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Ann Cooper presents the first of four reports on refugees in the post-Cold War era. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, most analysts expected an easing of the world's refugee burden. But the end of the Cold War made for a more unstable world, and thus ever more refugees. Created after World War Two to deal with what was considered a temporary refugee crisis, the U-N refugee agency today oversees a vast global bureaucracy in charge of huge, semi-permanent cities of refugees.

NPR's Sunni Khalid reports that the Iranian economy is struggling under the weight of a U.S.-sponsored boycott. Many Iranians are being forced to work several jobs and engage in illegal schemes to try to support their families, and this strain is starting to take a toll on families there...the divorce rate is skyrocketing. But many Iranians believe the nation's economy is suffering more from financial mismanagement by its leaders than from U.S.-imposed sanctions.

In Part Three of a weekly series on religion in Africa, NPR's Michael Skoler reports on the Shona spirit religion of Zimbabwe. The Shona believe in one God, but they rarely communicate directly with God. Instead, ancestors play the critical role: through healers, they are mortals' intermediaries with God. The ancestors must be treated well; if ignored or upset, they bring on sickness and other problems. Healers interpret the ancestors' disquiet for the living, and explain how to set things right again.

On the anniversary of last year's narrow defeat of an independence referendum in Quebec, Carolyn Jack reports that the province remains as bitterly divided as ever. One sign of the tension is a renewed battle over public signs. After the referendum, Quebec's pro-independence government stepped up its enforcement of language laws requiring that most public signs be in French. English-speaking activists are challenging the laws; in response, the government hired more "language police" to enforce them.

NPR's Vicky Que reports that a provision has been inserted in the immigration bill that would bar legal and illegal immigrants from receiving assistance for treatment of HIV/AIDS under Medicaid. Illegal immigrants couldn't even get tested. Republicans say the treatment and the tests would be available for those who do pay for them. AIDS workers say it will create burdens for public hospitals and other institutions who will have to take care of immigrants who will be sicker as a result.

President Clinton set out from Chicago today to start this leg of his reelection campaign with a bus tour through Illinois, Missouri and Kentucky. But before leaving the Democratic Convention city, he and Vice President Gore gave rousing speeches to national party officials and other loyalists, thanking them for their work so far, and exhorting them to get people registered and out to vote in November. NPR's Mara Liasson reports.

NPR's Mara Liasson reports that President Clinton held a press conference today to talk about his decision to launch a cruise missile attack against Iraq. The President said the military strike sends a message to Saddam Hussein that he will pay a price for his aggression. The White House says there were several goals for the attack, including maintaining military credibility...proving that when the United States issues an ultimatum, it is prepared to back up its threats with action.

A day after the Mideast summit organized by President Clinton, Republican presidential hopeful Bob Dole criticized the administration for having a failed foreign policy. He said that after four years of Clinton in the White House, "our friends no longer respect us and our enemies no longer fear us." But Dole offered few insights into his own foreign policy proposals. NPR's Elizabeth Arnold reports.

The civil trial of O.J. Simpson got underway today. Virginia Biggar reports that the turnout of spectators outside the courthouse was small compared to the criminal trial last year. Inside the courtroom, lawyers for the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman began their opening statement with a promise to show that Simpson committed the double murders. Simpson cannot be convicted of murder; in this civil trial, if he is found guilty, he must pay damages to the families of the victims.

NPR's Deidre Berger reports on the opening of an arson trial in Lubeck, Germany. Last January, ten refugees were killed when someone set fire to the refugee shelter where they were sleeping. A young Lebanese is accused. He denies the charge. His lawyer and other anti-racist groups want authorities to arrest four skin-heads as likely suspects. The four were arrested on other charges near the site of the fire.