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the appearance of Arab unity on continuing the peace process is looking increasingly threadbare...

NPR's Ted Clark reports that the US is frantically trying to get both Palestinians and Israelis to stop the violence that has seemingly shattered the peace process. Secretary of State Warren Christopher held a series of non-stop talks with Arab and Israeli Foreign Ministers at the United Nations. Despite that, the US was coming under criticism for allowing the peace process it had brokered drift after the election of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last May.

NPR's Eric Weiner reports from Jerusalem that after nearly disappearing as a factor in Israeli politics because of the three-year old Middle East peace process, the Peace Now movement is beginning to stir and flex its muscles again in the wake of the systematic erosion in the peace process since last May's election of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Demonstrations are being organized and the Israeli left is joining in to keep Israel from straying from the negotiating table. (4:30

Linda has the latest information available on the clash between Israelis and Palestinians that was sparked when an archaeological tunnel was opened near Islamic holy sites. Violence following that action by the Netanyahu government in Israel has claimed more than fifty lives...and has raised concern worldwide that the Middle East Peace Process may be in danger of collapse.

NPR's Eric Weiner reports that even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Washington today for U.S.-mediated peace talks with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Israel tightened its hold on the occupied territories of the West Bank, sending new tanks and troops to the area and drastically curtailing travel. Tensions remained high, though there were none of the violent demonstrations that all but killed off the Middle East peace process last week.

NPR's Linda Gradstein reports from Jerusalem on the worst flareup of civil violence between Palestinians and Israelis since the intifada of the 1980s. That violence led to the start of the peace process that has now stalled in the wake of the election of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Today's riots, which ended with armed Palestinian policemen exchanging gunfire with Israeli army troops for the first time ever, came in the wake of Netanyahu's government opening a controversial tunnel next to Islamic holy places in Jerusalem.

Robert talks with NPR's Martha Raddatz about the future of U.S. involvement in Bosnia, and the possible expansion of the role of the U.S. military in tracking down war criminals in that area. Balkan leaders have agreed to hold elections in Bosnia by September 14th, but there are no guarantees that the guidelines established in the Dayton Peace Accords will have any effect on the process.

NPR's Linda Gradstein reports on dwindling support for Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. For nearly thirty years, Arafat was the undisputed leader of the Palestinian people, and when he signed the peace deal with Israel that gave Palestinians control over parts of the West Bank and Gaza, many thought their lives would improve. They're still waiting. A four-month-old Israeli closure of the West Bank and Gaza has severely curtailed economic activity there. Arafat's security forces have cracked down hard on opposition groups and have limited freedom of expression. And the new Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu (n'tahn-YAH-hoo) will soon take office, a man whom many Palestinians fear will stop the peace process cold. These events have left many wondering if Arafat is still the man to lead them, or if his day may have come and gone.

NPR's Jim Zarroli reports the Clinton Administration has unveiled a proposal to make pensions more available and secure for American workers. The initiative, a mix of old and new ideas for reforming pension regulations, would expand the availablity of IRA savings plans, make four-oh- one retirement plans more portable and simplify the process of establishing a 401K plan.

NPR's Brooke Gladstone reports on CBS' announcment of plans to offer free television time to the presidential candidates just before the November elections. NBC and ABC reportedly are discussing the idea. Fox and PBS earlier announced plans to give air time to major presidential candidates. A coalition of media bigwigs led by former Washington Post political reporter Paul Taylor has been pushing the networks to provide the access as a way to help reinvigorate the democratic process.

NPR's John Burnett reports that prison administrators are looking favorably on the efforts of prison ministries to convert inmates. As prison populations are rising, officials are looking for ways to cut ricidivism rates and cut down on tension in prison. There is now some research that supports the notion that finding religion aids in the rehablitation process.

-- critics charge the agency with being too bureaucratic; the FDA says proposed reforms go too far.

