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From member station KPBS in San Diego, Carrie Kahn reports on the Iraqi Christians who are seeking asylum in U.S Already, 75 refugees have crossed from Mexico into the U.S., and over a hundred are still waiting. Most of them sneaked out of Iraq, then spend several years in Turkey or Greece before heading to Mexico.

Tom Gjelten of NPR News reports that the United States and other western governments today put intense pressure on Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic to admit defeat in yesterday's presidential election. The United States, Britain and Germany challenged Milosevic to accept his fate or face what one European leader called "devastating consequences."

Commentator David Weinberger realizes the current vogue in business to "multitask," but argues that few do it, and no one does it well. Slicing your attention, he says, is like slicing a plum -- you lose some of the juice.

Noah interviews Virginia State Trooper Mike Scott about a weekend assault on cars traveling down Interstate 95 by monkeys armed with pieces of fruit. Scott was hailed to the scene by a motorist who said a monkey had thrown a banana at her car. When they returned to the scene together, a trio of spider monkeys was tossing crab apples from an oak tree alongside the highway. Scott says he has no idea where they got the apples and bananas, nor where they came from.

Last week, writer Dawn Langley Simmons died. She was the author of over 20 books, including novels, biographies, and children's books. But perhaps her most remarkable creation was her identity. Simmons was born in England as Gordon Langley Hall. She was born with a sexual abnormality, and though raised as a boy, considered herself female. She later had a sex change operation, and changed her name to Dawn. Writer Jack Hitt talks to Robert about Dawn Langley's tempestous life.

Texas writer Kim Lane thinks she has seen an apparition of the Virgin Mary in her coffee cup. She wishes she had gotten a clear message about what exactly this vision means.

Page two of the New York Times today contains an article acknowledging that the paper could have improved its coverage of the Wen Ho Lee case. Among its admissions: the Times says it made the mistake of taking on the tone of some of the government's positions in the investigation of Wen Ho Lee. Robert Siegel discusses the article with Sandy Padwe, Former Deputy Sports Editor for the New York Times, now a professor at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.

NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from Prague on the opening of The World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings. To counter the expected protests, the World Bank is trying emphasize that they are listening to pleas for social justice...and they're doing that with Bono...the lead singer of the Irish rock band, U2.

From South Dakota, Charles Michael Ray reports on the seizure of 4-thousand industrial grade hemp plants from land on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Federal agents took the plants last month even though hemp was legalized by the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council as a cash crop. The council claims it's their sovereign right to grow hemp on tribal lands. Federal officials disagree.

Commentator Carol Wasserman's late husband once thought he discovered some ancient stones. Archeologists got excited. Then the truth came out.

The Kaiser Family Foundation releases a major survey on the views of parents, teachers, and students about sex education. As NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports, there are some surprising findings -- notably that parents say they want schools to give their children more, not less, detailed information about such topics as AIDS, birth control, and sexual orientation.

Owen Bennett-Jones reports Floods in Vietnam over the past few weeks have killed more than one hundred people and caused millions of dollars in damage to property and farmland.

N-P-R's Ted Clark previews the upcoming Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in Washington. The Camp David talks broke down last July over control of Jerusalem. U.S. mediators are expected to stress to both sides that time for negotiations are limited due to the November elections: the change in administrations could cause a stall in peace talks if agreements are not reached soon.

The latest ad being run by the Republican National Committee accuses the current administration, including Democratic nominee Al Gore, of failing the nation by allowing school test scores to fall dangerously behind. The ad says American school children's math and science scores are now the lowest in the world. NPR's Steve Inskeep takes a look at the information behind the ad.

NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr reasons that the American electorate's lack of interest in foreign affairs emboldens rogue leaders like Slobodan Milosevic and Saddam Hussein.

Second generation flight attendant Rene Foss has had enough of crabby travelers, so she's written a musical comedy starring clueless passengers, and the beleaguered men and women who serve them. Around the World in a Bad Mood is based on Foss' 15 years as a flight attendant - a job she still holds. In fact, her airline supports this "extra-aviational" activity. The musical is on stage in New York on weekends. NPR's Margot Adler reports.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from Jerusalem that two months after the Camp David summit broke down without an agreement, Israel Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat have met again to talk about peace. The meeting comes as the public debate is both camps has centered on formulas about how authority in East Beirut could be divided, something that was a taboo subject only weeks ago.

The study was intended to monitor students’ language development, but researchers realized they could use the data to reflect how density of individuals in a classroom affected infection rates.

Reviewer Alan Cheuse comments on The Accidental Indies, a book by Robert Finley, about the epochal voyage by Christopher Columbus in 1492. (2:00) The Accidental Indies is published by McGill-Queen's University Press.

Host Mike Shuster talks to Daniel Koretz, a senior social scientist at the Rand Corporation about education.

For insight about how Serbs are reacting to the election, Robert talks to Bratislav Grubacic, an independent analyst whose VIP News Services publishes English-language newsletters in Belgrade. Grubacic says it's apparent to him that though few people expected Milosevic to lose the election, they now seem to accept that he's lost.

The Australian press is heralding Aboriginal athlete Cathy Freeman as a symbol of reconciliation between blacks and whites in that country. She won the Gold Medal in the 400 meters. Noah talks with Australian Senator Aden Ridgeway -- the only aboriginal member of federal parliament -- about racial tension in Australia and why he feels the government needs to apologize for the treatment of Aborigines.

C.J. Hunter, the world champion in the shot put and the husband of sprinter Marion Jones, has tested positive for steroids. As NPR's Tom Goldman reports, US track officials were aware of Hunter's test result in mid-August but kept it confidential. Now that it has been disclosed in the middle of the Olympics, the news could become a major distraction to Jones in her pursuit of five gold medals.

Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore addressed a group of senior citizens in St. Petersburg, Florida today. Billed as a major policy address, today's speech was designed to draw a sharp contrast between Gore's prescription drug plan and that of his Republican rival George W. Bush. The Bush campaign quickly accused his opponent of making up facts about the Texas Governor's Medicare plan, as the presidential race enters its final two weeks. NPR's Anthony Brooks is with the Gore campaign today.

NPR's Andy Bowers reports on Republican Presidential candidate George W. Bush's claim that America is 'suffering from an education recession.' Bush hopes to use his criticism of the Clinton-Gore administration education policies to win the support of female voters.