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Marj Halperin reports on the new "Children's Room" for kids who visit Chicago's family court. The children are anxiously awaiting the outcome of their custody, abuse, and foster care hearings, and while they wait they are often calmed by hands-on-art activities, live performances, and special phones where they can role-play about their fears with privacy.

NPR's John Ydstie reports on a volatile day of trading on Wall Street, but the selloff that started in Asia and spread to Europe did not have much effect in New York today. Markets around the world saw stock values plunge on remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan that hinted at Federal Reserve concern about "irrationally exuberant" markets.

The cause of the crash of a USAir 737 in Pittsburgh two years ago remains a mystery. Today, the National Transportation Safety Board urged the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct additional research into the cause of the crash. In the meantime, NTSB recommended changes in the rudders on 737 airplanes, since rudder problems have been implicated as a possible cause of the accident. Dan Charles reports.

Stephanie Griffith reports on the newfound popularity of American spirituals and gospel music in Paris. But there is some controversy over whose music it really is and whether it can be sung by just anyone. Say some, the color of one's skin or the country of one's origin does not make a difference in this matter - the despair, the "blues", that accompanies heartfelt spirituals and gospel is a human condition.

NPR's Melissa Block reports on the victory of Democrat Carolyn McCarthy, giving her a House seat from New York state. McCarthy was widowed after the Long Island Railroad shootings, and defeated incumbent Republican freshman Daniel Frisa after he voted to repeal an assault weapons ban.

NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from Turkey on new government efforts to shift policy toward the Kurds. A 12-year-long battle with Kurdish insurgents has created millions of homeless refugees...most of them are pouring into Turkish cities. Although the new pro-Islamic government is trying to return these refugees to their homes, the Kurds are suspicious.

The Burmese military government detained more than a hundred pro-democracy activists and blocked all roads to democracy movement-leader Aung San Suu Kyi's house today, to keep a meeting of the National League for Democracy from taking place. Governments around the world are watching the situation closely and are concerned about the apparent deterioration of the situation in the Burmese capital of Rangoon. The BBC's Jonathan Miller has this report.

On election day, voters in many states will be asked to check several boxes on their ballots for state judges. Most people won't know much if anything about the candidates. And that's a problem, as NPR's Wendy Kaufman reports. Critics of the practice of electing judges say justice and politics are a dangerous mix. But the candidates say raising money and pleasing voters doesn't affect their objectivity.

NPR's John Ydstie reports the unemployment rate edged slightly higher in September...and now stands at 5.2%. Labor Department figures released this morning show an economy that's cooled considerably since June. Wall Street was surprised by a decline in business payrolls, which declined by 40,000 in September.

- Reporter Eileen LeBlanc of member station WHQR in Wilmington, North Carolina, says the cleanup in the aftermath of Hurricane Fran has begun. Estimates of damage from the storm run as high as $1 billion. LeBlanc says that in addition to causing severe damage along the Carolina coast, the hurricane swept inland, causing serious flooding in the Appalachian mountains.