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Hapa [HAH-puh] is the name of a band from Hawaii. It's made up of native Hawaiian who's part Chinese and a native New Yorker who's all Irish Catholic. Together they make music that ranges from traditional Hawaiian slack-key guitar to acoustic pop. Heidi Chang reports. There are two Hapa CD's available on the Coconut Grove label.

Illinois Governor Jim Edgar commuted the death sentence of Guinevere Garcia today. Garcia was scheduled to be executed on Wednesday for the 1991 murder of her husband, who allegedly abused her. NPR's Edward Lifson reports that more than 90 percent of women on death row are not executed. The Governor said the fact the Garcia is a woman did not influence his decision.

NPR's John McChesney reports that Visa and Mastercard have agreed on a single technical standard that they say will allow for secure purchases over the Internet. The two credit card giants had been pursuing different systems with conflicting security specifications. Today's announcement means banks and consumers will not have to worry about choosing one system over the other.

NPR's Cheryl Corley reports on the impending end a federal program that was started in the late-1960s to provide subsidized housing for the poor in middle class white neighborhoods. The program grew out of a 1966 discrimination lawsuit against the Chicago Housing Authority and the federal Deparatment of Housing and Urban Development. Advocates are lobbying Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros to continue the subsidies.

Some House Republicans are considering sending President Clinton a welfare reform bill he once endorsed, but now considers inadequate. Last year, Mr Clinton vetoed a measure formed from House and Senate bills, but he said he could sign the Senate version. Now, the president says the Senate bill is just a basis for reform. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

NPR's John Ydstie reports the Federal Reserve cut short-term interest rates by a quarter-point today. Policymakers at the Fed cut the Fed Funds rate -- the rate banks charge each other for overnight loans -- to 5.25 percent. It was the third time in the last six months the Fed has moved to lower rates over concern about weakness in the economy.

NPR's Richard Harris reports that researchers have found evidence that the United States was hit by a series of asteroids or comets similar to those that struck Jupiter recently. In the case of the U.S., the impacts may have occurred an estimated 300 million years ago. If confirmed, this would be the first such string of impacts found on Earth.

Robert Siegel speaks with Washington Post China correspondent Steven Mufson. They discuss a Human Right's Watch report just released which charges horrendous conditions and systematic neglect resulting in death in Chinese orphanages. The group documents conditions from a few years ago. china replies that such conditions never existed and certainly don't exist now.

Regina Sansalone reports from Rome on the trial of Italy's former Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, and his alleged links to the Mafia. Tommaso Buscetta, the mafia informer whose testimony has implicated more than 300 mafia figures, said in court today that he knew of Adreotti's links to the mob more than 10 years ago.

Last night, congressional Republicans offered a lightly different version of their stop-gap spending bill. The Republicans ased off on their demand that the only figures used in setting a budget should ome from the congressional budget office. The Clinton administration is xpected to respond today. NPR'S Jonathon Greenberg reports on the latest budget evelopments.