Miss., artist Lori Gordon has quite literally picked up the pieces in the wake of Hurricane Katrina... and is trying to make sense of the storm with bits of the rubble left behind.

Part of the funds distributed by a Utah foundation established by Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt and his family is used to pay the rent for students living in Leavitt-owned apartments. The foundation is under fire for giving away little money -- but securing substantial tax advantages for Leavitt's family.

John McPhee has written at length about fish, geology, oranges, nuclear power, basketball... and the list goes on. At 75, the great reporter feels he has plenty of words, characters and subjects left to explore.

Howard Berkes talks with NPR's Linda Gradstein about Sunday's summit between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the first official meeting between the two leaders.