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Gay civil rights activist Candace Gingrich talks about Mary Cheney -- the openly gay daughter of Republican Vice Presidential candidate Dick Cheney. Ms. Gingrich says that Mary is now in a difficult position because her father supports a GOP platform that is hostile to homosexuals. Candace also talks about her experience having a brother -- former House Speaker Newt Gingrich -- who is opposed to equal rights for homosexuals.

A Florida jury today ordered Walt Disney to pay $240 million in damages to two businessmen who alleged the company stole their idea for a sports complex. Disney denied using anyone else's idea for the Wide World of Sports complex at Walt Disney World in Orlando. But the six-member jury found the company guilty of fraud, theft of trade secrets and breaking a confidential relationship. NPR's Phillip Davis reports.

NPR's Bob Mondello discusses of a trio of new French films. Their titles are: Alice and Martin, An Affair of Love and Girl on the Bridge.

Microsoft users will be able to access their accounts using an app or a code sent to their phone or email. Company officials say it will make logging on both easier and safer.

Charlotte Renner reports that a pharmaceutical industry trade group is suing the State of Maine over a new drug pricing law. The law enables the state to negotiate lower prices for Maine residents who do not have insurance coverage for perscription drugs. Maine's law has attracted the interest of other states that are also looking to reduce drug prices.

NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from Warsaw that a special tribunal today cleared former Polish president Lech Walesa of charges he collaborated with the communist-era secret police. The court ruled that in the early eighties, the Interior Ministry faked documents, casting Walesa as an informant, to undermine his chances of receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. Thursday, the court also cleared the current president Alexander Kwasniewski, of similar charges of collaboration.

Game Misconduct - A new opera about...hockey. This opera was written by Canadians. There's the high drama of a country defending its' national pride against marauding invaders (that would be the American hockey team); the tragedy of defeat; the exultation of the fans; and the loss of a way of life. The music was composed by Leslie Uyeda; the libretto written by Tom Cone. Game Misconduct premieres tonight as part of Festival Vancouver - a three-week music festival. Performances of the opera continue through next week. Marcie Sillman, of member station KUOW, reports.

Critic Tom Shales reviews the movie opening today, The Replacements. The film, about a zany group of misfits who become professional football players during a strike season stars Gene Hackman and Keanu Reeves.

NPR's Barbara Bradley reports that the Immigration and Naturalization Service is preparing guidelines that tell district offices they can show more discretion in enforcing the 1996 immigration reform law. Deportations and incarcerations based on the tough law drew criticism. The INS said Congress left it no room for discretion. Some members of Congress insisted that the agency was allowed to use more judgment. As the INS moves to ease its guidelines, some members of Congress are developing legislation to adjust the law.

The 11th World Conference on Tobacco or Health wraps up in Chicago today with delegates -- all of them anti-smoking antivists -- going home to focus on how they can work towards the same goal. Tobacco-related diseases kill more than four-million people worldwide annually. Many public health officials believe smoking rates would fall if federal regulators had more control over tobacco products. NPR's Debbie Elliott reports.

Noah talks with Bill Carrick, a democratic media consultant. His firm is Morris, Carrick and Guma. They talk about the flap over a fundraiser scheduled at the Playboy Mansion, President Clinton's apology for his behavior at an evangelical conference yesterday and the other fundraising scheduled this weekend. Mr. Carrick disagrees with the rumor that VP Gore is keeping Clinton away from his campaign.

The National Transportation Safety Board says a preliminary investigation has not yet determined the cause of last year's crash of an Egyptian airliner off the coast of New York. But NTSB Chairman Jim Hall said there were no unresolved safety issues. Egyptair flight 990 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in October killing all 217 people on board. Egyptian officials said more work needed to be done, mainly on the Boeing 767's elevator control system. Speculation about the cause of the crash has centered on one of the plane's co-pilots and the possibility that he deliberated plunged the aircraft into the sea. NPR's Guy Raz reports

NPR's Michele Kelemen reports on Russia's Olympians. Caught between the old state-sponsored Olympic team and the new quazi-privitized training programs, the Russian Olympic team will be jumping hurdles to come home with a medal from Sydney this year.

NPR's Jim Zarroli examines the role the oil industry may play in this year's presidential election. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have spent considerable time working for big oil, and opponents are concerned that a Republican victory would mean petroleum companies could have an inside track to more favorable policies in Washington.

Tripp Sommer of member station K-L-C-C reports on the conditions that are sustaining the wildfires in the Western states. As the fires continue to burn out of control thousands of people are forced to evacuate their homes. Some of the fires are slowing their advance because of cooler temperatures.

Hadassah Lieberman went home today to Gardner, Massachusetts, the town where her family made a new life after surviving the Holocaust in Europe. Arriving at Elm Street School, she got a celebrity's welcome as the wife of the man the Democratic Party will nominate next week for vice president. NPR's Tovia Smith reports.

NPR's Andy Bowers reports from Long Beach, California, where the Reform Party convention has split in two. Supporters of Pat Buchanan control the convention hall. Yesterday they refused entrance to delegates for John Hagelin, so Hagelin's supporters moved to another site, at a theater next door. It now appears there will be two different Reform Party presidential candidates.

NPR's David Welna reports that yesterday President Clinton reflected on how the Monica Lewinsky scandal affected him. Clinton told a gathering of religious leaders in Illinois, that he made a "terrible mistake" and Al Gore should not be blamed for it.

Host Howard Berkes talks to Paul Giannaris (JEE-AHN-air-ihs) owner of Andy's Bait International in Toronto about the newest thing in fishing chartreuse earthworms that smell like garlic.

NPR's Tom Goldman reports on the growing pressure on professional sports teams -- like the NFL's Washington Redskins -- to change their logos and mascots, which critics say disparage certain ethnicites.

Host Howard Berkes talks to Christine Haughney, reporter for the Washington Post about the decision of a New York Jury, that ordered former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic RAH'-doh-van KA'-ra-jich should pay 745 million dollars for soldiers' war-time atrocities.

Ellen Ciurczak of member station KQED reports that the California state senate has passed an emergency measure that would reduce the cost of electricity. The state assembly won't consider the bill until after next week's Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. Under deregulation, electric bills for some Californians have doubled and even tripled this summer.

NPR's Melissa Block reports on one of Al Gore's closest advisors in his presidential campaign: his daughter, Karenna Gore-Schiff.

Host Howard Berkes talks to Shannon Curfman, a 15 year-old blues prodigy from Fargo, North Dakota. Curfman fell in love with the blues at the age of 10 and has since been studying, writing, and performing all over the country. She says the raw aspect of blues is what appeals to her, and she expects to make music her career.

Noah talks to Kelly Joe Phelps. Phelps switched from jazz guitar to playing country blues and found even more space there for improvisation. His instrument is the lap slide guitar.