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NPR's Mandalit Delbarco reports that the L.A. Police Commission is scheduled to vote soon on whether to authorize LAPD officers to carry more powerful weapons. The move comes in the wake of last Friday's shootout between heavily armed bank robbers and the police. Police have complained they've long been outgunned by well-trained, well-armed bad guys.

NPR's Adam Hochberg reports on another blow to the tobacco industry today. A federal judge in North Carolina ruled that the Food and Drug Administration has legal jurisdiction to regulate tobacco sales and distribution. However, the judge sided with the tobacco industry when he ruled that the FDA jurisdiction did not extend to cigarette advertising and promotion. Tobacco companies plan to appeal the ruling.

N-P-R's Patricia Neighmond reports that doctors have announced that a 63-year-old Californian had a child last year, making her the oldest woman to ever give birth. This provides scientists with new ideas about the aging of the reporductive systems, but may add to the ethical dilemmas of fertility technology.

-- NPR's Peter Kenyon reports on how work at the Labor Department is being affected by the fact that there is no secretary. Senate Republicans are blocking a confirmation vote on Alexis Herman, President Clinton's nominee to succeed Robert Reich, who left the administration four months ago and work is backing up at the Department.

Cliff Island, Maine. Its population is small and getting smaller. Next year the one room schoolhouse may be down to one student, a situation islanders fear could soon lead to its closure. To counter the trend, year-round residents are actively recruiting outsiders to move to the island. Andrea de Leon of Maine Public Radio reports.

Las Vegas, Nevada is the city of one-armed bandits - and also, the quickie wedding. NPR's Jacki Lyden reports on what some have called America's Lourdes of Love. She meets people of all ages and from all parts of the country who have chosen a Vegas theme wedding as the best way to start life with the one they love, or at least the one they end up with at the altar.

NPR's Richard Harris reports on new developments in tobacco litigation. Following last week's announcement that the Liggett tobacco company had agreed to settle 22 state lawsuits against it, a court in Alabama has taken steps that could bar pending and future lawsuits against the cigarette maker - including suits brought by smokers, their survivors and second-hand smoke victims.

NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from Istanbul on Turkey's "identity crisis." Long the southeastern anchor of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization...NATO...Turkey was part of the West's Soviet Union containment policy. But, the Cold War is over, Turkey is surrounded by unfriendly countries and the new prime minister comes from a pro-Islamic party.

Savvy business practices have made Frito-Lay the undisputed giant of the salty-snack food industry. But critics say that the company has grown so big by undercutting its competitors, consumers will someday pay higher prices because there will be no other choice. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports on the business that sparked a Justice Department investigation into possible anti-trust practices within the industry.

NPR's Mike Shuster reports that China has announced it no longer will support peaceful nuclear explosions. That removes a major hurdle in the negotiations for a comprehensive test ban treaty. However, very significant hurdles...such as who will monitor China's nuclear program... remain. The ultimate success of those negotiations is still in doubt.