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NPR's Don Gonyea reports on the marathon Gore/Lieberman campaign swing through several key states yesterday. The tour began Sunday with a meeting with construction workers in Philadelphia, continuing to Flint, Michigan and Tampa Florida. The circuit ended in Louisville at a dinner sponsored by the AFL-CIO. Along the way, Al Gore spoke about issues he thinks will appeal to working families: tax breaks for the middle class, better wages, and lower prescription drug costs.

NPR's Phillip Davis reports on the Miami-Dade county mayoral race. The front-runner is Alex Penelas, who made the famous vow that his police force would not help the federal government return Elian Gonzalez to his father, as well as threatening to hold Janet Reno responsible if violence broke out in Miami. The remarks cost him a lot of support in the non-Hispanic community, but apparently have not hurt him in his Cuban base, and he's favored to win in tomorrow's primary.

NPR's Richard Gonzales reports on the affirmative action case that the California Supreme Court hears today, testing whether Proposition 209 allows cities and counties to keep minority outreach hiring programs. Even though Prop 209 bans affirmative action programs, many California municipalities have refused to change their minority hiring and contracting practices, unless the courts force them to do so. This case will determine whether they're complying with Prop 209.

Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore likes to present himself as the candidate of substance and detail. Today, he might have outdone himself, presenting a 200-page tome containing his plan for the U.S. economy. Gore's blueprint includes a $300 billion "rainy day fund" as a buffer against an economic downturn, but Republican rival George W. Bush says Gore's spending programs would wipe out that much of the current surplus and more. From Cleveland, Madeleine Brand reports for NPR News.

Will Murphy from member station WFIU in Bloomington Indiana reports that Bobby Knight, Indiana University's head basketball coach, has been fired. He coached the Hoosiers for 29 years. Knight has a history of violent outbursts, and a recent incident between the coach and a student led IU officials to believe he violated a school policy designed to keep the coaches temper under control.

NPR's Tom Goldman reports from Sydney, Australia that 21 extra meteorologists have been brought into the city to try to forecast the weather during the summer Olympics, which start Friday. Some athletes complain that the name should be changed to the early spring Olympics as summer has not arrived in Sydney and morning frost covers parts of the Olympic village. Olympic officials are sending in extra blankets but can do little to help the triathlon athletes. This weekend, they will be competing in the chilly waters of Sydney Harbor.

Julie McCarthy reports from NPR News in London that protests against high fuel prices have spread to Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Protests crippled much of France last week. British Prime Minister Tony Blair vowed he will not follow the example of the French government, which yielded to protesters and cut energy taxes. Protesters have blocked refineries and fuel distribution points, cutting supplies to gas stations in England and Wales.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports that executives from both Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone faced harsh questioning on Capitol Hill today. Members of Congress wanted to know why the companies were slow to warn the public about a growing problem with defective tires and why they didn't inform the U.S. government about an overseas recall. U.S. safety regulators were also criticized for not catching the problem earlier. The defective tires are now blamed for 88 deaths and hundred of injuries in the U.S.

NPR News' Michael Sullivan reports a year after the violence and destruction that followed East Timor's vote for independence, tens of thousands of refugees have not returned home. They remain in refugee camps in West Timor, where aid officials and some refugees say they are being threatened and intimidated by pro-Indonesian militias. There is some evidence that the militias are staging raids across the border into East Timor. U.N. officials say the situation is not likely to improve until the Indonesian government gets the militias out of the camps.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports committee members from both the House and Senate questioned Bridgestone-Firestone and Ford Motor Company executives on Capitol Hill yesterday about the recall of more than 6 and a half million tires. Legislators are promising more hearings in the future. The questions centered upon how both companies handled the recall, and why it took so long for officials from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to issue a recall.