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The FBI says there are strong preliminary indications that the killing of a Border Patrol agent earlier this week was accidental. Melissa Block talks with NPR's Ted Robbins about the ongoing investigation of the shooting along the Arizona-Mexico border.

Cairo's Tahrir Square was the focal point of the 18-day uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak last year. During recent renovations, a large mural depicting the struggle was whitewashed — only to be repainted by supporters. Now, Egyptians are at odds over how to memorialize the events.

Retailers expect to hire hundreds of thousands of extra workers this holiday season to help with the anticipated spike in sales. But for seasonal retail workers, the hours can be scarce — and unpredictable — before the jobs disappear altogether following the holidays.

Over the past four decades, Benoit Rolland has made more than 1,400 bows for violins, violas and cellos.

Nearly two-dozen states are watching for new cases of a rare kind of meningitis, caused by fungal contamination in injections for back pain. The outbreak apparently started when a Massachusetts compounding company sent out 17,000 doses of infected injections for back pain. Daniel Potter of member station WPLN reports five people have died and dozens of others are sick.

Saturday, Pakistani cricket star-turned politician Imran Khan leads a mass "march" (actually a convoy of trucks and buses) from Islamabad to the tribal territory of South Waziristan to protest U.S. drone strikes in the region. NPR's Philip Reeves reports the "marchers" are planning to enter South Waziristan on Sunday, but it is far from clear that the Pakistani military will allow them inside the tribal territory.

President Hugo Chavez has never faced a serious threat in a presidential election until now. A young former governor has been electrifying crowds and putting Chavez's 14 years of power — and his socialist experiment — at risk.

When Bashar Assad inherited the presidency of Syria in 2000, some in the West saw him as a potential reformer. Professor David Lesch of Trinity University met Assad several times. Host Scott Simon speaks with Lesch about his new book, Syria: The Fall of the House of Assad, a clear contrast to his earlier book, which touted Assad as "the new lion of Damascus."

Ben Affleck transitioned from a celebrated career as an actor to an equally acclaimed role as the director of films such as The Town. His latest film, Argo, which he directed and stars in, takes on the Iran hostage crisis with a mix of comedy and thrills.

Round 9 of Three Minute Fiction is currently underway. Readers from more than a dozen graduate programs are plowing through the nearly 4,000 entries received. Host Guy Raz shares one of the favorite picks so far, The Generous Application of Grease by Stephen Fratus of Walnut Creek, Calif. You can read the full story below along with other stories at www.npr.org/threeminutefiction.