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NPR's Linda Gradstein reports from Jerusalem on the differing receptions that await Israel's Prime Minister Barak and Palestinian Leader Arafat, as they return today from the 15-day Summit at Camp David. The talks ended yesterday without an agreement. Arafat is being praised for standing firm on issues of importance to Palestinians, especially sovereignty over East Jerusalem. Barak returns home with an uncertain political future.

This week, Polish-born Jan Karski, one of the first people to report an eyewitness account of the Nazi Holocaust to the West, died in Washington D.C. Host Jacki Lyden speaks with Karski biographer Tom Wood. Wood is the author of Karski: How One Man Tried to Stop the Holocaust. Jan Karski was a liason officer for the Polish underground during World War II and a retired history professor at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. He was 86.

NPR's Mike Shuster reports the Russian navy has begun a rescue operation to save the 116 men trapped in the nuclear-powered submarine "Kursk" at the bottom of the Barents Sea. The Russians are trying to send a rescue capsule down to the stranded sub. The first try to do this failed. It's a difficult, time-consuming operation, particularly since the sub is buffeted by strong currents. The capsule can bring up only 20 men at a time and must ascend very slowly, to avoid the risk of decompression sickness.

Host Madeleine Brand talks to Roger Dumars, a reporter with the South China Morning Post, about a series of historic family reunions happening in North and South Korea. Dozens of families from both countries will travel across their boarders to see relatives for the first time in fifty years. The reunions are part of number of conciliatory gestures between North and South Korea, agreed to a summit of their leaders last June.

NPR's Brian Naylor reports on the move by Republicans in the House to authorize the building of a monument to former president Ronald Reagan on the National Mall in Washington. It has already passed the House Resources Committee and is on the way to a full floor vote before Congress adjourns next month. Democrats say the move is less about honoring Reagan than it is about injecting him into the current presidential campaign. The move, if it passes, would circumvent a law that says no one can be honored with a memorial in the nation's capital until 25 years after the person's death.

NPR's Peter Kenyon reports on yet another issue in the debate over the Presidential Debates. After both the Gore and Bush campaigns agreed on their debate formats, third party candidates are feeling excluded. For them to participate, third party candidates must meet what they call a ridiculous criterion set up by the bi-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates. That criterion states that a candidate must win an average of at least 15-percent in national polls to be invited to the debates.

NPR's Phillip Davis reports that civil rights groups in Florida are trying to free a Muslim academic who is seeking admission to the United States. He has been held in jail by the Immigration and Naturalization Service for the past three years. The INS claims the man has links a Middle-eastern terrorist group, but refuses to reveal evidence, saying to do so would threaten national security. Civil rights groups say his constitutional right to confront his accuser is being violated.

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.

that today the Supreme Court will hear a motion to reverse a decision concerning the separation of church and state. A 1985 ruling barred public school teachers from giving remedial math and reading lessons in religious schools. Since then, schools across the country have used loopholes to work around the decision... and five current Supreme Court justices have cast doubt on the ruling in recent opinions.

NPR's Ina Jaffe reports on a plague that is threatening the sunny image of Beverly Hills. Something is causing some of the city's signature palm trees to lose their heads. The tops, or crowns, of a number of trees have simply broken off and crashed to the ground. But with $1.5 million in its "urban forestry" budget, the city is working hard to root out the cause and keep it from spreading. After all, just imagine what a palm crown weighing a ton and a half could do if it fell on someone's Ferrari!

Besides being the day tax returns are due, today is the deadline for Congress to pass a budget plan for next year. As usual, the deadline won't be met. Negotiators for the House, Senate and White House have been meeting for weeks now and are far from an agreement on how to balance the budget by the year 2002. Differences between the parties on tax cuts and cuts in Medicare and Medicaid spending are broad. However, some progress has been made on potential cuts in several smaller programs such as student loans. NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

>The Song of the Dodo . The book deals with evolution and extinction on islands... and not just islands you find in the middle of water, but islands in the ecological sense... that is, any patch of habitat surrounded by an inhospitable area. Quammen is probably best known for his columns that ran for 15 years in Outside magazine.

