March 23, 1998 All Things Considered (entire program) Requires the RealAudio Player

An index of the day's stories:

Yeltsin Sacks Government -- NPR's Andy Bowers reports on President Boris Yeltsin's surprise announcement dismissing his entire government, including Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. (5:00)

Daniel Schorr Commentary -- NPR senior news analyst Daniel Schorr says that Russian President Boris Yeltsin's firing of his cabinet seems less like a shift toward democratization and more like a return to Russia's authoritarian past. (2:30)

'Star Wars' Anniversary -- All Things Considered host Noah Adams talks with John Pike, the director of space policy at the Federation of American Scientists. Pike talks about the "Star Wars" speech President Reagan made 15 years ago today. (4:30)

Rwandan Genocide -- NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from Paris on a parliamentary debate on what the French government knew about -- and could have done to prevent -- the 1994 Rwandan genocide which left more than 500,000 people dead. (4:00)

Review: Propellerheads -- Music reviewer Charles de Ledesma takes a listen to a debut CD from the Propellerheads, a band in Britain that is climbing the charts with their new single, "History Repeating". (3:30)

Mr. Garfield Goes to Hollywood -- Roving correspondent Bob Garfield marks Oscar night by telling about his cruscade to save Hollywood's soul by writing "the next ‘Casablanca’." Garfield is convinced his movie idea is a sure-fire hit. So convinced, in fact, that he’s already trying to pick a seat at next year’s Oscar ceremony.

Clinton in Africa -- NPR's Charlayne Hunter-Gault reports from Accra, Ghana, on the first day of President Clinton's 11-day, six-nation tour of Africa. Speaking shortly after arriving in the Ghanaian capital, Clinton heralded a new African Renaissance and called for increased trade between the United States and African nations. (4:30)

United States, Nigeria and Kenya -- Linda talks with Chester Crocker, a professor of diplomacy at Georgetown University. He was also an Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs during the Reagan Administration. They discuss the current U-S policy towards Nigeria and Kenya -- which are two countries that President Clinton will not be visiting on his current trip to Africa. (4:00)

Oil Production -- NPR's John Ydstie reports world oil prices increased sharply today, after an agreement by oil exporting nations to cut production. (3:30)

Gay Scouts -- All Things Considered host Linda Wertheimer talks with Irwin Chemerinsky, a professor of law at the University of Southern California, about a California state Supreme Court ruling today stating that the Boy Scouts are not covered by the state’s civil rights laws and can exclude gays, agnostics and atheists. The court said the Scouts are not a business are therefore free, like any private organization, to set their own membership policies.

Spring Training I -- Noah talks with Gordon Olsen, a Detroit Tigers fan, Grand Rapids city historian, and co-author of a forthcoming book about baseball's Spring Training. Olsen says that Spring Training didn't come to Florida -- now the acknowledged Mecca of Spring Training -- until the 1920's. Before that time, traning camp was generally held in Texas and Georgia, and during World War II, training was held close to teams' home cities, in case players were called up to go to war. Part two of this series will be on tomorrow's All Things Considered. (3:45)

Americans Released -- Noah talks with Teresa Crawford, an American peace activist who had been jailed in Kosovo. Six activists were detained for not registering their presence with the police; all have now been released and deported to Skopje, Macedonia. The group arrived on March 10th and had been instructing ethnic Albanian activists on methods of non-violent conflict resolution. (4:00)

Aerospace Merger -- NPR's Kathleen Schalch reports that the Justice Department will oppose the proposed merger of defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. The Justice Department said it would file a suit to block the $8.3 billion deal unless the companies agree to additional divestitures. The companies say there are ready to fight for the deal in court. (3:00)

Natural Foods -- NPR's Chris Arnold reports on the annual "Natural Products Expo," held in Anaheim, California this year. Entrepreneurs from around the country offered a surprising array of products, from soy-milk based whipped cream to candles made without any animal fats. (5:30)

Barnes Foundation -- A chapter has come to a close at the Barnes Foundation in Pennsylvania, which administers a world-renowned collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings. Richard Glanton has been removed from his post as president of the foundation’s board. As Peter Clowney of member station WHYY reports for All Things Considered, Glanton infuriated many in the museum community by going to court to break the will of collection founder Dr. Albert Barnes. (7:15)