February 24, 1998 All Things Considered (entire program) Requires the RealAudio Player

An index of the day's stories:

Victory for Iraq? -- While the Clinton administration describes the Iraq agreement as a tentative victory for the United Nations and for U.S. tactics, many other analysts think Iraq has emerged stronger from the inspection crisis than when it began four months ago. NPR's Ted Clark reports. (5:00)

Mossad Resignation -- NPR's Linda Gradstein reports that the head of Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency, resigned in the aftermath of a scandal caused by an agent's failed assassination attempt against a suspected Palestinian terrorist in Jordan. (2:00)

Florida Storms -- NPR's Adam Hochberg reports from Osceola County, Florida, which took the biggest hit from tornadoes that tore through central Florida Sunday night. 37 people were killed - 22 of them in Osceola County - and more than 250 were injured by the storms. Officials are still looking for at least 9 people who are unaccounted for. Today, many of the survivors were allowed to return to their homes for the first time. (4:00)

Organ Trade -- NPR's Melissa Block reports on the arrest of two Chinese nationals in New York City on federal charges that they conspired to traffic in human organs taken from the bodies of executed Chinese prisoners. (4:00)

The Millers -- All Things Considered host Noah visits in our performance studio with Buddy and Julie Miller. They are country singers and songwriters, and though married, they each maintain separate careers. This report is unavailable due to copyright issues.

Campaign Finance -- In the Senate today, supporters of campaign finance reform narrowly defeated a measure that would have effectively killed the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports. (4:30)

Northern Ireland -- All Things Considered host Noah Adams talks with Edith Connelly, a 73-year-old pensioner from Portadown, Northern Ireland. They discuss yesterday morning's car bombing in Portadown, which is a Protestant town some 30 miles south of Belfast. (3:00)

Starr and Blumenthal -- NPR's Mara Liasson reports that the battle between the White House and independent counsel Kenneth Starr has escalated with new subpoenas issued for White House aide Sidney Blumenthal and investigator Terry Lenzner. (4:30)

Greenspan Reports -- NPR's John Ydstie reports that Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan delivered his semi-annual economic forecast to Congress today. (3:30)

Oil Prices -- Robert talks with Ann-Louise Hittle, the director of World Oil Studies at Cambridge Energy Research Associates in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They discuss the drop in the price of crude oil, why the occurring, and how this drop could affect the U.S. economy. (4:00)

Kofi Annan -- NPR plays excerpts from U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's news conference today at the United Nations. (3:00)

Turkey -- NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from Istanbul, Turkey, that the Turks are greatly relieved following the agreement between the U.N. and Iraq over arms inspections. (4:30)

American Students Lag in Math, Science -- NPR's Tovia Smith reports on the largest-ever test of math and science achievement in 12th graders from around the world. The results show that even America's best high school science and math students are doing much worse than their counterparts overseas. (4:30)

Racine Schools -- All of the public schools in Racine, Wisconsin are closed. The system shut down last week after teachers staged a series of "sick-outs." They're protesting a state law that's meant to wean school systems from property tax funding. But teachers are upset because it gives the district the right to impose a contract on their union in order to keep costs down. Marge Pitroff of member station WUWM reports. (4:00)

Teamsters Election -- Robert talks with NPR's Don Gonyea about developments in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters presidential election, which has been postponed three times. (3:15)

Pharmaceutical Merger Off -- NPR's Elaine Korry reports that Glaxo-Wellcome and Smith-Kline/Beecham have called off plans to merge the two pharmaceutical giants. Smith-Kline officials said negotiations broke down over who would fill key executive positions in the merged company. (2:00)

Old Dog Won't Retire -- Commentator Donald McCaig's sheepdog Harry is getting old - but still wants to be outside doing sheepdog work. This presents some danger to his health. (5:00)