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More than 3,000 species of animals and plants are picked up daily and carried around the world in the ballast water of ships and, when the ballast water is discharged, these unintended and unwelcomed organisms are released into new environments. Those that survive and breed often cause disastrous results as they spread unchecked. NPR's David Baron says that a report issued today from the National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council recommends that the government require ships to take steps to stop the release of these organisms. They recommend filtering ballast water and treating it with chemicals or heat before it is discharged.

NPR'S Jon Greenberg reports that federal officials said today that they had broken a major Mexican-Columbian drug ring with the arrests and indictments of dozens of drug dealers, couriers and traffickers. Twenty nine indictments were unsealed in Chicago and Midland, Texas, and 15 of those indicted were arrested today in several large U.S. cities. Federal authorities said dozens of earlier arrests were related to the ring, which transported cocaine from Colombia, over the U.S.-Mexican border and across the United States.

By a vote of 229-191, the House today passed an anti-terrorism bill after stripping away most of the key anti-terrorism provisions. An unusual coaltiion of gun and civil liberties advocates successfully blocked sections of the bill that would have made it easier for law enforcement to tap telephones and deport aliens suspected of having terrorist connections. NPR's Brian Naylor reports that proponents of the bill hope to get some of these controversial provisions restored when they negotiate a compromise with the Senate on its own version of the bill.

NPR's Linda Gradstein reports that ten years ago this week, the Chernobly nuclear reactor exploded in the densely forested planes of Ukraine. It spewed a cloud of radioactive gas into the atmosphere that -- according to the United Nations -- contaminated more than 100-thousand square miles of land and affected nine million people in some way ... Among them were hundreds of thousands of Jews living in Ukraine and Belarus. About one thousend of them...all children...came to Israel for medical treatment under a program sponsored by a religious organization called khah-BAHD. Gradstein tells us how those kids are doing.

NPR's Lynn Neary reports that Congress awarded evangelist Billy Graham the Congressional Gold Medal today. It's the highest honor Congress can give to a civilian. President Clinton joined Senators and House Members in the Capitol Rotunda to honor the 77-year-old evangelist and his wife Ruth for their life-long commitment to their global Christian ministry. Earlier, the Grahams attended a tea at the White House, where the evangelist admonished the President for his recent veto of a bill that would have prohibited certain late-term abortions. President Clinton is expected to attend a dinner for Billy and Ruth Graham.

Jon Miller reports from Peru on the close relationship between Peru and Japan. Many believe the Tupac Amaru (TOO-pock ah-MAHR-oo) rebels deliberately chose to seize hostages inside the Japanese ambassador's residence because of Japan's growing economic and political influence in Peru. Japan has quintupled its official development aid to Peru since President Alberto Fujimori took office, and has become a big supporter of Peru on the world scene. There is a more personal connection as well--President Fujimori is the son of Japanese immigrants.

A consortium of universities is working with the federal government to develop the next phase of the Internet. The designers say for the computer network to live up to all of its predicted uses, it will have to be faster and more dynamic. NPR's Phillip Davis reports that the government-funded project, which is expected to take three to five years to complete, is somewhat controversial. One criticism is that tax money should not pay for the development, although officials say private investors would be put off by the fact that the current Internet took years to begin to become profitable.

NPR's Brooke Gladstone reports on how one man has turned a life-long addiction to television into an art form. His meticulous blueprints of TV character's homes are on exhibit now in New York, will be shown in Washington this summer, and have inspired a new book. The artist, who still works his day job as a mail carrier, credits his blueprints with helping him kick the TV habit that nearly destroyed his life. Architectural critics say the artist has tapped into a powerful, symbolic language understood throughout the culture.

Ed O'Loughlin (oh-LOCK-lin) reports on how South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission is likely to respond to the confessions of five retired police officers that they killed the well known black activist Stephen Biko (BEE-koh) 20 years ago. The commission, formed under the new post-apartheid government, says the officers are seeking amnesty in return for full confessions. The notorious killing of Biko while he was in police custody helped turn the international community against the system of apartheid.

NPR's Wendy Schmeltzer reports on macular degeneration, a vision disorder that now afflicts roughly 1.7 million older Americans. Researchers who study vision loss believe that macular degeneration could impair the vision of over 6 million Americans within the next 30 years as the baby boom generation ages. Macular degeneration currently has no cure, but various social service organiations that work with the elderly are trying to help macular degeneration patients by teaching them ways to cope with their disability while remaining independent.