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Today at noon across the country, church bells were rung to mark a day of prayer for the U.S. and other NATO peacekeepers in Bosnia, and for those they protect. The event was called for by Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders nationwide.

Fifty years ago from tomorrow, the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial got underway in Nuremberg Germany. 24 Nazi leaders, officials and industrialists were charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. On the second day of the trial, Robert Jackson, chief US prosecutor delivered his opening statement that lasted the better part of a day. Here's an excerpt.

Noah Adams talks to Dot Jackson, who lives by herself near the border between North Carolina and South Carolina. She says that she hasn't had power for two days because of the weather, but she isn't too cold because she has a wood stove. She says that whenever she goes to get wood, all the birds hiding from the cold in her woodpile fly out.

Noah Adams talks to author Mary Cable about the 1888 storm that closed down the East Coast and taught the nation about the vulnerability of telegraph wires and trains to severe weather. The storm led to the building of New York City subways and the concept of buried cables.

Karen Grigsby Bates says the financial success of "Waiting To Exhale" should act as a wake up call to studio executives. She says black women make up an important demographic group, with which spends money big time! And she calls on Hollywood to make more movies about middle class blacks.

Critic Bob Mondello reviews the film "Restoration," which stars Robert Downey, Jr.

Bob Mondello reviews the new film starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn, which he says is one of the best, though not one of the most pleasant, films of last year. Sarandon plays a nun who serves a spiritual adviser to a man who faces execution for murder.

Daniel talks with Jodi Cobb, a National Geographic Photographer, about her new book 'Geisha'. Cobb's book provides a rare glimpse behind the scenes in the Geisha houses where she shows us the women not only in their usual ritual costumes, but also with their hair down, after their clients have gone home. Cobb says that contrary to popular belief in the west, Geisha's do not provide sex for their clients. Rather the Geisha's role is more to preserve the high arts of traditional Japan.

A second round of peace talks between Israeli and Syrian negotiators ended today at a secluded plantation outside Washington. NPR's Ted Clark reports that the talks have set the stage for Secretary of State Warren Christopher's visit to the Middle East next week.

Linda talks with Geoffrey E. Garten, former Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade and now Dean of Yale's School of Management, about Ryutaro Hashimoto (RI-OO-TA-ROH HA-SHI-MO-TO), who's expected to be Japan's next Prime Minister.

NPR's Trevor Rowe reports on developments at the United Nations today, which hosted the largest-ever gathering of world leaders for the 50th anniversary session of the UN General Assembly. President Clinton made the opening address. Boris Yeltsin of Russia also spoke.

Film critic Bob Mondello takes a look at a new Italian movie by the same director who made "Stolen Children". In this film, director Gianni Amelio explores the dire effects of the coming of capitalism to Albania.

In the runup to Saturday's Palestinian elections, NPR's Eric Weiner profiles the Islamic group, Hamas. Hamas has decided not to participate in the elections, opening the way for further tensions with Yasser Arafat.

Producer Ginna Allison sends us this story of one of the most famous of American folk songs, "John Henry", and of the man and community behind it. John Henry was a black railroad worker who's said to have died after outperforming a mechanized railroad spike driver back in the 19th century. He is said to have come from Talcott (pronounced: TALL-cut), a small town in West Virginia. Allison brings us the voices of Talcott's people...and the music of Doc Watson and John Cephas...which echo the exploits of John Henry, and reveal how the racially diverse community views the song, the town's history, and each other.

Jacki talks with Aziz Abu-Hammad of the Middle East Human Rights Watch about the potential for political instability in Saudi Arabia. The bombing of an American run military training facility a few weeks ago has raised eyebrows and created a sense that opposition to the Royal family in Saudi Arabia may be growing.

NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports on a new book that contains information for parents who are looking for quality alternative schools for their children.

NPR's Ted Clark reports that yesterday's bombing reveals undercurrents of anti-Americanism in Saudi Arabia and resentment toward the government there. Though the opposition is fuelled by militant Islam to some degree, analysts say that Saudi Arabia remains stable, though the opposition will have to be managed carefully if the country is to remain stable.

- NPR's Phillip Davis reports from London that a bomb has exploded in Manchester, England today (Saturday) injuring about 200 people. No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing, but British Prime Minister John Major blames the Irish Repubican Army.

- Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu retired today as Archbishop of the Anglican Church in South Africa. For the record, we play an excerpt from a sermon Tutu gave at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., in December, 1984.

NPR's Peter Overby reports that a ruling today by the Supreme Court appeared to open the way for a whole new category of campaign spending by political parties on congressional campaigns. The court said the Federal Election Commission was wrong when it cited the Colorado Republican Party for exceeding federal spending limits after it spent $15,000 on radio ads in 1986 against a Democratic Senate candidate. Such expenditures, as long as they are made independently of a particular candidate's campaign, should not be limited, the court said.