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Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan reviews the opening of Godzilla 2000. Unlike last summer's flop, this movie takes the giant lizard back to his Japanese cinema roots: with dubbing included.

NPR's Martin Kaste reports on the growing political clout of Chile's native Mapuche Indians. Although timber companies hold the title to much of the country's valuable forest land, the Mapuche claim it belongs to them. They've occupied and set fire to some of the land. The timber companies remain unsympathetic, but other parts of Chilean society are beginning to consider the Mapuche's views.

Host Renee Montagne shares letters from listeners.

The city has not determined what other methods it will use to disinfect water and will continue using chlorine in the meantime.

NPR's Peter Kenyon reports on George W. Bush's campaign stops in Wisconsin and Iowa yesterday. While visiting schools and veterans, the Texas governor has been speaking to voters about education and military spending.

In Part Three of her month-long series on female jazz singers, NPR Special Correspondent Susan Stamberg profiles Jane Monheit, a 22-year-old from Long Island, who's been singing since the age of two. (7:19) Monheit's debut album, Never Neverland is on the N-Coded label; ASIN: B00004SVKL.

The Toronto International Film Fest is usually mobbed with over a thousand industry types from all over the world. But this year the partially-online festival has been bleak and deserted.

Robert talks with Masha Lipman, Deputy Editor of Itogi Magazine -- Newsweek's Russian edition -- about public dissatisfaction with President Putin 's handling of the submarine crisis. Television footage of Putin riding on a water scooter at a resort during the crisis angered many people. But Lipman says it's too soon to tell whether this could be a problem for Putin politically.

Leda Hartman reports on the lawsuit that Hoke County and four other rural counties in North Carolina have brought, against the state's method of disbursing money to school districts. The plaintiffs argue that poor school districts can't raise as much money for public education as wealthier districts, and that the inequality feeds a cycle of underachievement and poverty. The case is currently in North Carolina State Superior Court and is expected to go to the state supreme court.

Host Renee Montagne talks to reporter Richard Galpin about the resurgence of violence in East Timor. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees suspended operations in West Timor after three of its workers were severely injured in an attack by pro-Indonesian militias.

Akiva Eldar, a political analyst for the newspaper Ha'aretz, joins Robert by phone from Jerusalem to talk about the Middle East peace process. A top Israeli negotiator returned today from a visit to Egypt, and signaled that Israel wants to "build on progress" made at the recent Camp David accords. Palestinians are also showing signs of flexibility in their positions, including the September 13 deadline for an independent Palestinian state.

NPR's Gerry Hadden reports from Mexico City on the visit of Mexico's President-elect Vicente Fox to the United States. Fox meets in Washington today with Vice President Al Gore and later with President Clinton, and then tomorrow in Dallas with Republican Presidential nominee George W. Bush.

The United States has acknowledge what it calls "less than honorable" actions against Native Hawaiians more than a century ago. Yesterday the federal government recommended that indigenous islanders be given the same sovereign status as most American Indians.

Host Renee Montagne talks to Judi Bailey, President of Northern Michigan University in Marquette about the Thinkpad Initiative, a new program that provides laptops to all students at the university.

NPR's Mike Shuster reports that Mexico's President-elect Vicente Fox is on a two-day visit to Washington to present his proposals on trade, immigration and drug trafficking. Fox defeated the ruling party's candidate, President Ernesto Zedillo, in a July election. He supports opening borders as a way of addressing illegal immigration and helping to develop Mexico's economy. US business and labor leaders are unenthusiastic, but President Clinton has said he wants to hear more about Fox's ideas before expressing an opinion. In addition to visiting President Clinton, Fox met with Vice President Gore and plans a similar session tomorrow with Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush.

Asthma is the most common chronic childhood disease. For some reason, rates of asthma keep going up every year. Researchers have been looking at the causes for this increase, which has been found to be much higher in the industrialized world. Everything from exposure to dust mites and cockroaches to diet has been implicated. Now, a new study from the New England Journal of Medicine concludes that there might be another cause: too much cleanliness. The more sterile the early environment for infants six months and younger, the more problems with asthma they seem to have later in life. NPR's Allison Aubrey reports.

Robert talks to California Attorney General Bill Lockyer about settlement in the state's lawsuit against Publishers Clearing House. Lockyer says this is just the beginning -- that he's been talking with other state Attorneys General about closing a similar settlement deal with another major sweepstakes company.

An important amendment to yesterday's story on the CBS Survivor show.

Host Renee Montagne talks to writer Beverly Donofrio about her search for faith in her new book, Looking for Mary. (5:30) Beverly Donofrio's new book is titled Looking for Mary is published by Viking Pr; ISBN: 06708

NPR's Mary Ann Akers reports on reactions of the victims' families as the investigation of the TWA 800 crash comes to a close.

Robert and Noah read letters from All Things Considered's listeners. (3:30) To send a letter write to "Letters," All Things Considered, National Public Radio, 635 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC, 20001 or send e-mail to ATC@npr.org.

Host Renee Montagne talks to Irish Times Reporter Chris Anderson about the latest developments in Northern Ireland. British troops and police have stepped up patrols in Belfast after three killings this week. Authorities suspect that all three killings are the result of sectarian feuding.

Claudio Sanchez reports on the latest results of a 30-year survey of nine, thirteen, and 17-year old American students. The report, which looks at reading, math and science scores, shows today's students are doing better in math than students did 30 years ago. Performance is mixed in reading and science. The survey finds the academic gap between boys and girls has virtually disappeared. It says the gap between white and minority students closed for a while, but has started to open up again. The report also says a much greater percentage of today's students are taking tough courses, such as calculus, than students did 30 years ago.

NPR's Martin Kaste (KAH-stee) talks with host Linda Wertheimer about President Clinton's visit to Colombia to endorse his latest plan to curb drug trafficking. Clinton was meeting Colombian President Pastrana in the coastal city of Cartagena in the wake of a one-point-three-billion dollar package of aid and military support for the Colombian army to help fight guerillas and the drug overlords who support them.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports that a day after meeting with President Clinton in Cairo, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met with Yasser Arafat in yet another attempt to get the Middle East peace talks back on track. American mediators are still trying to bridge the gaps between the two sides over Jerusalem in advance of a September deadline for reaching a final peace deal.