August 18, 1998 All Things Considered (entire program) Requires the RealAudio Player

An index of the day's stories:

Women React to Clinton Admission -- NPR's Melissa Block revisits a group of 50-something-year-old women in the affluent suburb of Short Hills, New Jersey. Nearly all voted for Bill Clinton, and for some time have felt deeply betrayed by his conduct. This conversation focuses on their responses to Hillary Rodham Clinton. One woman resents that the First Lady - whom she considered full of vision and promise -- is reduced to being "humiliated." Another says she's angry with the First Lady for apparently condoning her husband's behavior. And they say while in some sense they accept the President's conduct as typically male, Hillary Clinton's conduct -- stoicism and seeming lack of feeling -- is baffling and upsetting to them. (5:30)

Foreign Media Reaction -- A sampling of international news headlines to gauge the weight given to President Clinton's grand jury testimony and address to the nation yesterday. (1:45)

Estrogen and Heart Disease -- A new study released today shows that hormone replacement therapy does not lower the risk of heart problems for women who already have heart disease. Observational studies have suggested that hormone replacement therapy protects against heart problems, but this is the first large study which concludes the opposite. (5:15)

'She Felt It' -- Elissa Ely has another profile of one of her patients, this time an old woman who came in claiming to have worked with Matahama Ghandi in India. (2:45)

Japan Economy -- In the second of a series, NPR's John Ydstie reports that the major problem behind Japan's current economic recession is the country's banking system. It's high-risk tactics and generally shoddy practices could not help but eventually lead to problems. Behind the banking system is the psychology of "the bubble," a belief that economic expansion would go on and on. (8:30)

Savings and Load Crisis -- All Things Considered host Linda Wertheimer talks with Robert Litan, director of Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, about the similarities and differences between the Savings and Loan crisis in the United States and the current banking crisis in Japan. (4:00)

NYC Sidewalk Artists -- Three New York City artists who were arrested for selling their art in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art without a permit have had charges against them dropped. The judge in the case said their activity is protected by the First Amendment. Laura Sydell from member station WNYC reports.

NYC Water Tunnel -- NPR's Margot Adler reports on the opening of the first section of New York City's Water Tunnel Number Three; the largest public works project in America's history. It joins the city's massive, mystical system of tunnels, aqueducts and resevoirs that bring water to the city from more than a hundred miles away. (5:30)

Omagh Funerals -- NPR's Michael Goldfarb reports from Northern Ireland on the first of the funerals for the 28 victims of Saturday's car bombing in Omagh. Thirty-year old Avril Monaghan, who was pregnant with twins, and her 18-month old daughter Maura were buried in a churchyard in the village of Augher. A splinter group calling itself "The Real IRA" has claimed responsibility for the attack. (4:00)

IRA Dissident Groups -- All Things Considered host Noah Adams talks with Kevin Toolis, author of "Rebel Hearts: A Study of the IRA" (St. Martin's Press, 1997), about splinter groups within the Irish Republican Army. A breakaway group from the IRA called "The Real IRA," has claimed responsibility for the bombing Saturday in Omagh. Toolis says that The Real IRA formed in October around the former quartermaster for the IRA, and because of his connections, The Real IRA has access to many of the weapons and explosives stockpiled by the IRA. (4:30)

Albright in Africa -- NPR's Michael Sullivan reports that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited the sites of the twin bombings in Kenya and Tanzania today. She paid tribute to the more than two hundred and fifty Africans and Americans killed in the blasts, which were directed at the U.S. embassies in the two countries. Albright reiterated U.S. determination to find those responsible for the attacks, and promised American financial aid for rebuilding and compensation for families of the African victims. (3:30)

Starr Investigation -- NPR's Chitra Ragavan reports that despite President Clinton's acknowledgment yesterday that he had a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky, independent counsel Kenneth Starr is proceeding with his investigation. Although President Clinton said he was "legally accurate" when he testified in the Paula Jones sexual harrassment lawsuit, some legal experts say that's still a matter of dispute. He also faces allegations of obstruction of justice. (4:30)

National React -- NPR's Cheryl Corley reports that pollsters are saying most Americans are satisfied with President Clinton's statement and want the matter to be dropped. But there is a decrease in the president's personal approval rating. (3:30)

Hattiesburg Trial -- NPR's Debbie Elliott reports from Hattiesburg, Mississippi that testimony began today in the trial of a former Ku Klux Klan leader for the murder of civil rights leader Vernon Dahmer. This is the fifth time Sam Bowers has been tried for the 1966 firebombing of Dahmer's home and grocery store. Four previous trials ended in hung juries. In their opening statements, prosecutors argued Bowers ordered the attack after Dahmer announced that blacks could pay their poll taxes at his grocery store. Bowers' lawyer said his client is innocent and that the trial is a "media-orchestrated prosecution." (3:00)

Russians on the Economy -- David McGuffin reports from Moscow that one day after the Russian government announced a de facto devaluation of the ruble, Russian citizens continued to line up at currency exchanges for dollars and deutschmarks. Others are rushing to make essential purchases before inflation pushes prices higher. While opposition politicians are calling for the resignation of President Yeltsin and the government, the President remains out of view. (4:00)

Russia Internet Snooping -- Eve Conant reports from Moscow on moves by the FSB -- the successor to the KGB -- to monitor internet communications. The intelligence agency wants internet service providers to install fiber optic cables linking the providers and the FSB. There has even been talk of having the service providers pay for the installation. Many users and providers are protesting this potential surveillance. (5:30)

World War II Photos -- Linda talks to photographer Constance Stuart Larrabee about her photographs of World War II. Larrabee was sent by the South African government to photograph South African soldiers in 1944, and she ended up photographing the winter of 1944 in Italy and the liberation of France by American troops. Her photographs of World War Two are currently on exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Later this month, the Chesapeake Bay Museum in St. Michaels, Maryland will open an exhibition of Larrabee's photographs of Tangier Island, Virginia; and in September the National Museum of African Art will show her photographs of South Africa. (7:30)