U.N. arms inspectors search two outbuildings of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's primary palace. Meanwhile, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency consults with Russian officials on Iraq. Hear NPR's Michele Norris, Rajiv Chandrasekaran of The Washington Post and NPR's Lawrence Sheets.

President Bush says the administration will file a brief supporting white students who sued the University of Michigan's law school. The Supreme Court is hearing the students' challenge to an affirmative action policy that gives minority students an advantage in applying for admission. Hear NPR's Michele Norris, NPR's Don Gonyea and NPR's Mara Liasson.

NPR's David Welna reports on moves by some members in Congress to play a leading role on carbon pollution regulation in power plants. Earlier this week President Bush reversed a campaign pledge on limiting such emissions. But today a bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced a "Clean Power Act" legislation, designed to regulate power plant pollutants. The Bush administration is focusing more on anticipated power outages; earlier today, Energy Secretary Abraham predicted blackouts in California this summer.

Boston's marathon has been considered special for some time. But this centenary race is attracting a record number of runners. While there are about 38,000 official entrants, the pack may grow to over 50,000 -- four to five times the normal size.

Noah talks to Belgrave Hotel receptionist Rosiland (ROSE-ah-lend) Buttner in the Waelsh seaside resort town of Temby about the effcts of the February 15 oil spill on the beaches there. She says it took four to five days after the spill for changing winds to push the slick to Temby. But now clean-up crews have done a splendid job of tidying things up. The spill is being called the biggest in British history.

Bombing between Israeli forces and Hezbollah continues. Clashes between the two groups have existed for years. Linda Wertheimer talks with Judith Miller, New York Times correspondent and author of several books about the Middle East. She discuss the historical roots of Hezbollah and talks about previous clashes between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Judith Miller has a new book out, God Has 99 Names: Reporting from a Militant Middle East (Simon & Schuster).

in the ethics investigation of House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Republicans believe that it was Representative Jim McDermott, the House Ethics Committee's top Democrat, who leaked the recording of an incriminating phone call made by Gingrich. McDermott says he'll not participate in the committee's continuing investigation of Gingrich, calling it "a charade."

Earlier today, the Israeli cabinet meeting over the Hebron agreement brokeup in disarray. Robert talks with Dore (DOHR-ee) Gold, the foreign policy advisor to the Prime Minister of Israel. They discuss Netanyahu's need to build a strong centrist presence in Israel. Gold says that Netanyahu now understands that he needs to work with Arafat, even though he came to power promising Israelis security and courting the right-wing vote.

A club that distributes marijuana and makes it available to individuals who need the drug for medical reasons re-opened in San Francisco today. Many claims have been made about smoked marijuana's potential effectiveness as a medical treatment -- and many claims have been made about the drug's risks. NPR science correspondent Joe Palca sorts out what researchers know and don't know about marijuana's medical uses.

on whether to raise the minimum wage from four-25 to five dollars and 15 cents an hour. The House approved a similar measure which includes tax breaks for small businesses. But the legislation could die in the Senate because Republican amendments would effectively exclude millions of workers from receiving the higher minimum wage.

being brought against Boston University alleging discrimination in its treatment of learning disabled students. B.U.'s president, who has presided over tightened requirements for entry into special programs and the cutbacks in support services, took the stand yesterday. The plaintiffs' supporters believe his testimony showed that B.U.'s environment was hostile to the learning disabled.

in Georgia, backing Bob Dole for President and local candidates for the House and Senate races. The group's membership is up 25-percent from last year and experts say their efforts could be significant in a close race. A poll by the Atlanta Constitution shows President Clinton leading Dole by 15 points...the biggest gap in any southern state.

- Daniel talks with Roger Johnston of the Los Alamos (New Mexico) National Laboratories Seal Vulnerability Assessment Team. Johnston and his colleagues test the reliability of the seals on all sorts of containers. If the container seals work as they are designed to work, a consumer should know if the seal has been tampered with. However, Johnston found that most containers could be opened and then re-sealed without the break in the seal being detected. They used ordinary tools that anyone can buy in a hardware store.