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NPR's Anne Garrels reports from Moscow on the continuing battle between Russians and Chechen rebels. In a southern Russian village, it is the third day of artillery and rocket attacks on Chechens holding hostages. In the Chechen capital of Grozny, 30 workers at a power plant have been kidnapped. And, in the Black Sea, another group of rebels holds 200 people hostage aboard a ferry which they have threatened to blow up.

NPR's Mike Shuster reports from Sarajevo that the American Forces in northern Bosnia are still on high alert. There is continuing concern about the threat Islamic fighters might pose to U.S. Forces. The fighters, known as mujahadeen, came to Bosnia in 1992 to help the government army. There is also concern about a threat posed by an American who has been associated with Islamic causes in the past.

Refugee operations are being shut down at Guantanamo Naval Base. The base at the eastern tip of Cuba became a center of U.S. refugee operations during the summer of 1994, when thousands of Cubans and Haitians trying to reach the United States by boat or raft were intercepted at sea by U.S. Navy ships and brought to Guantanmo. NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports the last Cubans to leave the base will be resettled in the United States by the end of this month.

NPR's Kathy Schalch reports that candidates running for Congress face huge fundraising hurdles, especially if they are newcomers challenging an incumbent. Candidates are told they must raise thousands of dollars weekly just to be competitive. Yet to attract financial backing they also have to show they already have a good chance of winning. And the burden doesn't end with election. Fundraising becomes almost a daily aspect of political life.

Ingrid Lobet of member station KPLU in Seattle reports on the remarkable success story of Magic, a new card game that's set a trend in the hobby game market. A mixture of dungeons and dragons fantasy, fancy artwork and Byzantine rules in the form of playing cards, Magic has made its makers rich and created a subculture of avid players/collectors with a language all their own.

Conservative Christian leaders met in Memphis this past weekend to talk about their role in the upcoming elections. The movement, which turned out millions of voters in the 1994 elections and has been considered pivotal in some races, appears to be experiencing some growing pains. NPR's Lynn Neary reports that members are divided over the best tack to take in the presidential elections, especially if the Republican nominee is not committed to their strong anti-abortion views.

Linda speaks with Ferrel Guillory (GHILL-oh-ree), a former Southern political reporter with the Raleigh, North Carolina News and Observer, and John Jacobs, political editor of the Sacremento Bee, about the significance of the Super Tuesday primaries in the south next week. With so many primaries being moved up, these analysts say Super Tuesday and the California primary at the end of March have lost their importance.(IN

NPR's Jim Zarroli reports that two of the world's largest pharmaceutical manufacturers have decided to merge in one of the business world's biggest transactions ever. Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz are both Swiss firms. Together they will become the world's second largest drugmaker, behind the U.S.-British firm, Glaxo Wellcom. The stock swap is valued at more than $36 billion.

Republicans and the Clinton administration resumed skirmishing over the budget today. The temporary legislation that allows the federal government to operate is set to expire next week, raising the spectre of a third partial government shutdown. While the House and Senate took action today, NPR's Chitra Ragavan reports President Clinton says he'll veto the proposed new spending measures as they're currently written.

NPR's legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg reports on oral arguments before the Supreme Court today in a case testing the confidentiality of a clinical social worker's notes. The case involves counseling given a police officer after she fatally shot a suspect. Congress has left it to courts to use reason and experience in determining whether conversations between psychotherapists and their patients are protected from disclosure in federal court.