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NPR's Larry Abramson reports on the ambiguous information-gathering rights the government can now claim, thanks to last year's USA Patriot Act. Many are concerned that Congress's approval of the new Homeland Security Department will extend the government's reach even further.

California's Central Valley produces an enormous amount of the food that ends up on kitchen tables around the country. But according to a recent UCLA study, two counties at the heart of the valley have the highest rates of food insecurity in the state. That means that many families have trouble pulling together enough food to meet basic needs. From member station KQED, Tamara Keith reports.

A play based on George Orwell's anti-Stalinist novel Animal Farm is on stage in China, where it takes on anti-Maoist overtones. But much of the audience seems more impressed with the robust production than the politics of the work. NPR's Rob Gifford reports.

NPR's White House correspondent Don Gonyea reports that President Bush has used a NATO gathering in Prague to issue a stern warning to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The NATO summit, which officially gets under way tomorrow, is dedicated to enlarging the alliance and giving it a new direction in the post-Cold War era.

NPR's Nick Spicer reports from southern France on the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau wine at midnight last night. The annual festivities marking the arrival of each year's vintage have been a great marketing success, boosting sales of a mediocre product that goes bad after a few months on the shelf. This year, to keep the price up, growers held back on production.

Climate change activists often use the slogan, "Think globally, Act locally." Some states are taking that to heart. A number of states have taken steps to address global warming issues on their own. NPR's Richard Harris reports.

Some people work four days a week instead of the traditional five. In recent years, some small school districts in the western U.S. have adopted the same approach as a way to save money. Andrea Dukakis reports.

Playwright Tom Stoppard has a new work on stage in London. The author of Rosencrantz and Guildensten are Dead and many others, turns out a nine-hour dramatic trilogy about the Russian intelligentsia. It's called The Coast of Utopia. Fred Mogul of member station WNYC reports.

In the latest installment of NPR's series on finding homes for people who need support and services, NPR's Joe Shapiro reports on the problem elderly residents of so-called assisted living facilities have when they are forced into nursing homes because of their special medical needs and government regulations.

Car sales dropped sharply in October, even with automakers offering zero-percent financing on loans. With so much capacity and inventory, manufacturers fear a glut of new cars may be building. NPR's Jack Speer reports.