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An index of the day's stories: RETURN TO SPACE -- NPR's Dan Charles reports on NASA's announcement today that it will again rocket 76-year-old John Glenn into space. Senator Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth, 36 years ago. He'll fly aboard the space shuttle later this year. NASA also is sending Idaho schoolteacher Barbara Morgan into astronaut training. She was the backup astronaut for teacher Christa McAuliffe, who died when the shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986. (4:00) BAGHDAD -- Jackie speaks with NPR's Eric Weiner in Baghdad. Former U.S. Marine Scott Ritter and his inspection team left the country today. For two straight days Iraqis prevented the team from doing its work...and the U.N. finally decided to pull them out early. Iraq has accused Ritter of being a spy, and complains that there are too many U.S. and British members on his team. Although Ritter says he'll be back, the Iraqis are claiming victory. (4:00) GINGRICH ON TOUR -- House Speaker Newt Gingrich is touring the country, raising money for Republican congressional candidates, and keeping alive speculation that he might want to make a run for the White House. NPR's Brian Naylor reports that Gingrich has been a highly successful fundraiser, although polls say he is not very popular among American voters in general. (7:15) WELFARE PARTY BANNED -- In Turkey, the Constitutional Court has outlawed the Islamist Welfare Party. Turkey's secular constitution bans parties based on ethnicity, religion or Communism. In the election two years ago, the Welfare Party won 21-percent of the votes and was the largest party in the parliament. Party leaders say they will appeal the ruling to the European Human Rights Commission. Chris Morris reports. (3:00) CHIAPAS PARAMILITARIES -- NPR's Phillip Davis reports on the pro-government paramilitary groups which have been operating for some time in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. One of these groups is suspected of carrying out the Christmas week massacre of forty-five people. The paramilitaries are, by and large, local residents who support the government against the leftist Zapatista rebels. Many have received government money for farming projects and reportedly have used the funds to buy weapons. (5:45) BIRTH OF A WHALE ---Jacki talks to marine biologist Nancy Black. She is with the Monterey Bay Whale Watch and yesterday she and a group of whale watchers witnessed the birth of a baby gray whale - an unusual occurrence. (3:15) TEXAS TOBACCO - Jacki talks with NPR's John Burnett about the delay in today's expected announcement of a settlement of the state of Texas' medicaid lawsuit against the tobacco industry. The state had sued eight tobacco companies and three industry trade groups to recoup over eight and a half billion dollars that the state had spent treating smoking related illnesses, dating back to 1986. The lawsuit claimed that industry officials lied to federal officials, committed fraud, illegally sold cigarettes to children and deceived the public about the dangers of smoking and its addictive nature. In its defense, the industry says they were selling a legal product and Texas benefitted from taxes on tobacco products. (4:00) PSYCHIATRIST PROFILE -- N-P-R's John McChensey profiles Dr. Sally Johnson, the psychiatrist charged with determining Theodore Kaczynski's competency to stand trial and represent himself against charges that he is the Unabomber. Dr. Johnson's sealed report is due to be submitted to the court today. (5:00) KUPRESKIC - The Bosnian Croat who last month was shot by NATO troops while resisting arrest, today entered a not-guilty plea to the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague. Vlatko Kupreskic is accused of taking part in a massacre of civilians in central Bosnia in 1993. Gillian Sharpe reports no trial date has been set yet. (2:00) OTHER NEWS - Robert recaps other stories we're following today. (:45) PALESTINIAN VIEW - Robert talks to Hasan Abdel Rahman, representative to the U-S for the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority. Rahman says that the Middle East peace process is in a coma and must be revived by the U-S. (6:00) ICEMAN COMETH - David Willie of the BBC reports that the five thousand year old Ice Man is being moved from Austria to a museum in Italy. The ancient relic is being moved under tight security due to threats from an underground Austrian group. (2:00) COMPUTER PRICES -- Steve Tripoli, of member station WBUR in Boston, reports that cheaper chips are making computers much less expensive. Hewlett-Packard recently unveiled a $799 model and other computer-makers quickly followed suit. Analysts expect the falling prices will lead to a big increase in the percentage of American households that own a computer. (4:45) THE MAGICIAN'S WIFE -- Alan Cheuse reviews a new novel from Brian Moore, which begins in 19th century France and moves to Algeria. Cheuse says Moore's fiction ranges far and wide across geographical and historical boundaries. (2:15) GOLDEN GLOBES -- NPR's Renee Montagne takes a peek behind the curtains of the Golden Globe awards. While the honors have begun to compete with the Oscars in terms of notoriety and audience....not everyone is quite as familiar with the process or the people behind these awards. (5:30) HOLLY SOLOMON - Now in her sixties, art dealer and collector Holly Solomon has spent a lifetime promoting and selling some of this century's best artists. Warhol, Cristo, Wegman, Mapplethorp and many others were shown by Solomon before their work was famous. Jacki Lyden visited her in New York and learned about the eye and attitude of the woman who helped set the trends in modern art in the late 20th century. (8:00) |
