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Federal officials announced today that three ounces of plutonium had been left behind when U.S. forces withdrew from Vietnam in 1975. The highly radioactive material was part of a research reactor that had been put in place during the war. The plutonium is missing. A worldwide search has been initiated, according to Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary. NPR's Christopher Joyce reports.

The Department of Energy has reached settlements with 17 families of radiation experiment victims, and President Clinton has strenthened protection of people who participate in government research, even though the govt says no such research is going on right now. The is the final response of the presidential advisroy committee on human radiation experiments, but its critics say it doesn't go far enough in providing for the victims or identifying others. NPR's Richard Harris reports.

NPR's Ted Clark reports that President Clinton offered mixed reviews of Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axeworthy's visit to Cuba this week. Clinton was skeptical that the visit would promote change, but said he was pleased that Axeworthy raised the issue of human rights in Cuba. Ostensibly, the visit was a Canadian show of defiance and independence, in view of the United States' controversial Helms-Burton law, which was designed to isolate Cuba and penalize individual companies doing business with the Castro regime.

A former Clinton administration official who is being investigated for possible illegal fundraising activities now faces new allegations. John Huang appears to have raised more than 150-thousand dollars for the Democratic National Committee while he was on leave of absence from his job at the Commerce Department. That would violate the Hatch Act, which forbids political fundraising by federal employees. NPR's Peter Overby reports.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports on President-elect George W. Bush, who today resigned from the only political office he has ever held -- governor of Texas. The emotional speech by Bush ended 6 years at the helm in Austin and comes less than a month before he is to move to his new home at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Meanwhile, jockeying continues to go on behind the scenes for filling the remaining Cabinet slots.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports on President-elect George W. Bush's day in Austin, Texas, a day that led off with the naming of Paul O'Neill as his choice for Treasury Secretary. O'Neill's close relationship with Fed chairman Alan Greenspan has been cited as a "plus" for the selection. Other Cabinet appointments are expected to follow. Bush also met with a group of ministers to talk about the need for healing after a very contentious election.

From Peach State Public Radio Susanna Capelouto reports that Dekalb County Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown was murdered last Friday. Brown was gunned down outside his home. Weeks before his murder Brown had ordered 38 sheriff's department employees to be fired once he gained office but there is no speculation by police officers about the motive.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports on the latest personnel announcements of President-elect George W. Bush, starting with Missouri Senator John Ashcroft for Attorney General. Ashcroft, a strong conservative, was defeated in his bid for re-election last month by the late Mel Carnahan. He's also a former two-term governor and state attorney general. New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman was chosen to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

NPR's John Nielsen reports on the background of Christine Todd Whitman, who has accepted president-elect George W. Bush's offer to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Whitman already has national stature and her acceptance is evidence that running EPA is no longer viewed as a stepping stone to national prominence. And she's neither friend nor foe to an environmental community that has been skeptical of the GOP agenda.

NPR's Sarah Chayes reports from Paris that French authorities have jailed a son of the late president Francois Mitterrand on suspicion of illegal arms sales to Angola. Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, once his father's adviser for African affairs, is being investigated for influence peddling, complicity in arms trafficking and money laundering. The jailing of Jean-Christophe Mitterrand has raised questions about France's long and complicated history of ties with Africa.