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NPR's Martha Raddatz reports on the US launch of 27 cruise missiles against Iraqi air defense targets. The attacks were ordered in retaliation for the Iraqi army incursion into the Kurdish city of Irbil in the UN-protected northern exclusion zone of Iraq. Iraqi president Saddam Hussein threatens to ignore UN established no-fly zones over its territory, and vows to shoot any US or Allied planes out of the skies.

In the last report in her series on refugees in the post-Cold War era, Ann Cooper examines the debate over how to prevent refugee crises before they happen. The hot new concept among policy analysts is called preventive action. The American military intervention in Haiti is cited as an example of how preventive action can remove the need for people to flee their country. But some argue that it's usually too difficult politically to take such a step.

NPR's Edward Lifson reports from the Berlin Film Festival that one of the most surprising entries is a satire on Hitler called "Conversation with the Beast." Though Mel Brooks and Charlie Chaplin have previously used Hitler as a vehicle for humor, this is the first time it has been done by a German director. Armin Mueller-Stahl, who is best known for his work as an actor, wrote and directed the film...and feels that laughter is a good antidote to German guilt about Hitler.

Jon Miller reports from Lima that in the midst of the hostage crisis in Peru, President Alberto Fujimori is running into growing opposition to his bid for a third term in office. Fujimori is trying to get around a constitutional ban on such a move, but polls suggest most Peruvians want him to step down at the end of his term in 2000. Peru's public largely supports Fujimori's handling of the takeover of the Japanese ambassador's residence, but there is widespread unhappiness with tough economic times and the president's authoritarian tendencies.

NPR's Richard Harris reports on a breakthrough in genetic engineering. British scientists say they've produced the first live sheep derived in a laboratory from a single cell. This cloned sheep, now seven months old, is genetically similiar to the animal from which the original cell was derived. The finding brings us closer to the day when whole flocks of sheep might be cloned from a single animal with desirable characteristics. But ethicists warn that the technique could be misused -- particularly if it turns out to be successful in humans.

- Palestinians rioted against Israeli troops in the West Bank for the third straight day to protest Israel's plans to build a new Jewish settlement in Arab East Jerusalem. The demonstrations, in which more than 100 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli gunfire, come only one day after a Palestinian suicide bombing killed three Israelis in Tel Aviv, and Laurie Neff reports that Islamic militants are warning of more bombings unless the Israelis stop construction of the controversial Jerusalem settlement.

Regina Sansalone (SAN-suh-LOH-neh) reports from Rome that a court today acquitted two men accused of murdering a seven-year-old American boy while his family vacationed in Italy in 1994. The killing of Nicholas Green of California shocked Italy, but after an eleven-month trial, two judges and six jurors found the defendants not guilty of murder, attempted murder and armed robbery. Prosecutors said they would appeal the verdict.

NPR's Margot Adler reports on the case of a Ghanaian woman named Adelaide Abankwa - who won political asylum in the U-S, based on her claim that she would be subject to female genital mutilation if she were returned home. Feminist groups and others - including Hilary Clinton - rallied to her cause. Now, the INS says its lengthy investigation of Abankwa concluded she had not only lied about her identity - but also her fears of being tortured in Ghana.

NPR's Jon Hamilton reports on the largest study to date on cell phones and the risk of cancer. Researchers from the National Cancer Institute looked at the risk of brain cancers among people who were regular users of cell-phones for an average of about three years. They found no evidence that regular users had a higher rate of brain cancer - but the scientists say some of the findings are troublesome enough to warrant further research. The study appears in tomorrow's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

President-elect Bush made it clear last night that he expected to be president of all Americans, including those who opposed his election. But resentment still runs high among many African Americans, who view the outcome of the election as unfair. The NAACP is still planning to sue in Florida, contending that state officials violated the civil rights and voting rights of racial minorities in that state. NPR's Phillip Martin has a report from Florida.