March 11, 1996

    All Things Considered
    (entire program)



    • Ted Clark reports that the U.S. has confirmed it is sending a second aircraft carrier to international waters near Taiwan. The move is to underline U.S. insistence that China and Taiwan resolve their differences peacefully, as required by longstanding agreements. (4:30)

    • Robert talks with China expert Harry Harding, dean of the Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University, about the relationship between China and Taiwan. Harding says that Taiwan already has de facto independence from China and that the most likely resolution of the current crisis will be a continuation of the status quo. (4:30)

    • Tom Gjelten reports from Sarajevo that some Serbs who live in the suburbs want to stay on after their neighborhoods are transferred to Bosnian government control. However, Serb thugs are threatening, intimidating and beating up those who are reluctant to leave. (5:00)

    • Trevor Rowe reports on the latest standoff between U.N. inspectors and Iraqi officials. For the second time in four days, Iraqis have blocked U.N. officials from checking Iraq's compliance with orders banning weapons of mass destruction. (3:00)

    • Linda talks with South African journalist Stephanie Bothma about the opening today of the murder trial of South Africa's former defense minister and several other former senior military officials. Magnus Malan and the other defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge that they orchestrated a 1987 massacre of apartheid opponents. The trial has caused a sensation in South Africa; Malan is the highest-ranking former apartheid official to be put on trial. (4:30)

    • Elizabeth Arnold reports on the campaign of Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole as he tries to tighten his grip on the Republican presidential nomination with a strong showing in tomorrow's Super Tuesday primaries. Voters will go to the polls tomorrow in Texas, Florida and five other states, where the largest number of delegate so far -- 362 -- will be awarded to the candidates. Dole has a strong lead in public opinion polls against his two primary challengers, Steve Forbes and Pat Buchanan. (9:00)

    • Daniel Schorr says that foreign policy, once thought to be less imporant than domestic policy during a presidential election season, is fast becoming an issue with the recent crises in Cuba, Israel and Northern Ireland. (3:00)

    • Claudio Sanchez reports on how the issue of education has evolved since the last presidential campaign. Four years after George Bush and Bill Clinton vied for the right to be the "education president," the Republicans competing for their party's nomination have fought strongly against the idea that Washington should have any role in education. When Bob Dole, Steve Forbes and Pat Buchanan do bring up educational issues in their campaigns, America's schools often appear as an example of a larger moral decline these candidates say they will reverse if they get to the White House. (8:00)

    • A court in Little Rock has been hearing opening statements today in a case in which President Clinton is expected to testify. A special prosecutor is making a fraud case against the president's former business partners James and Susan McDougal and Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker. Jon Greenberg reports from Little Rock that one prosecution witness says then-Governor Clinton pressured him to make a government-guaranteed loan to Mrs. McDougal. Mr. Clinton denies the allegation. (2:30)