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NPR's Ted Clark reports on China's very legal power of influence in Washington, D-C through U-S corporations that lobby to protect their investments in China. He also looks at possible reasons for China to go beyond that unofficial lobby, into the illegal sphere of directly trying to buy influence with the U-S government.

NPR's Mara Liasson reports on the flap concerning overnight stays at the White House. President Clinton today defended letting political supporters stay at the White House and insisted that the Lincoln bedroom was never sold. He said he's proud that the contributors helped him, and that only a small percentage of all White House guests have been campaign contributors.

NPR's Eric Weiner reports on the proliferation of cell phones in Israel. "Pelaphones," as they are called in Israel, are in use everywhere - to the dismay of some. One man has launched an anti-cellphone campaign. Israeli authorities are cracking down on cell phone users. It is now illegal to talk on a cell phone phone while driving a car unless you have a speakerphone.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service says the number of illegal immigrants in the United States increased to five million in October 1996 from an estimated 3.9 million in 1992. INS said more than half of the total undocumented population is of Mexican origin. El Salvador, Guatemala, Canada and Haiti were the other major countries of origin. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

- Earlier this week, mobs of mixed-race "coloreds" rioted outside Johannesberg to protest recent utility rate hikes and alleged discrimination by the government of President Nelson Mandela. Daniel talks with reporter Ed O'Laughlin, who says the unrest underscores the simmering racial tensions between coloreds and blacks in post-apartheid South Africa.

While American Airlines pilots continue their fight to stop the company from letting American Eagle pilots fly jets, American has been successful in outsourcing other jobs throughout the company. Bill Zeeble of member station KERA reports that American Airline workers from skycaps to reservation agents have had a hard time stopping the trend.

Chris Nuttall (NUT-uhl) reports from Turkey on the eve of a debate in the Turkish Parliament that could bring down the first Islamist-led government in the country's history. The secular politicians, media and military have been striking back at moves taken in recent weeks by the Islamist Welfare Party. The Welfare party wants to re-introduce religion into the affiars of state.

The Conoco Oil company says it wants to drill two oil wells in the middle of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The government said it would honor existing development leases when it created the monument last year and Conoco has held leases in the area for nearly a decade. Environmental groups say they will fight. NPR's Howard Berkes reports.

NPR's Andy Bowers reports that Chechnya today inaugurated its new president, Aslan Maskhadov (AHS-lahn mosque-HAH-doff). Maskhadov is the leader of the Chechen rebel force that defeated the Russian Army. The Chechens view of the ceremony is that it is the beginning of Chechen independence. The Russian consider Chechen as still a Russian republic. Terms of independence have been put off until 2001.

NPR's Patricia Neighmond reports that hospital costs are continuing to rise, largely because of increased demands on insurance and managed-care health plans. A new study in tomorrow's New England Journal of Medicine documents those increases, and raises the issue of whether managed care is costing more than it saves.