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

An index of the day's stories:

China Preview -- NPR's Ted Clark reports that as President Clinton sets out on the first U.S. presidential visit to China since the Tiananmen Square massacre, he hopes to convince his hosts of the long term benefit of U.S.-China cooperation. At the same time, the President will try to balance competing interests at home which are seeking to define or restrict such cooperation. With an almost imperial entourage of 1,000 people, President Clinton will spend nine days trying to charm and influence China's leadership and population. (4:30)

Opera Stalled -- The head of a U.S. music festival lobbied with Chinese officials to lift a travel ban and permit an opera troupe to perform in New York. The director of New York City's Lincoln Center Festival '98 went to Shanghai after the Shanghai's Ministry of Culture blocked plans to perform The Peony Pavilion, a 400 year-old love story, at the festival. An elaborate 20-hour production of the opera is scheduled to take place over six evenings starting July 7. All Things Considered host Linda Wertheimer talks with Nathan Leventhal, the president of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, about the controversy and the ongoing negotiations to bring the opera to the United States. (4:30)

Microsoft Win -- NPR's John McChesney reports that Microsoft won a victory in its ongoing legal battle with the Justice Department. A federal appeals court said today that Microsoft didn't just combine its internet browser with its operating system, it actually integrated the two pieces of software. The Justice Department had won an injunction against Microsoft based on its argument that the browser was a separate product. Today's ruling from the appeals court lifts that injunction. It does not directly affect a separate government case against the software maker. (3:00)

AIDS Numbers -- NPR's Joe Neel reports on the latest AIDS statistics, released today by the United Nations AIDS program. It's the first country-by-country analysis of who has AIDS -- who is infected with HIV -- and what kinds of prevention programs are working. Between 1994 and 1997, the rate of new HIV infections stabilized or dropped in 44 countries worldwide -- but in many countries in Africa, the death rate continues to grow exponentially. (4:00)

McKinley Rescue -- All Things Considered host Noah Adams talks with J.D. Swed, the South District Ranger for Denali National Park. They discuss the rescue of British military personnel who were climbing Mt. Denali -- also known as Mt. McKinley -- in Alaska. A high-altitude helicpter picked up two of the climbers at 19,000 feet up the mountain. Swed was the incident commander for the rescue operation. They talk about the logistics of such a rescue. (5:15)

Birds & Dinosaurs -- New fossil finds in China lend more weight to the hot debate over the link between birds and dinosaurs. There is speculation that birds evolved directly from dinosaurs. NPR's Richard Harris reports that the latest discovery includes a strikingly dinosaur-like fossil with what appear to be the imprints of feathers. While not likely to convince die-hard ornithologists who question the link, the new evidence gives the pro-dinosaur-to-bird camp powerful new ammunition. (4:00)

How Stress Shapes the Brain -- Medical technologies that show a picture of the living brain have revealed that stress shapes the human mind. Stress hormones, activated by environmental factors influence both brain development and functioning. And, since everything from social forces to everyday personal experience to trauma and despair alter the brain's chemistry and physical makeup, some psychotherapists now say treatment should teach patients how to control and improve the circumstances of their lives -- something talk therapy can do and pills cannot. Frank Browning reports. (8:45)

GM Workers Laid Off -- Vincent Duffy of member station WKSU talks with employees of GM's largest factory, located in Lordstown, Ohio, about the strike that put them temporarily out of work when parts ran out. While these workers didn't strike, many support the Flint workers' action. But they may not be eligible for unemployment benefits, and are eager to get back to work. (4:00)

U.S.-Russia-Iran -- NPR's Mike Shuster reports that President Clinton will veto the new Iran Missile Proliferation Sanctions Act, which would require U.S. sanctions against Russian companies that have helped Iran acquire ballistic missiles. The President says the U.S. is making progress on this score and sanctions would hurt that process, not help. But experts believe the Russians are not serious about non-proliferation. The suspicion is that the Russians would take the issue more seriously if they were to face U.S. sanctions. The votes are there, in both houses of Congress, to override the veto. (4:15)

Iraq Nerve Gas -- The Pentagon confirms that U.N. weapons inspectors found traces of deadly nerve gas on Iraqi missiles during a recent routine inspection. Iraq denies it has made nerve gas warheads. President Clinton said today the discovery vindicated his insistence that the inspections continue. He said the U.S. will try to keep both the inspections and economic sanctions against Iraq in place. The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to consider easing the sanctions on Thursday. NPR's Martha Raddatz reports. (3:30)

Welfare Reform -- Two reports issued today by the Department of Health and Human Services indicate that the approach of getting welfare recipients into jobs first, versus training first, then looking for jobs seems to be having some success in getting people off of welfare. HHS surveyed welfare programs in five states, Oregon, Indiana, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and Virginia. NPR's Ina Jaffe reports. (3:45)

I Was A Pirate In Hook -- Actor and commentator Nick Ullett tells about his experience in the Steven Spielberg movie "Hook." He landed a one-day gig playing a pirate, but the job ended up lasting more than a month. In the end -- after all the time and all the money he is paid -- when the movie came out -- his scene was extremely abbreviated, and he was barely even visible on screen. (3:30)

Russia Economy -- The BBC's Andrew Harding reports from Moscow that Russian President Boris Yeltsin has described the economic situation in his country as "alarming." He said that radical steps must be taken to bring the financial crisis under control, telling Parliament that it must approve structural reforms and big spending cuts to strengthen the ruble. Russian financial markets are, as a result, in turmoil. (1:45)

Analysis -- Linda talks with Marshall Goldman, associate director of the Davis Center for Russian Studies at Harvard University. They discuss Russia's attempts to prevent economic collapse and to solicit loans from the International Monetary Fund. He says that one of the trickiest problems involves collecting taxes from businesses that are currently using the barter system to stay afloat. Goldman is currently attending the World Economic Forum on Eastern and Central Europe in Salzburg, Austria. (5:00)

Dagestan -- NPR's Anne Garrels reports that while Russia may have withdrawn its troops from the breakaway republic of Chechnya, the Northern Caucasus remains an extremely unstable region. East of Chechnya lies Dagestan, a republic in the Russian Federation that has been wracked by poverty, crime, and ethnic unrest. Dagestanis find themselves pressured by an unsympathetic Russian federal government, feuding local warlords and Islamic fundamentalists. (7:00)

Texas Heat -- NPR's John Burnett reports the American South is sweltering under an early summer heat wave. Texas seems to be getting the worst of it -- temperatures throughout the state have hovered around 100 degrees for most of the last 2 weeks. Forecasters are calling for more temperatures in the 100's for the next several days. The heat and lack of rain are draining water supplies, damaging crops and helping fan an outbreak of wildfires. (3:30)

Boat Launched -- Noah talks with Tom Jackson, an editor with Wooden Boat magazine about today's launching of the W76, a brand new wooden boat class. The boat, christened Wild Horses, was launched today in Brooklin, Maine, in front of hundreds of spectators. It was the last boat built by Joel White, an innovator in wooden boat design who died last December. (3:30)