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Noah and Linda have a brief summary of the news of the day at the Republican National Convention and this evening's expected events.

- Daniel talks with poet Edward Hirsch who says that reading and understanding a poem can be fun. "Relax and don't worry about missing every reference," he says. "Enjoy the experience of the language itself. Pay attention to the feelings it evokes in you." Hirsch reads and talks about Elizabeth Bishop's poem, "One Art." He also reads his own poem, "Summer Surprised Us" (from his book EARTHLY MEASURES). Hirsch's article, "How to Read These Poems," appears in the Fall issue of DOUBLETAKE magazine. Hirsch teaches creative writing at the University of Houston.

A former White House employee has told Senate investigators that she informed ex-personnel security chief Craig Livingstone that FBI background files were being gathered on former presidential aides. That's contrary to testimony from Livingstone. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

NPR's Jim Zarroli reports that America Online is embarking on an expensive promotional campaign and switching stock exchanges in a bid to reposition itself in the face of growing competition. America Online grew to prominence as a NASDAQ stock, but is moving to the New York Stock Exchange as part of a broader campaign to increase public visibility.

Daniel speaks with Jeanie Mahoney about an electronic pendant she wears as protection against her former husband who used to abuse her. Mahoney and other women across the country have been given these pendants by police. If they push a small button located on the pendant, the police are alerted to go immediately to the wearer's home.

Daniel speaks with Cara De Silva, who edited the book "In memory's Kitchen." It's a cookbook written by women who died in Nazi concentration camps during World War Two. The manuscript was handed off to several people over the years before it made its way to the daughter of the woman who started the book.

The Pentagon announced today that NATO peacekeeping troops in Bosnia have been put on the highest state of alert because of fears of a possible terrorist attack. Noah talks to NPR's Martha Raddatz about the reasons for the alert and the vulnerability of NATO bases in Bosnia.

Linda talks to Tom Fielder, the political editor and a columnist at the Miami Herald, about the how the presidential race is shaping up in the electoral vote-rich state of Florida. Bill Clinton is campaigning in that state today. He's hoping to reach two key voting blocks in Florida...the elderly and Cuban Americans. The elderly, according to Fiedler, seem to be leaning toward support of President Clinton, who has a stronger voice for protecting medicare. With the Cubans, the President seems to be making headway...even though these voters are usually solid Republicans.

- Daniel speaks with reporter Virginia Biggar about the other political convention that opens today, that of Ross Perot's Reform, Party. Biggar explains that today's event in Dallas, where Perot and his rival, former Colorado Gov. Richard Lamm will deliver speeches, is only the first part of a two-phase convention. The second phase, she says, will include voting by mail and e-mail and the announcement of the party's candidate next Sunday.

Linda and Noah discuss the opening of the thirty-sixth Republican National Convention in San Diego, California. Republicans are hoping that this meeting will showcase their ideas and their candidates...and can help jump-start the Dole campaign. Patrick Buchanan's withdrawal from the race and endorsement of Dole earlier today has helped pave the way for a greater party unity...which is what the convention is hoping to accomplish.

Fifty years ago this week, 19 high-ranking officials of Nazi Germany were convicted by the International War Crimes Tribunal in Nuremberg. For the record, we play an excerpt from a newsreel account of the sentencing of Herman Goering, Rudolf Hess and others.

In the first criminal action taken against a government official in the Ruby Ridge case, a senior FBI agent was charged today with obstruction of justice. In 1992, FBI agents shot and killed the wife and child of a white separatist during a siege of his home in Ruby Ridge, Idaho. There are reports that the agent charged today may have agreed to co-operate with prosecutors in their investigation of government action during the siege. NPR's Chitra Ragavan reports.

- The 104th Congress, one of the most controversial in the country's history, was set to adjourn

- President Clinton announced today he is convening a summit of Middle Eastern leaders in Washington early this week to calm the latest round of Israeli-Palestinian fighting and to put the Middle East peace process back on track. NPR's John Neilsen reports on the political sensitivities surrounding the summit and the rival Israeli and Palestinian concepts of what conssitutes peace.

NPR'S Richard Gonzales reports on the fizzling fate of the California Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI), which would ban state affirmative action programs. It was expected to provoke lots of political debate, but except for professional pundits, most organizations that could be affected aren't very interested. And the number of voters who are undecided on the issue has grown.

NPR's Vicki O'Hara reports on today's recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize, Bishop Carlos Belo and resistance leader Jose Ramos-Horta. The two men have worked for a peaceful solution in East Timor, which has been in turmoil since Indonesia invaded it in 1975.

Critic Bob Mondello reviews Neil Jordan's latest film, named for the Irish freedom fighter who organized and fought against England's occupation after the Easter Uprising of 1916.

NPR's Eric Weiner reports from Jerusalem that after another round of peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators at Taba today, there is still no indication that progress on the main issue of an Israeli withdrawal from Hebron has been made. The Israeli and Palestinian negotiators express very different views of how the talks are going.

- Some 1.5 million elderly Americans live in nursing homes, where they receive medical and custodial care but are often denied the warmth and personal contact associated with a real home. Thomas Lalley of member station WAMC in Albany reports on a new kind of elderly care in New York state that could revolutionize the country's nursing homes.

- Jackie speaks with Jordanian Information Minister Marwan Mu'asher about the current tensions between Jordan and Israel. Jordan, which has a peace treaty with Israel, was the only Arab country to welcome the election of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last May. But Mu'asher says Netanyahu's performance since then has caused deep concerns in Jordan about the future of the Middle East peace process.