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Mary Horomanski of Erie, Pa., received a bill of more than $284 billion. The Erie Times News reports that's more than the combined national debts of Hungary and South Africa.

The governing body of world soccer competition is investigating the circumstances surrounding yesterday's vote which awarded Germany the right to host the 2006 World Cup. A key delegate from New Zealand -- who had been expected to vote for South Africa to host the competition -- abstained, and Germany ended up winning by one vote. New Zealand delegate Charles Dempsey says he abstained because he came under intolerable pressure for his vote, receiving bribe attempts and letters of intimidation. Robert talks to Simon Greenberg, Sports Editor for the London Evening Standard about the story.

Al Qaeda's former leadership may have been dispersed and disrupted by U.S attacks in Afghanistan, but the extremist organization could well be regrouping in parts of the Middle East and Central Asia. This information comes from Gen. Tommy Franks, head of U.S. Central Command. To contend with this more scattered threat, Franks said today that the United States has some 800 land and sea based troops in Djibouti and other parts of the Horn of Africa. Eric Westervelt reports from the Pentagon.

Her new book is A Human Being Died That Night: A South African Story of Forgiveness. It's about Eugene de Kock, the commanding officer of state-sanctioned apartheid death squads. Gobodo-Madikizela served as a psychologist on South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and she spent many hours interviewing de Kock in prison, where he is serving a 212-year sentence for crimes against humanity. The book raises questions about the nature of evil and the limits of forgiveness.

In part three of our Radio Expedition to Central Africa, NPR's Alex Chadwick follows two field biologists into the forest in search of a large ape-like creature that may be an unknown species of gorilla or large chimpanzee. As they explore, Esteban Sarmiento of the American Museum of Natural History and George Schaller of the Wildlife Conservation Society, find a nest that suggests the presence of gorillas and other evidence that lean toward chimps. They also find lion tracks and ape feeding sites in a forest full of vibrant sights and sounds.

Nigeria attempts its first population count in 15 years, amid separatist fears and violence. Previous attempts to count Africa's most populous nation -- home to as many as 160 million people -- have failed as factions schemed to control political power and oil money.

Some of the world's poorest countries in Africa and Latin America owe billions of dollars to the World Bank and IMF. For some nations, the debt is so large that paying it off seems impossible. Over the past few years, a movement has been growing calling for the large financial institutions to forgive debt to Third World countries. A new CD called Drop the Debt is one such effort. African and Latin American artists, many of whom are stars in their own countries, contributed songs about debt to the CD. NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports.

NPR's Melissa Block talks with Ed McDonald, director of exhibit projects at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, about moving a 252-foot long, 700-ton German submarine to its new home in an underground exhibit hall. The U-505 submarine was captured during World War II off the coast of Africa and has for years been resting outside the museum. McDonald describes how they will move the boat to its new home 1,000 feet away and 42 feet below ground.

Now the head of the Peace Corps, he served on President Clintons transition team as Deputy Director in 1992. Hes been Assistant to the President, Director of Communications, and White House Chief of Staff. Under his direction, the Peace Corps has expanded its efforts to South Africa and Jordan in addition to opening a new section for crisis and natural disaster. And, Boyden Gray. He was George Bush, Sr.s Director of the Office of Transition Counsel. He counseled the elder Bush when he was President and Vice President. Now, a Chairman at Citizen for a Sound Economy, he is also a lawyer for a Washington,D.C. firm that specializes in regulations for trade, the environment, biotechnology and risk management.

Noah talks with Douglas Farah, West Africa correspondent for the Washington Post, who is in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, to bring us up to date on politics there. Last month after a presidential election, Ivory Coast's military ruler Robert Guei was forced to flee the country amid protests by supporters of Socialist Laurent Gbagbo. Guei was accused of rigging election results. Gbagbo took over. But next month, Ivory Coast is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections. The country's former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara), who wanted to challenge Gbagbo's victory, has been cleared to run for parliament.