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Marine biologists are trying to figure out what's killing manatees off the Florida coastline. More than 200 manatees have died in the last four months. Researchers think the endangered creatures are dying from pneumonia. But they're racing to try to figure out what's causing the pneumonia. Sally Watt of member station WUSF reports.

The Senate voted 59-40 today to pass a product liability bill. The legislation would cap the amount of punitive damages businesses would have to pay in lawsuits involving faulty products. President Clinton had threatened to veto the bill, but today said he would reconsider if some changes were made in it. NPR's Chitra Ragavan reports.

Chris Nuttall reports that Operation Provide Comfort, a US-led force based in Turkey to protect the Kurds in Northern Iraq from Saddam Hussein, is in a tenous position after five years of operation. Politicians in Turkey want foreign troops off their soil, but others are concerned that removing the troops will renew instability in the region.

American Auction - From member station WNYC in New York Laura Sydell reports on a remarkable collection of African American artifacts and documents appearing in a New York auction house. Scholars have mixed feelings about the auction, although they are convinced of it's historic nature, they feel some might take advantage of the artifacts and hold on to them for higher resale at a later date.

Using scrap tires as fill to build roads is becoming a popular way to solve the nationwide surfeit of used tires. But Jennie Schmidt of member station K-P-L-U in Seattle reports that two roads built with tire chips have been burning for months, and leaching noxious chemicals into nearby water. It could put an end to this novel form of recycling.

Shoko Asahara, the leader of Japan's doomsday sect Aum Shin Rikyu, goes on trial tomorrow on murder charges for the nerve gas attacks on Tokyo's subways last year. As NPR's Julie McCarthy reports, the attacks have shattered the image of Tokyo as a peaceful place and cast doubts on the abilities of the city's world-renowned police department.

NPR's Adam Hochberg reports that North Carolina's legisture will meet in special session to decide what to do with a billion and a half dollar surplus in state's unemployment insurance fund. Due to strong economy and low unemployment, state has accumulated surplus. Republicans want to give cut rate, or refund tax to businesses that pay it.

Frank Browning reports on the debate among health professionals at San Francisco General Hospital over how that institution should respond to the competition from HMOs. Public hospitals used to be able to devote a lot of time and public money to taking care of the poor. But with for-profit HMOs now offering to care for the poor at a lower cost, public hospitals are being forced to reorganize.

NPR's Joe Neel reports that the Food and Drug Administration today released statements from three former Phillip Morris employees. The FDA says the statement support the agency's contention that tobacco companies purposefully manipulate the nicotine in cigarettes to keep smokers addicted. The FDA has proposed widening its jurisdiction over tobacco products to try to keep young people from smoking.

The United Auto Workers strike at two General Motors parts plants in Dayton, Ohio continues...as do talks between the union and the automaker. All of G-M's assembly plants in the United States have been closed due to the strike. NPR's Don Gonyea reports on how Dayton and surrounding communities hav been affected by the strike.