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NPR's Ann Cooper reports on the struggle at the United Nations over the selection of a new Secretary General. The United States has blocked the re-election of current Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, but so far the five permanent members of the U-N Security Council have been unable to agree on a candidate to replace him. There are four candidates from Africa right now, but the US, France and Britain are reportedly using their veto power as permanent Council members to block one or more of the candidates.

In Yugoslavia, the nationwide protests against the Milosevic government continue. Those protests began a month ago in Serbia's second largest city, Nis (NEESH), when Opposition party victories in local elections were disallowed. Now a local court has re-instated the Opposition victory there. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli was in Nis recently and reports that information about the election, the vote fraud by the ruling Socialist party and the court's re-instatement have been carried by a private radio station and private television... a job neither had ever expected to perform.

Sylvia Poggioli reports from Belgrade where President Slobodan Milosevic met for the first time with demonstrators protesting his government. The meeting was preceded by the 30th straight day of marches by students who were joined today by organized labor groups. The marches began when the Milosevic government annulled election results when it appeared the ruling party was losing. Today, Milosevic promised to make sure all the election results were legal. But he also said he would not bend to what he called foreign interference in Serbian affairs.

Linda Wertheimer talks with Kenneth Quinn, former chief counsel of the FAA about airport security issues involving airport workers who have access to airplanes on the ground such as food service workers, maintainance and cleaning crews. (4:00) 2A CUTAWAY 0:59 2B 11. 800 NUMBER - NPR's Chitra Ragavan reports that the FBI has set up an 800 number to handle tips from normal citizens that might help explain why TWA Flight 800 crashed. The bureau typically gets a high volume of calls on such lines, but they say any one call can provide a critical piece of information.

For the first time, small businesses with a religious element can compete for loans guaranteed by the U.S. government. Bookstores that specialize in religious books and radio stations with a religious music format are two kinds of these kinds of businesses. A recent rule clarification by the U.S. Small Business Administration opens the door to a wide variety of businesses once excluded from indirect government support. As Peter Aronson reports, the change has its critics, who worry that it signals an erosion of the separation between church and state. Others say that the change is a good one, which promotes religious freedom.

NPR's Ina Jaffe reports on the testimony in the punitive damages phase of the OJ Simpson civil trial. Lawyers for both sides wrapped up testimony today over how much money OJ Simpson has available to pay punitive damages, on top of the 8.5 million dollars in compensatory damages already awarded to the families of the victims . Witnesses for the plaintiffs contend that Simpson will be able to earn millions of dollars from autograph signings and book deals. But Simpson's lawyers say he is already broke and can't be expected to pay more.

NPr's Ann Cooper reports that the New U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan (KOH-fee AN-nan) took his promises of reform to Capitol Hill today, trying to convince skeptical members of Congress that the United Nations is still a vital investment. The U-S has failed to pay over a billion dollars that it owes to the U-N, partly because of intense congressional criticism of U-N management. In a meeting with Annan today, House Speaker Newt Gingrich said that he believed problems with the U-N could be worked out, and made it clear that Congress does NOT want to shut the world body of diplomats down.

NPR's Michael Skoler reports from Kinshasa on growing calls in the Zairean capital for the government to open peace talks with Tutsi-led rebels. Since the uprising began last fall, the insurgents have captured a huge portion of eastern Zaire, and many supporters of President Mobutu Sese Seko have no faith in the government's poorly-disciplined army. So far the government is spurning calls for dialogue, saying it is pursuing a purely military solution. Officials claimed Zaire's air force carried out more bombing runs against rebel-held towns today.

NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from Belfast on President Clinton's third and final trip as president today to Northern Ireland. Although he held four hours of talks with leaders of the main parties, the President failed to break the deadlock that is threatening to scuttle their new power-sharing institutions. He made an impassioned plea to them to defend the faltering peace process. While most gave him a warm welcome, a member of Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party harangued the President for negotiating with Sinn Fein (shin fayn), the party aligned with the Irish Republican Army.

NPR's Michele Kelemen reports that American Edmond Pope flew out of Moscow today, pardoned by Russian president Vladimir Putin and freed from a 20-year prison sentence for espionage. He was taken to a U.S. military hospital in Germany, where he will be examined for any signs of the cancer he once suffered. His wife says he is in poor health after eight months in prison. Russian prosecutors charged Pope with trying to buy the blueprints for a Russian torpedo. Pope insisted he was a legitimate businessman, seeking technology that was advertised abroad.