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Chris Richard has this report on religious worship behind bars. Richard reports that while many prisoners search out the chapel or synagogue on prison grounds out of noble intentions, others use church as an opportunity for deadly deeds. The constant possibility of wrongdoing keeps chaplins and rabbis on their guard even though they say many inmates are sincerely interested in their own spiritual evolution.

In the first of a four part series on the gap between rich and poor in America, NPR's Margot Adler reports on the history of inequality in this country. She reports that America has always believed in political equality, but not necessarily economic equality. The income gap, which has risen and fallen at various times in U.S. history, has been widening for the last two decades.

NPR's Michael Goldfarb reports that the long-awaited report with suggestions on how to end the arms impasse in Northern Ireland is due out tomorrow morning. The peace process has been stalled because the Protestant Unionists want the the Irish Republican Army to give up its guns. The IRA's political wing, Sinn Fein, has said it won't give up the arms until all-party talks begin.

A new report released today by the General Accounting Office says the Internal Revenue Service had botched a multi-billion dollar modernization project. The project, to replace the agency's thirty-year-old computer system, has already cost taxpayers more than four billion dollars. The GAO says the new system is way over budget, far from being finished, and riddled with problems. NPR's John Nielsen reports.

Robert talks to David Armstrong, a reporter for the Boston Globe, about how the Massachusetts Department of Social Services has been allowing convicted criminals to become foter parents. Armstrong has reported that convicted rapists, spouse abusers, and robbers have been approved as foster parents. Today, the department said that it will no longer allow waivers for convicted criminals to take in foster children.

NPR's John Ydstie reports the unemployment rate remained unchanged in October at 5.2%. But the economy did manage to generate a healthy number of new jobs -- business payrolls were up 210,000 for the month. There were several other reports on the economy today...the last batch of information before the Presidential election next week.

Delta and Continental are talking about the possiblity of merging the two airlines, according to published reports. The talks are described as preliminary, but analysts point out that both airlines have pulled off impressive turnarounds and few overlapping routes. The complementary route structure would make it easier for the two airlines to clear regulatory hurdles. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports.

General Motors reports that its profits for the third quarter of 1996 are double what they were for the same quarter last year. NPR's Don Gonyea reports that despite the good financial news, more than ten thousand auto workers have been laid off from GM plants in the US and in Mexico due to the Canadian Auto Workers' strike against GM.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports that Ford Motor Company has been forced to close three assembly plants, idling some 6,800 workers. The plant closings were made necessary because of a UAW strike at a key parts-manufacturer, Johnson Controls, Inc. The company makes seats for Ford's popular Expedition model. The UAW and Johnson Control are still negotiating, but there were no reports of progress.

Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros released a report today suggesting that in the past four years, the Clinton administration has moved thousands of homeless from shelters to independence. NPR's Barbara Bradley reports that advocates for the homeless say the administration has taken the right approach. But they add that it's barely making a dent in the problem, and they worry that welfare reform and changes in the economy will swallow up any gains.