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Last week the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved Gale Norton to head the Interior Department, and now her nomination is going before the full Senate for a vote. NPR's David Welna reports that the debate over the controversial nominee is still fierce, but that it's likely she will be confirmed.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports on the upcoming Israeli election for prime minister. Trailing badly in the polls in the final week of the campaign, Prime Minister Ehud Barak says he is frustrated by what he perceives is the country's failure to grasp the fateful implications of next week's vote.

Organic dairy farmers have been making much more than their conventional competitors for the last decade. And the number of organic farms has been skyrocketing. But the top buyer of organic milk just cut the price it pays its suppliers. That may signal a change in the industry. Naomi Schalit of Maine Public Radio has a report.

NPR's Richard Gonzales reports that California Governor Gray Davis today signs emergency legislation that will allow the state to buy power to keep electricity flowing to residents for the short term. The Clinton administration has also ordered out-of-state natural gas suppliers to continue selling to one of the state's biggest, but nearly bankrupt, utilities.

NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from Cambridgeshire on the enduring appeal of the English hunt. Last week, the British House of Commons voted to ban hunting with hounds. The issue now goes to the House of Lords where a majority opposes the ban. While animal rights activists see the hunt as cruel, advocates in the countryside say foxes are a nuisance to farmers that must be culled.

Scott Horsley of member station KPBS reports that some of the nation's power companies are giving consumers more detailed information on the hour-by-hour cost of electricity. Consumers who see prices rise at peak times are more likely to use electricity at off-peak times when prices are lower.

It was another miserable day for power grid operators in California. Even though they narrowly averted another series of rolling blackouts, California's power system grows more fragile by the day. The Bush administration has extended and emergency order requiring electricity wholesalers and natural gas suppliers to sell to California. Scott Horsley reports from member station KPBS.

NPR's Sarah Chayes reports from Gaza City the young Palestinians who are leading the uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. These young leaders are increasingly critical of corruption and mismanagement in the Palestinian Authority, as well as the way Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat is conducting peace negotiations with Israel.

President-elect Bush celebrated his tomorrow's inauguration with the public yesterday with fireworks and music at the Lincoln Memorial. But wealthy donors, now freed from the rules governing campaign fundraising, are a prominent part of this weekend's festivities as well. NPR's Peter Overby reports on inaugural fund raising.

Natasha Yefimova reports on the case of former Kremlin official Pavel Borodin. Swiss prosecutors have turned down a request from Russia to drop money laundering charges against him. He was arrested last week in New York, where a court is considering whether to extradite him to Switzerland.