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Saeed al-Batal is a pseudonym for a Syrian photographer who lives in a rebel area near the capital, Damascus. In one of his periodic talks with NPR, he says he has just lost his home again.

For many homeless people who contract HIV, it's likely their last days will be in a homeless shelter or a hospital surrounded by strangers. But, in Washington D.C. - there exists an alternative for a few men who are ready and willing to take it...Joseph's House. This community of formerly homeless men with AIDS learn to live together AND to die together here as a family - something that many of them haven't had for most of their lives. Daniel Zwerdling takes us for a visit to Joseph's House.

Julia Barton of member station WHYY reports that protesters arrested outside last week's Republican National Convention remain in jail days later, and refuse to give their names to police. The protesters say people could be singled out if they did give real names, but police contend protesters are remaining in jail by choice.

Michele Kelemen reports from Moscow that a fire raged for more than a day in the city's television tower, leaving at least two people dead. The blaze caused considerable damage to the structure -- the world's second tallest tower -- and nearly all television service to the capital has been cut. The fire -- coming just after a bomb blast in Moscow and the sinking of the submarine Kursk -- has prompted more talk about Russia's crumbling infrastructure.

NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports that thousands of people, many of them children, assembled on the National Mall today. "Leave no Child Behind" was the slogan for the day -- in an event organized by Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children's Defense Fund. Children and adults from across the country were there -- no official crowd estimates yet. Conservatives criticized the event, saying it was just a party where liberals could push for more government spending.

Federal officials are warning people in California and other states that have legalized medicinal marijuana-smoking that the federal ban is still in effect. NPR's Chitra Ragavan reports that state proponents of decriminalizing marijuana say they hope the feds will decide not to enforce it. They say that's what happened in the days when states were repealing their liquor prohibition laws, but the federal ban had not, and the practical effect was to decriminalize alcohol.

Voter News Service, a group of major news organizations and the Associated Press, abandons its exit poll plans on Election Day. VNS says it could not guarantee the accuracy of the analysis. NPR's Renee Montagne speaks with Andy Kohut, Director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

Ann McBride Norton sends us an audio postcard from China. It's from the Yunnan province, where she encounters the last of the Dongbas, priests for the ancient animist religion of the Naxi people, an ethnic minority living in the Yunnan. There are only two men left. Both are in their 80s and know the pictographic language of the Naxi culture. They spend their days translating the language, and are looking to train students so as to preserve the language after they die.

A suicide driver detonates a car bomb outside Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's party headquarters in Baghdad. At least 10 people were wounded. The al Qaeda affiliate in Iraq claimed reponsibility for the attack just a day after its leader declared an all out war on the upcoming election. This is the second attack on Allawi's party in a week.

A series of explosions rips through crowds at Shia shrines in Baghdad and the holy city of Karbala, killing scores of people celebrating Ashoura, one of the holiest days in Shia Islam. Authorities do not yet know who is behind the attacks. Hear NPR's Ivan Watson and NPR's Steve Inskeep.