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Noah talks with Officer Richard Hardin of the Hillview Police Department in Hillview, Kentucky, where severe weather injured eight people and destroyed hundreds of homes outside Louisville. Officer Hardin was chased by a tornado yesterday, and tells about his experiences...and the damage left in the wake of the storms.

Noah talks with Mike Jendrzejczyk (jenn-DREEZ-sick), the Washington Director of Human Rights Watch-Asia. Chinese police have detained dissident Wang Donghai (WAHNG dong-HY) after he and six other activists petitioned the National People's Congress on May 27th, demanding the release of political prisoners. Mr. Jendrzejczyk believes that paranoia in the Chinese government toward the democracy movement has increased in recent months as economic reforms have triggered more unrest. This recent round of arrests comes one week before the anniversary of the military crackdown that ended pro- democracy protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 4th, 1989.

Beth Fertig of member station WNYC reports on New York city's experiment with 'workfare' - making welfare recipients work for their benefits. While perhaps a good idea for some, for others it forces them to choose between working at a dead-end minimum wage job or going to school to improve skills and employability.

More than 100 Mormons are recreating the covered wagon journey their ancestors took from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City in 1846. Noah talks to Linda Whitaker, who is making the trip with her four children and her husband.

NPR'S Eric Weiner profiles the new Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu (n'tahn-YAH-hoo). Though most Israelis call him by his nickname, Bibi (BEE-bee), few Israelis know much about the man who will lead them.

Commentator Mickey Edwards talks about the recent Supreme Court decision that allowed political parties to spend as much as they want to support their party's candidates. He thinks the decision was a good one, ultimately supporting the principles of free speech.

NPR's Eric Weiner visits the West Bank city of Hebron to gauge reaction there to yet another missed deadline for a withdrawal of most of the Israeli troops from the city, as called for under the Oslo Agreement. Israeli troops were to have withdrawn in March, but the government of outgoing Prime Minister Peres (PERR-es) postponed the withdrawal after suicide bombings in March. A second deadline came and went today, and tensions are rising in the city, with Israeli settlers calling for the redeployment to be postponed indefinitely. Palestinians are warning of another intifada if the troops don't leave soon.

This week marks marks National Dog Bite Prevention Week. Across the country, the U-S Postal Service and the Humane Society have teamed up to talk about the seriousness of dog bites and to teach dog owners how to prevent attacks. Today in Falls Church, Virginia, letter carriers talked about their experiences with dogs and dog bites.

Commentator Donna D'Amico Mayer (duh-MEE-koh MAY-ur) tells the story of her father, whom she describes as a cross between Lenny Bruce and Archie Bunker-- a man who was anything but politically correct. He was orphaned as a young child, but somehow managed to be an incredible father.

Beth Fertig of member station WNYC reports on budget cuts and their effect on City University of New York, once commonly called the poor man's Harvard. Big cuts and rising tuition have made it more difficult for the mostly working-class student body.

This year's Tony Awards will be presented this Sunday night. Bob Mondello takes a look at the many musicals that did not win Tony Awards over the years... many of them featured well-known stars like Carol Burnett and Robert Preston in mostly forgotten shows like "Fade Out, Fade In" and "Ben Franklin in Paris." (5:00) (IN S

Commentator Daniel Pinkwater talks about the success of his new weight loss program-- but explains that he hates thinking of his new healthy eating habits as a diet. He began losing weight he explains- for surgery.

As leaders of the seven major industrialized countries gather in Lyon, France for the annual G-7 economic summit, they'll have one eye cast on the problem of slow economic growth in Europe, especially in Germany...the country that has long been the continent's economic powerhouse. German unemployment is near eleven percent, and economic growth has been stagnant for at least six months. NPR's John Ydstie (ID-stee) talks with businesspeople and workers about the growing debate in Germany over how to create new jobs. While many economists say the country's labor costs are too high and that Germany's social welfare state is too generous, German workers fear they're being blamed for a problem that's really the fault of a government intent on pleasing each special interest group with its own social program.

Mike Lanchin reports from El Salvador that prisoners in one of the country's jails have chosen, by lottery, four fellow inmates to be killed unless the government agrees to improve conditions by next Monday. Problems at the Santa Ana prison are the same as those in jails across El Salvador: jails are filled way beyond capacity, there is not enough food or sleeping space, and many inmates have not even been charged with a crime, let alone tried. A member of El Salvador's Supreme Court has suggested an amnesty for all those charged with minor crimes. The Salvadoran legislature is expected to discuss the crisis today.

NPR's Linda Gradstein reports that already the bulldozers are out and Israelis are looking to expand into the suburbs of Jerusalem. The expansion is in line with the vision of Prime Minister elect-Benjamin Netanyahu, who has said Jerusalem will not be divided with the Palestinians.

NPR's Chitra Ragavan reports on a ruling from the Supreme Court today on the issue of how federal prison sentences are imposed. The case involved the sentences of former Los Angeles policemen Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell, convicted in the 1991 videotaped beating of Rodney King. At issue was whether the trial judge exceeded his authority when he sentenced the two to a shorter time in prison than specified by U-S guidelines. Today, justices voted unanimously to have a federal trial judge reconsider the validity of giving both ex-officers stiffer sentences. Koon and Powell are now free. Had the nation's highest court upheld a federal appeals court ruling against them, each man would have faced returning to prison for up to fifty- seven more months.

Robert and Noah read listeners' comments. The address for All Things Considered letters is 635 Massachusetts Aveneue, NW, Washington, DC 20001....via e-mail, we can be reached at ATC at NPR dot ORG. (3:00) (STEREO) CUTAWAY 2C 0:59 2D 18. HISTORY OF FENCES -- Noah Adams walks through the exhibition Between Fences now open at the National Building Museum in Washington with the exhibit's curator Gregory Dreicer (DRY-sir). The exhibit examines the role of fences in American landscape and culture. It includes stone fences, wrought iron, barbed wire, chain link and the materials used to designate international boundaries.

An immigration appeals panel has granted asylum to a woman who fears she will be subject to genital mutilation if she returns to her home in Togo. The 19-year-old woman fled the West African country in 1994 and was detained in jails in the U-S until last month. An immigration judge had rejected her asylum claim in August, 1995, saying female genital mutilation would not count as persecution against her because it was done to her peers. NPR's Chitra Ragavan reports.

NPR's Eric Weiner reports on how Israel's new cabinet looks to be shaping up. Former generals like Ariel Sharon (shah-ROHN) and Raphael Eitan (AY-tahn) are vying for senior posts. But there's also talk of a national unity government that would join Labor and Likud... and shift the government closer to the center.

President Clinton was in Greeleyville, South Carolina today to visit the place where an African-American church was burned down last year. He also went to the site of the new Mount Zion AME Church, where he called on all Americans to help put an end to the recent string of church fires. We'll hear excepts from his speech.