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NPR's Debbie Elliot tells NPR's Lynn Neary about opening statements in New Orleans on the latest class action suit against the tobacco industry. An estimated three million smokers, some who are not ill, want the tobacco industry to pay for health screening for tobacco-related illnesses, called medical monitoring. The tobacco industry says medical monitoring is an unproven remedy, and that they shouldn't be held responsible for smokers ignoring the warning labels and smoking anyway.

Mexico is asking the World Court at The Hague to stop the United States from executing 51 Mexican citizens. Mexico argues the United States has violated international rules by not informing Mexican detainees of their right to assistance from the Mexican consulate. The United States disagrees, and says Mexico is infringing on its justice system by questioning the use of capital punishment. NPR's Gerry Hadden reports.

NPR's Robert Siegel talks to University of Iowa film professor Rick Altman about filmmaker Edwin Porter. One hundred years ago today, Porter received the copyright on Life of an American Fireman, a film that's regarded, along with his other 1903 film The Great train Robbery, as the first to use the conceit of editing to compress time and space. Porter's pioneering work influenced all subsequent filmmakers. Altman says audiences quickly learned to follow the new way of telling stories. Editing saved the faltering movie industry, which up to Porter's work in 1903 mostly used single, uncut shots of real world events. Porter cut away from an action to show events happening at the same time elsewhere.

A brief summary of some of the other important stories on today's program.

New figures from the 2000 Census show Hispanics now make up 13 percent of the United States' population. The new data suggests Hispanics may have overtaken blacks as the largest minority population, but critics say it depends on how the numbers are tallied. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports.

It's been a year since the priest abuse scandal broke in the Roman Catholic church, and for some of the hundreds of victims in the Boston area this has been one of the most painful of their lives. Others say that seeking justice and talking about what happened to them has marked the first steps toward healing. NPR's Tovia Smith spoke with some of these victims.

Some protests are motivated by war, or civil rights violations. Others are sparked by issues of somewhat less dire concern. But that doesn't necessarily lessen the emotion behind them. Witness Paulette Lsyshyn's effort to get the Gem canning jar company to reverse its decision to stop production of a certain size of lid. NPR's Lynn Neary talks with Paulette Lsyshyn of Leoville, Saskatchewan, Canada, about her countrywide petition.

In Brazil, seasonally heavy rains and flashfloods have caused deadly landslides. More than 100 people have died in the last month, most of them residents of urban shantytowns perched precariously on steep hillsides. Some say more needs to be done to curb the urban sprawl. Others say people have a right to put a roof over their heads. NPR's Martin Kaste reports.

NPR's Cokie Roberts joins host Bob Edwards for their weekly discussion of politics.

A new White House mandate would require that 4-year-olds leaving the Head Start program take a literacy test. The Bush administration wants to make sure the program -- created to help increase the school readiness of children in low-income families -- is preparing children to read. NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports.

A German shop owner fights off a knife-wielding robber with a six-pack of beer.

The last civil war widow on the union side has died.

Pat Dowell reports on the new movie, City of God. It was filmed in the poorest slums of Brazil -- the favelas -- and used street children as its actors. The movie is giving the kids new visibility among Brazil's upper classes, and its makers began acting and filmmaking lessons in the favelas that are continuing past the film's completion.

Boston drivers celebrate the opening of a major section of a 3.5-mile tunnel that connects major highways in the congested downtown, shaving time off many commutes. The "Big Dig" took a dozen years to construct at a cost of $6.5 billion. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Rich Kirkland of Metro Network Shadow Broadcasting in Boston.

Violinist Gidon Kremer of the orchestra Kremerata Baltica talks with Robert Siegel about the orchestra's new CD, Happy Birthday. The disc features many variations on the song, "Happy Birthday."

At a Louisiana air force base, a hearing continues for two American military pilots who mistakenly bombed Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan last April, killing four and wounding eight others. The outcome of the hearing will determine whether the two flyers are court-martialed. Derek Stoffel reports.

Reports have been circulating that Saudi Arabia and Turkey are working to convince Saddam Hussein to step down from power voluntarily before the U.S. military forces him to do so. NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says comments on the matter from high-ranking Bush administration officials suggests something might be afoot.

NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Sherwin B. Nuland about his new book Lost in America: A Journey with My Father. It is the story of growing up in the shadow of an immigrant father who cannot make the America dream come true. Nuland describes the relationship between him and his father and the impact that relationship had on Nuland's later years. The book is published by Knopf.

In Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, a group of American fly fishermen and Russian scientists work to protect one of the world's last remaining strongholds of wild salmon, steelhead and trout. NPR's Elizabeth Arnold reports.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell urges other nations to face up to Saddam Hussein, saying the world "must not shrink" from its responsibility to disarm the Iraqi leader's regime. Hear NPR News.

In Britain, where a gallon of diesel fuel can cost $5, some people are experimenting with what they say are cheaper, cleaner-burning fuels -- including cooking oil. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with John Nicholson, a director of the Bio-Power (UK) Network, an organization that researches alternative fuels.

More than 100 British police raid a London mosque early Monday in connection with their investigation into the recent discovery of the deadly poison ricin. Seven are arrested in the raid, the largest of its kind in Britain since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. NPR's Guy Raz reports.

In Los Angeles, a restaurant chain with high overall health ratings is being sued by consumers for minor violations. A nail salon is being sued for the common practice of using the same nail polish bottle for multiple clients. These are just two of a long list of consumer lawsuits being filed against small businesses in California. Now the state is considering charging those doing the suing with trying to shake down the businesses. NPR's Ina Jaffe reports.

Four fathers of autistic sons, unhappy with the answers they were getting about the illness from doctors, establish a new type of autism research center in California. NPR's Jon Hamilton reports.

Commentator Daniel Pinkwater remembers Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, and Yukon King, Preston's trusty malamute. And he reflects on his own dog companions.