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NPR's Brooke Gladstone reports on the new Fall television season. She says there's quite a bit of variety in the programming and somewhat more racial diversity. Despite the popularity of last year's hits, Survivor, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, there isn't much innovation. Instead, several movie stars are featured in the new television lineup in traditional formats.

President Putin says Russia won't give in to blackmail and that he will expand the military's power to strike against suspected terrorists. This announcement follows the three-day siege of a Moscow theater by Chechen rebels. Putin is facing criticism because more than 100 hostages died during a rescue effort at the theater. NPR's Lawrence Sheets reports from Moscow. (4:30)

Democratic candidates focus on corporate corruption, saying voter anger over corporate abuse will benefit the party during the midterm elections. But Republicans disagree. NPR's Mara Liasson reports. (5:00)

As the Russian government slowly releases information about the special forces raid to liberate hundreds of hostages from a Moscow theater, we have learned that the initial reporting on the raid did not even remotely tell the whole story. NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that this practice of secrecy in dealing with catastrophe harkens back to the days of the Soviet Union. (3:00)

Joshua Levs reports on the anxious search by parents and teens for the best way to teach new drivers. Schools are starting to drop driver education training from their responsibilities. Near Atlanta, one new business has teens beginning to learn to drive without getting behind the steering wheel of an actual car, or on a real road. (8:30)

With the Vice-Presidential candidates meeting tonight in Kentucky, NPR's Peter Kenyon reports on the significance of V.P. debates. Historically, voters pay little attention to the men running for the number two spot...but that's been slowly changing over the last few campaigns. With this year's tight election, many people think that Joe Lieberman or Dick Cheney could help sway voters. (

Coffee cultivation contributes to deforestation and exploited labor. Smithsonian Magazine reports researchers found a way to do without cultivation — growing coffee from plant cells in bioreactors.

Protests and rallies against how "dot-com" culture is changing certain districts in the San Francisco bay area just reached a new level. This month the city of San Mateo banned "dot-coms" from locating in its downtown district. From member station KQED, Caitlyn Kim reports.

A number of the athletes at the Olympic games this week took a detour to Flagstaff, Arizona before they arrived in Sydney. They were taking advantage of the regions High Altitude Training Sports Training Complex. High altitude is known to stimulate red blood cell production which improves muscle endurance. The athletes hope the experience gave them a competitive edge. Mitch Teich reports from KNAU in Flagstaff.

Twenty years ago, following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, President Carter announced that the U-S would boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The boycott affected some 200 U-S athletes, many of whom remain bitter about being denied their only chance to compete for their country in the Olympics. Nancy Greenleese of member station KPBS reports.