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Noah and Linda read from listeners' letters. They'll include comments on the Israeli and Russian elections, the Olympic torch run, and childcare in casinos. (To send letters to All Things Considered, mail to All Things Considered Letters, c/o NPR News, 635 Massachusetts Avenue, Northwest, Washington, DC, 20009...or via e-mail at ATC at NPR dot COM.)

- Daniel talks with David Tuller about his book, "Cracks in the Iron Closet: Travels in Gay and Lesbian Russia" (Faber & Faber) which looks at the life of homosexuals in Russia. Tuller says although Russian society is more tolerant of homosexuals in some aspects, it is still far from embracing homosexual lifestyles. Gay bashing is still prevalent and police often turn a blind eye to crimes against homosexuals.

- NPR's Phillip Davis reports from London that a bomb has exploded in Manchester, England today (Saturday) injuring about 200 people. No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing, but British Prime Minister John Major blames the Irish Repubican Army.

- Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu retired today as Archbishop of the Anglican Church in South Africa. For the record, we play an excerpt from a sermon Tutu gave at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., in December, 1984.

A government study released today says that driving a cab is the most dangerous job in America. The second most dangerous job is being a sheriff. NPR's Melissa Block reports on how people who hold these jobs are reacting to this news. She talks with one New York cab driver who was held up at gunpoint several years ago says for three months after the attack he was too scared to drive his cab; now he never drives it at night. And a sheriff in Washington State says he's not surprised sheriffs have the second highest on-job homicide rate; he says there's a continual struggle to make the job safer, and more funding is the answer.

NPR's Chitra Ragavan reports that the Supreme Court today ruled that medical device makers can be sued in state court even if their products have federal approval. The ruling could open the gate to a stream of liability cases. Medical device makers had claimed that compliance with federal laws and regulations protected them from product liability cases in state courts.

NPR's Peter Overby reports that a ruling today by the Supreme Court appeared to open the way for a whole new category of campaign spending by political parties on congressional campaigns. The court said the Federal Election Commission was wrong when it cited the Colorado Republican Party for exceeding federal spending limits after it spent $15,000 on radio ads in 1986 against a Democratic Senate candidate. Such expenditures, as long as they are made independently of a particular candidate's campaign, should not be limited, the court said.

NPR's Ted Clark reports that yesterday's bombing reveals undercurrents of anti-Americanism in Saudi Arabia and resentment toward the government there. Though the opposition is fuelled by militant Islam to some degree, analysts say that Saudi Arabia remains stable, though the opposition will have to be managed carefully if the country is to remain stable.

Linda talks with U-S Capt. Hector Jamili (HA-mee-lee), a civil engineer stationed at the military complex outside Dhahran (DAH

Edmund Roy reports that the largest party in the Indian parliament has resigned, unable to form a coalition. The United Front -- a coalition of lower caste and left-leaning parties -- is now trying to form a government to run the world's largest democracy.

NPR'S Eric Weiner profiles the new Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu (n'tahn-YAH-hoo). Though most Israelis call him by his nickname, Bibi (BEE-bee), few Israelis know much about the man who will lead them.

More than 100 Mormons are recreating the covered wagon journey their ancestors took from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City in 1846. Noah talks to Linda Whitaker, who is making the trip with her four children and her husband.

NPR's Linda Gradstein reports that the new Israeli transportation minister has announced plans to shut down one of Jerusalem's major thoroughfares during prayer hours on the Jewish Shabbat. The act has triggered concern among many Israelis that it is a sign of growing Jewish Orthodox power in Israel's new conservative government.

on crime in post-Apartheid South Africa and what's being done about it... Today, she visits the black township of Soweto, outside Johannesburg, where young black residents have joined forces with white police to catch criminals. It's an unusual alliance between those who fought to overthrow Apartheid and those who fought to protect it. Soweto and the other black townships surrounding Johannesburg have a murder rate three times higher than that of New York City.

Beth Fertig of member station WNYC reports on New York city's experiment with 'workfare' - making welfare recipients work for their benefits. While perhaps a good idea for some, for others it forces them to choose between working at a dead-end minimum wage job or going to school to improve skills and employability.

The Air Force unit attacked in Dhahran was there as part of the unfinished business of the Gulf War. But the attack is not expected to generate any change in US policy in the Gulf area, or threaten US relations with Saudi Arabia. NPR's Ted Clark has a report.

Robert and Linda read listeners' comments. To contact All Things Considered, the address is 635 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20001; or via e-mail, the address is ATC at NPR dot ORG.

NPR's Mike Shuster reports that China has announced it no longer will support peaceful nuclear explosions. That removes a major hurdle in the negotiations for a comprehensive test ban treaty. However, very significant hurdles...such as who will monitor China's nuclear program... remain. The ultimate success of those negotiations is still in doubt.

Laura Sydell of member station WNYC reports on the three-year anniversary of the ship The Golden Venture running aground near Queens, NY. The ship was carrying nearly 300 illegal Chinese immigrants and brought the problem of such smuggling operations to wide attention. Just what has changed since then?

Noah talks to Steve Delsohn (del-SON), author of 'The Fire Inside: Firefighters Talk About Their Lives.' Delsohn interviewed 108 firefighters for his book. Two of those firefighters, Phillip Buffa of Washington, D.C.'s Rescue 3 and Keith Walker, Jr. of Alexandria, Virginia's Engine 55, met with Delsohn while he was visiting the Washington area. The firefighters talked about their fears of flashovers (when entire rooms ignite all at once) and of being trapped alone in a burning building. Delsohn says that about 100 firefighters are killed in the line of duty every year while another 100,000 are injured. (The Fire Inside: Firefighters Talk About Their Lives' is published by Harper-Collins.)

Yesterday's Virginia primary made for a Warner vs. Warner race for the U.S. Senate. Contests between candidates with the same last name are unusual...but not unheard-of. Robert takes a look at some other cases of same-name candidates running against one another.

President Clinton was in Greeleyville, South Carolina today to visit the place where an African-American church was burned down last year. He also went to the site of the new Mount Zion AME Church, where he called on all Americans to help put an end to the recent string of church fires. We'll hear excepts from his speech.

NPR's Eric Weiner visits the West Bank city of Hebron to gauge reaction there to yet another missed deadline for a withdrawal of most of the Israeli troops from the city, as called for under the Oslo Agreement. Israeli troops were to have withdrawn in March, but the government of outgoing Prime Minister Peres (PERR-es) postponed the withdrawal after suicide bombings in March. A second deadline came and went today, and tensions are rising in the city, with Israeli settlers calling for the redeployment to be postponed indefinitely. Palestinians are warning of another intifada if the troops don't leave soon.

NPR's Chitra Ragavan reports on a ruling from the Supreme Court today on the issue of how federal prison sentences are imposed. The case involved the sentences of former Los Angeles policemen Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell, convicted in the 1991 videotaped beating of Rodney King. At issue was whether the trial judge exceeded his authority when he sentenced the two to a shorter time in prison than specified by U-S guidelines. Today, justices voted unanimously to have a federal trial judge reconsider the validity of giving both ex-officers stiffer sentences. Koon and Powell are now free. Had the nation's highest court upheld a federal appeals court ruling against them, each man would have faced returning to prison for up to fifty- seven more months.