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Bob Garfield reports on the media battle for the attention of ferret owners. Modern Ferret magazine was once the premier ferret rag. But Fancy publications, a relative giant in the world of pet publishing, has moved onto the scene with its own magazine titled Ferrets. (7:30) See http://www.modernferret.com and http://www.animalnetwork.com.

President Elect George W. Bush met with business leaders today in Austin to discuss troubling signs in the national economy. But while the midday meeting was underway, news came that the Federal Reserve had cut interest rates. That brought a strong reaction from many of the participants. NPR's Don Gonyea is in Austin and filed this report.

NPR's Peter Overby reports on the business people offering economic advice to the president elect at today's conference. Two thirds of them contributed directly to the Bush campaign. Some businesses represented in the group have given in a variety of ways, including donations to the recount fund. Some of those at today's meeting also donated to the Democrats.

NPR's John Ydstie reports the Federal Reserve caught the financial markets by surprise today moving to cut interest rates in a bid to keep the economy growing. Acting between regularly scheduled meetings, the Fed cut the federal-funds rate by a half-point and reduced the largely symbolic discount rate by a quarter-point. Both the Dow and the Nasdaq shot up on the news.

NPR's Gerry Hadden reports from Port au Prince on the beginning of Jeanne Bertrand Aristide's second term as president of Haiti. There is concerted opposition to Aristide and his Lavalas Party from a coalition of smaller parties known as Convergence, which has formed its own government and called for new elections.

After three weeks of delay, the countdown has finally begun for the launch of Destiny, NASA's billion-dollar space station laboratory. The new module will allow scientists to carry out a wide range of experiments, some of which may benefit future space travelers, and others that are designed to tell us more about life back on earth. NPR's Larry Abramson reports.

The prospects for a long-term peace agreement in the Middle East have declined sharply with yesterday's election of Ariel Sharon as prime minister of Israel. In the short time since his election, Sharon has sent numerous signals that the 7-year-old Oslo peace deal is dead. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from Jerusalem.

NPR's Guy Raz reports from Germany on the controversy marking this year's celebrations of the three hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Kingdom of Prussia. Many Germans are looking back in appreciation of Prussia's cultural achievements -- the genius of Bach, the rococo palaces, civil rights for minorities and a state social security system. But for others, Prussia represents, above all, the militarism and unquestioning respect for authority that gave rise to Nazism.

NPR's Melissa Block reports on the second day of testimony from a Sudanese man in the trial of four men accused in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. He testified today that he warned U-S officials about a plot to attack U.S. embassies - two years before the bombings.

NPR's Emily Harris reports on the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Michael Powell. He says he believes in less regulation and more free market competition in the telecommunications industry. He also says he is not concerned about rising cable TV prices and programming that might be bad for children to watch. He says people can choose not to buy, and not to watch.