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NPR's Mary Kay Magistad reports that China is proceeding full speed ahead with construction of a gigantic dam at the site in the central part of the country. Chinese officials said the Three Gorges dam will help alleviate periodic flooding that rountinely kills thousands of people in China, but many environmentalists dispute that. They say the dam will disrupt the lives of thousands of people and do severe damage to the environment.

who now advocates doing away with all nuclear weapons. Until three years ago, General Butler was in charge of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. He says that, with the end of the Cold War, the rationale for keeping nuclear weapons no longer exists, and that the United States should lead the effort to eliminate them.

NPR's Ann Cooper reports on the work of South Africa's Truth Commission, which is trying to discover who was responsible for human rights abuses committed during apartheid. The commission has the power to grant amnesty to those who fully admit their crimes; the former white minority government insisted on this process as part of the price of a peaceful transition to democracy. While the Truth Commission's work is supposed to help heal the nation's wounds, testimony about gruesome acts of torture and murder is making it hard for many to forgive.

Steven LaFon is the Associate Director of the Anti-Viral Clinical research for Glaxo-Wellcome. He says he empathizes with Getty, and that the company's researchers are working as fast as they can to get the drug 15-92 to the marketplace. He says although the results of trials have been very encouraging, it is still in the very early stages of the approval and marketing process.

Critic Bob Mondello has a review of the new romantic comedy "Jerry Maguire," which stars Tom Cruise and newcomer Renee Zellweger. It's about a sports agent who decides to put people ahead of profit...and what happens after he conveys his new philosophy to his clients. Mondello says the film is smart and appealing.

NPR's Debbie Elliott reports from New Orleans, the site of this weekend's freighter accident. Investigators are saying "it's a Christmas miracle" that apparently no one was killed when the giant freighter crashed into a shopping complex on a downtown wharf. NTSB investigators start hearings tomorrow to interview ship officials so that the safety board can try to recreate the accident.

NPR's Cheryl Devall reports from St. Petersburg, Florida - the site of two riots this fall. The city's racial divisions are deep and long-lived. Citizens in the city's black community fear the police; white residents say they don't understand the black community's frustrations.

On the day before the Presidential election, senior news analyst Daniel Schorr sums up some of the lessons learned from this campaign season.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from Kigali that Zairean Tutsi rebels today declared a unilateral three-week ceasefire. The guerrillas say the truce is designed to give more than one million Rwandan Hutu refugees in Zaire a chance to go home. In the past two weeks, the rebels have captured all of the main cities along Zaire's border with Burundi and Rwanda, and foreign relief agencies have evacuated their staffs. There is little hope the refugees will return to Tutsi-controlled Rwanda, and relief groups say shortages of food and medicine could soon lead to mass starvation and epidemics among the refugees.

Commentator Marion Winik struggles with how to talk to her kids about drugs. Since drugs were a big part of her life and her husband Tony struggled with them until the day he died, she feels she can not simply counsel her children to "just say no".

that suggest the Republicans will retain their numbers in the House and Senate.

Critic Bob Mondello reviews the new film "Citizen Ruth." The film is a comedy about a serious subject...abortion. Mondello says that it's remarkably even-handed and doesn't require the viewer to choose which side of the abortion debate to agree with. It's the first film from director Alexander Payne, and stars Laura Dern.

Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros released a report today suggesting that in the past four years, the Clinton administration has moved thousands of homeless from shelters to independence. NPR's Barbara Bradley reports that advocates for the homeless say the administration has taken the right approach. But they add that it's barely making a dent in the problem, and they worry that welfare reform and changes in the economy will swallow up any gains.

acquittal has forced LA District Attorney Gil Garcetti into a controversial campaign for re-election.

A commentary from Jeff Getty, a man who has AIDS. One year ago, he was given a baboon marrow transplant in an attempt to restore his immune system. He is doing well, but Getty complains about a sense that the company Glaxo-Wellcome is keeping the AIDS drug 15-92 off the market because it wants to maximize its profits for the old AIDS drug AZT. Getty also says he thinks there has been a whole bureaucracy built up around AIDS, with people making six-figure salaries. In the meantime, those with the disease are dying.

by a recent series of crashes to agree to install more safety devices on airplanes. Additional fire safety equipment could reduce the possibility of fires in cargo holds and fuel tanks.

into Saturday's crash of a freighter into a crowded retail shopping district known as the River Walk. The vessel lost power before colliding with the complex, which includes numerous restaurants, stores, and a hotel.

David Baron reports on a new class of drug called protease inhibitors... whose success has led many to think that the end of the AIDS epidemic is much closer.

Commentator David Greenberger proposes a new unit of measurement to gauge how old we are: dog lives. The average dog lives 12 years. A 12-year-old is one dog year old. A 25-year old is 2 Dog Years 1. This is an attempt to reverse the business of dog years - which translates each year into seven.

NPR's Edward Lifson reports from Belgrade that it appears today as if Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic is giving in to Opposition protesters. For nearly nine weeks, a coalition of demonstrators has been rallying against the Milosevic government. They have been protesting a decision in November that annulled the results of municipal elections. Today, the election commission, thought to be controlled by Milosevic, announced the Opposition had won the Belgrade city assembly and the country's second largest city, Nis (NEESH). This isn't a final decision, however, and the Opposition is still wary. Leaders say the demonstrations will continue.

Veta (VEE-tuh) Christy reports on a Connecticut mother who has repeatedly been reported for child abuse. But when state authorities investigate each case, they have found no basis for the charges. Authorities won't give her the names of her accusers and she's suing to find out just who keeps charging her with the most heinous of crimes.

As a public service, NPR has made free airtime available to the two major-party candidates in the race for the Presidency. Tonight's message comes from the Democratic candidate, incumbent President Bill Clinton.

attempt to win Arizona and other western states which usually vote Republican in Presidential elections. In a speech today in Santa Barbara, California, the President is expected to respond to Republican allegations that the Democratic National Committee has engaged in illegal fundraising.

will not face criminal charges related to her personal and campaign finances. Greene's former husband and finance director Joe Waldholtz pleaded guilty to bank fraud and campaign and tax law violations. Congresswoman Greene is not seeking reelection.

Noah travelled to Logan County, in southern West Virginia, to talk to people there about the race for governor in that state, and about what politics means to people there. Logan County has a rich political history -- for many decades, the politics of the county were engineered by families who often worked in conjunction with the coal operators to bring money to the region. These political machines got people to the precincts to vote, often with promises of money, or liquor, but always promising better quality of life -- if they voted for the right candidate. People in Logan today are talking about the current governor's race, between Democratic candidate Charlotte Pritt, and Republican candidate Cecil Underwood.