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Each year on Memorial Day weekend, West Virginia's best storytellers compete for the prestigious title of "Biggest Liar," in a tall- tale contest that draws large crowds. Two contest judges, including a five-time champion, spin a couple of whoppers.

The man British authorities charged with poisoning former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko has responded with his own accusations. Andrei Lugovoi, another former KGB officer, says Litvinenko was a British agent trying to get compromising materials about Russian President Vladimir Putin.

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations committee, about bipartisan legislation that would block a U.S. takeover of Greenland.

Even as it loses its chief executive, the CIA's recently retired third-ranking official is under investigation for possible improper relations with a defense contractor, says Newsweek magazine correspondent Michael Isikoff. Federal investigators are investigating CIA Executive Director Kyle "Dusty" Foggo.

Alistair Campbell, British Prime Minister Tony Blair's top media strategist, steps down amid accusations that he helped exaggerate evidence on Iraq's weapons programs. The British media had dubbed Campbell the "real deputy prime minister." Campbell cites family reasons for his resignation. Hear NPR's Guy Raz.

Japan can call itself the world champion of baseball. The Japanese team captured the inaugural World Baseball Classic by beating Cuba 10-6 in the championship game San Diego.

Army Surgeon General Kevin Kiley has abruptly stepped down, requesting retirement. He is the third top Army official to depart amid fallout over the way wounded soldiers were treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Downloading popular songs to use as personal cell phone ring tones has turned into a $3 billion global industry. A growing revenue stream for songwriters and publishers, ring tones are now outselling digital downloads of music. NPR's Michele Norris talks to Geoff Mayfield, the director of charts for Billboard Magazine, which has just launched a "Hot Ringtones" chart.

Rep. Porter Goss, President Bush's nominee for CIA director, faces tough questioning from Senate Democrats at his confirmation hearings. Responding to multiple accusations that he used intelligence politically, Goss pledged to provide non-partisan intelligence. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly reports.

NPR's Steve Inskeep asks Kurt Volker, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, about what critics perceive as the Trump administration's threat to the transatlantic alliance.

A commission on Abu Ghraib prison abuses, headed by former Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger, finds fault throughout the chain of military command and in Washington. Top leaders are criticized for failing to provide adequate resources to the prison. Hear Schlesinger and NPR's Robert Siegel.

For the first time since the Vietnam War, the U.S. electorate is more concerned about foreign affairs and national security than the economy. That's the conclusion of polling data released this week by the Pew Center for the People and the Press. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Andrew Kohut, Director of the Pew Center.