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NPR's Mike Shuster reports on Russia's Ministry of Atomic Energy...MinAtom... [min-AT-um] and its director Victor Mikhailov. This agency has responsibility for all the stockpiles of highly enriched uranium and plutonium in Russia. Mikhailov has made life very difficult for US officials who have been trying to help Russia safeguard the material. MinAtom will not admit the extent of the problem it has with security, and according to some officials has stood in the way of most attempts to improve the safeguards.

NPR's Eric Westervelt reports on the so-called empowerment zones that were unveiled...in this incarnation...by the Clinton Administration with big fanfare two years ago. They were touted as a way to use tax credits and social service block grants to revitalize blighted urban areas. Now, some are pointing to Philadelphia, which was one of six sites which qualified for "empowerment zone" money, as an example of how the program has succeeded. But critics say the concept may not be working.

NPR's Sunni Khalid reports from Beirut, Lebanon on the latest fighting between Israel and Lebanese-based Hizbollah movement. For the third day, the Israelis attacked Hizbollah positions, in retaliation for Hizbollah rocket attacks on settlements in Northern Israel. Today, Israeli ships blockaded the coast of Lebanon to prevent incoming boats from delivering supplies to Hizbollah. And an Israeli helicoptor destroyed an ambulance carrying refugees in South Lebanon. There were civilian casualties. Israel says the ambulance was transporting a Hizbollah fighter.

NPR's Joe Palca reports that scientists have for the first time deciphered the entire genetic code for an organism that has cells like humans. An international collaboration has sequenced the entire 16-chromosome genome of baker's yeast, which, like humans, have "eukaryotic cells." Researchers believe the achievement will help give scientists an extremely useful tool for learning more fundamental biological functions.

NPR'S Brooke Gladstone reports on an Austin Texas television station's effort to reduce the violence in its local newscasts. News executives at K-VUE have adopted experimental guidelines for determining whether certain violent pictures or stories should even air. Its local competitors accuse K-VUE of arrogantly filtering the news. Yet the station's newscasts are number one in its market.

the new labor initiative with a well-coordinated counterattack. They plan to label the campaign as an attempt by Washington union bosses to tell rank and file members what to do in an effort to enhance the union leadership's power. The GOP has filed complaints about union spending with the Federal Election Commission, but the law governing such independent expenditures is murky. Peter Overby reports.

NPR's Sue Simpson reports on the anxiety in South Africa's mixed-race, or "colored," community, in the new era of black majority rule. Under apartheid, coloreds were treated better than blacks--they could own businesses and got preferential treatment in housing and jobs. Now many fear that they will become second-class citizens in the new South Africa, as Nelson Mandela's government tries to improve the lot of the black community.

In the second of two reports, NPR's Michael Skoler explores the issue of foreign intervention in Burundi's mounting internal crisis. The United Nations is discussing the idea of forming some sort of force that could stabilize the situation, but no country can figure out how a peacekeeping force could stop the killing. In addition, Burundi's government and the Tutsi minority--which still controls the army--don't want any foreign troops in the country.

Three top Air Force officials have been relieved of command in connection with the plane crash that killed Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and 34 other people in Croatia. The Air Force says the brigadier general and two colonels responsible for the 86th Airlift Wing have lost the confidence of their commander, because of facts revealed in the probe of the plane crash. The statement does not assign any blame for the crash. The investigation continues. NPR's Martha Raddatz reports on today's developments.

Bob Dole ended his Senate career today with an emotional farewell speech before a packed Senate chamber. He reminisced about the joys and struggles of his life, including 35 years in Congress, and telling some of his favorite anecdotes about other senators. NPR's Elizabeth Arnold reports on Dole's last day as Majority Leader, as he now turns his attention full-time to the presidential campaign.