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Anne Sutton of member station KTOO in Juneau reports that Alaska's love affair with tourism is showing signs of strain. The seasonal influx of visitors has put wear and tear on the state's infrastructure, and residents aren't sure the tourist dollars that come with them are enough to offset the damage. So voters will go to polls October 5th to decide whether to level a per-head tax on out of state visitors.

NPR's David Welna reports that barring last minute roadblocks, Illinois Governor George Ryan will become the first sitting US governor to visit Cuba under Castro's rule, even though many in his party are denouncing the trip.

A brief summary of some other important news in today's program.

NPR's Michele Kelemen reports for the past week, Russian warplanes have been bombing the breakaway republic of Chechnya. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has vowed to keep up the attacks, to destroy the bases of Islamic militants he blames for recent apartment house bombings in Russia. The air raids have driven tens of thousands of Chechens from their homes and have fueled reports that the Russians are about to send ground troops into Chechnya. President Boris Yeltsin remains silent on the crisis.

The U.S. just backed calls by South Africa and India to waive intellectual property protection for COVID-19 vaccines, but that may not be enough to ramp up vaccine production.

As Memorial Day approaches, public health officials are optimistic about the state of the nation's battle against the pandemic, but caution the pandemic is far from over.

Imagery from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows what appears to be a large oil slick near an offshore rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

Sebastian Vettel won the Bahrain Grand Prix over the weekend, but in a larger sense the winners were the race organizers. They managed to hold the race which was canceled last year by political unrest, which was part of the uprisings of the Arab Spring. Bill Law, of the British Broadcasting Corporation, talks to Steve Inskeep about the weekend's events in Bahrain.

U.S. and Afghan officials have finalized their partnership agreement, which sets up guidelines for U.S. involvement as American forces leave that country. Details have not been released, but both governments hope the agreement will put to rest doubts about a long term American commitment to support Afghanistan.

Some progress is being made three days after Ida made landfall, but the region's utility company, Entergy, faces a slew of obstacles in restoring power throughout the region.