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As the pope begins a meeting with his Council of Cardinals, an Italian newspaper publishes a wide-ranging interview with him, in which the pontiff affirms separation of church and state and expounds on the nature of good and evil.

Friday is Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's last day on the job. She is leaving Washington, and will become president of the University of California system at the end of the month.

Norman Rush's newest novel takes a geographic hiatus from Botswana, his usual literary location. Instead, reviewer Drew Toal says the book is instead full of irritating intellectuals, postmortem scandal, and a group of collegiate clowns who come together after the death of an old friend.

A exhibit at L.A's Architecture and Design Museum focuses on eye-popping buildings and structures that were imagined for the City of Angels — but never actually built.

When the swirling, howling winds of the 1930s Dust Bowl gobbled up farmland from Texas to the Dakotas, the federal government planted 100 million trees to act like a giant windbreak. It worked. But now, after years of drought, those old trees are dying.

The division in the Republican Party means there's no one leader on the other side that President Obama can cut a deal with — or even high-profile adversary to vilify. That's a stark contrast from other recent fiscal standoffs.

With the city's parking meter lease making voters leery of new privatization deals, Mayor Rahm Emanuel called for too many public interest protections in the Midway Airport lease, and too few investors saw it as worth the risk. Increasingly, though, governments turn to private investors to run public assets like roads and prisons.

Stephen Rakes said the gangster forced him — at gunpoint — to sell a liquor store. The cause of Rakes' death isn't yet known. Authorities say there were "no obvious signs of trauma." Rakes, who said he could speak for those who fear Bulger, was told this week he would not be called to the stand.

Sen. Mitch McConnell's job requires him to make deals with Democrats, something at which he's been especially good. But he may be forced to use proxies like Sen. John McCain because of an expected Tea Party primary challenger to his re-election.

Many members of Congress had been clamoring for President Obama to come to Capitol Hill for permission before striking Syria, but some Republicans say he should have acted without waiting for approval. Guest host Wade Goodwyn talks with NPR's Ailsa Chang on how Congress may vote.