NPR's Tom Gjelten reports from Bosnia that international authorities in Bosnia today warned the Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Croats to release all their prisoners of war by tonight or face economic sanctions. The Muslim-led Bosnian government yesterday released 109 Serb prisoners. But none of the sides is on schedule. Under the terms of the Bosnian peace agreement, all prisoners were to have been freed last January. Gjelten reports that the delayed prisoner release is just one of several snags in the Bosnian peace process.

Linda talks with NPR's Jennifer Ludden in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. Ludden was with a group of reporters who met with militia leader Charles Taylor. He is one of the most powerful figures in a war which erupted anew ten days ago, leaving the west African nation's peace process in tatters. Fighting and widespread looting have left Monrovia in ruins, and most relief organizations have left the country.

Noah Adams speaks with Andrea Stillman, a former assitant to photographer Ansel Adams. The rights to his works in their digital form have been purchased by a Micrsoft sudsidiary. Ms. Stillman believes Mr. Adams would be pleased. He embraced technology and while he never felt the photographic printing process could be replaced, he would have appreciated, in Ms. Stillman's opinion, digital technology as a creative tool.

Ray talks with Patrick Murphy about a bill that will speed up the process of moving children from foster care to adoption while limiting some parental rights. The bill passed in the House yesterday, and a similar bill is pending in the Senate. Murphy is the Public Guardian for Cook County, IL and is author of the forthcoming Wasted: the Failure of Child Welfare and the Plight of America (Ivan R. Dee Publishers).

NPR's Ted Clark talks with Linda about the outcome of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's talks at the White House today with President Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. The key issue was how to keep up momentum in the peace process and the possibilities of bringing Syria back to the negotiating table.

Daniel talks with Mort Rosenblum, author of the new book "Olives". Rosenblum recounts how he bought an olive orchard in southern France and began making olive oil as farmers in that region have been doing for hundreds of years. Rosenblum says that much of the olive farmer's way of life remains unchanged and that even the method of pressing the olives into oil is the same process that's been used for more than two thousand years.

NPR's Eric Weiner reports that the Israeli cabinet has taken new measures to encourage the growth of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories in the wake of an drive by shooting of a settler family outside of Ramallah. The move is the latest of many by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to alter, if not reverse, the peace process begun by his predecessors. Palestinians consider any growth of Jewish settlements in their occupied lands as attempts to make make their aspirations for an independent Palestinian state...the eventual existence of which was implied in the Oslo accords...impossible.

After careful study of preserved specimens and observing individual birds in the wild, Dr. Bob Kennedy of the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and Science has identified a new species of bird. Lina's (LEE-nuhz) sunbird is a brightly colored bird that lives in an isolated region on the Phillipine island of Mindanao (MIN-duh-now). Noah talks with Dr. Kennedy about his expeditions to the Phillipines, and the process of capturing and preparing specimens.

The Internal Revenue Service says its four-billion-dollar effort to modernize its computer systems has been a failure, and it will have to start from scratch. The agency also wants to privatize the processing of some tax returns. NPR's Phillip Davis reports.

by Digital Equipment Corporation in December. The jury awarded six-million dollars to plaintiffs who said their use of Digital keyboards left them disabled. The court found that Digital should have warned users about the potential of injury. The appeal process is being watched closely by the computer industry.

Robert speaks with Yaron Ezrahi (yah-ROHN ez-RAH-hi), professor of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, about his new book "Rubber Bullets: Power and Conscience in Modern Israel." (Farrar Strauss Giroux) Ezrahi discusses his thesis that Israel is moving into a new phase... toward individualism and away from government paternalism. He says this shift, which began to emerge in the 80s, has been key in bringing about the current peace process.

staffers make up the permanent bureaucracy of the legislative process and he talks with senior committee staffers about their role.

Under the welfare reform act, benefits for thousands of legal immigrants will be cut off if they don't become US citizens by the end of August. But many are afraid they won't be able to take their oaths in time, because the Immigration and Naturalization Service is experiencing a 9 month backlog in processing applications for citizenship. NPR's Mandalit DelBarco reports.