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Alan Cheuse reviews Dancer, a fictionalized biography of Rudolf Nureyev by Colum McCann. Dancer is published by Metropolitan Books.

NPR's Debbie Elliot tells NPR's Lynn Neary about opening statements in New Orleans on the latest class action suit against the tobacco industry. An estimated three million smokers, some who are not ill, want the tobacco industry to pay for health screening for tobacco-related illnesses, called medical monitoring. The tobacco industry says medical monitoring is an unproven remedy, and that they shouldn't be held responsible for smokers ignoring the warning labels and smoking anyway.

In Brazil, seasonally heavy rains and flashfloods have caused deadly landslides. More than 100 people have died in the last month, most of them residents of urban shantytowns perched precariously on steep hillsides. Some say more needs to be done to curb the urban sprawl. Others say people have a right to put a roof over their heads. NPR's Martin Kaste reports.

A new White House mandate would require that 4-year-olds leaving the Head Start program take a literacy test. The Bush administration wants to make sure the program -- created to help increase the school readiness of children in low-income families -- is preparing children to read. NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports.

The last civil war widow on the union side has died.

In Los Angeles, a restaurant chain with high overall health ratings is being sued by consumers for minor violations. A nail salon is being sued for the common practice of using the same nail polish bottle for multiple clients. These are just two of a long list of consumer lawsuits being filed against small businesses in California. Now the state is considering charging those doing the suing with trying to shake down the businesses. NPR's Ina Jaffe reports.

In Britain, where a gallon of diesel fuel can cost $5, some people are experimenting with what they say are cheaper, cleaner-burning fuels -- including cooking oil. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with John Nicholson, a director of the Bio-Power (UK) Network, an organization that researches alternative fuels.

Pat Dowell reports on the new movie, City of God. It was filmed in the poorest slums of Brazil -- the favelas -- and used street children as its actors. The movie is giving the kids new visibility among Brazil's upper classes, and its makers began acting and filmmaking lessons in the favelas that are continuing past the film's completion.

Reports have been circulating that Saudi Arabia and Turkey are working to convince Saddam Hussein to step down from power voluntarily before the U.S. military forces him to do so. NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says comments on the matter from high-ranking Bush administration officials suggests something might be afoot.

Boston drivers celebrate the opening of a major section of a 3.5-mile tunnel that connects major highways in the congested downtown, shaving time off many commutes. The "Big Dig" took a dozen years to construct at a cost of $6.5 billion. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Rich Kirkland of Metro Network Shadow Broadcasting in Boston.