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NPR's Martha Raddatz talks with Noah about how the Pentagon is discounting reports that the Air Force is clearing the General who was in charge of the military housing facility where 19 US airmen were killed in a terrorist bombing in Saudi Arabia last June. An earlier report..by a special task force headed by a retired Army general...had faulted the Pentagon's entire command structure for paying insufficient attention to terrorist threats.

Daniel talks with Richard Krimm, Associate Director for Mitigation at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) about how communities can reduce the damage caused by floods. His agency favors the "non-structural" approach to flood plain management. Krimm says that levees give people a false sense of security - levees often overflow. Rather than build more levees, he suggests building houses that can withstand floods or not building on flood plains at all. He says federal regulations and insurance requirements eventually will force people to comply with these suggestions

NPR's Andy Bowers reports from Moscow on the meeting today between Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and her counterpart, Foreign Minister Primakov ((PREE-muh-koff)). Despite several hours of talks about a charter between NATO and Russia, both diplomats say there's more work to do.

NPR's Mark Roberts reports on today's testimony at the trial of Oklahoma City bombing suspect Timothy McVeigh. A publisher of a series of books on how to make a bomb described such a book that McVeigh owned.

NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports that President Clinton wants to send thousands of tutors out to help kids learn to read. Experts in the field say these tutors will help kids practice their reading, and that could make a big difference. But they say that kids with the most serious reading problems will still require trainined professionals to deal with their problems, and the President's proposal won't help them.

NPR's David Welna reports that over the past month Mexico has expelled half a dozen foreign human rights workers. Until now, Mexico had always tolerated such visits. The crackdown is raising new questions about Mexico's human rights record, as President Clinton prepares to go there next week. A major US human rights group also issued a report this week condemning what it said are widespread human rights abuses in Mexico, especially in rural areas. NPR's David Welna reports.

A plan to build a new satellite-based communications network that would provide wireless internet service around the globe received a boost yesterday. Boeing has announced that it will be the lead contractor on Teledesic Corporation's $9 billion plan to put a network of low-orbit satellites in space. But Teledisic may find the skies crowded by the time it gets there. There are at least three similar projects already in the works. Teledesic, is owned by Bill Gates and cellular phone billionaire, Craig McCaw. NPR's Wendy Kaufman reports.

NPR's Eric Weiner reports that Palestinians are celebrating and Jewish settlers are hunkering down as the West Bank city of Hebron is transferred from Israeli to Palestinian control. Israeli troops pulled back from positions in Hebron today on the basis of an Israeli-Palestinian agreement finalized this week after months of bitter negotiations.

Music reviewer Tom Moon takes a look at "Billy Breathes," the latest release from the heirs-apparent to the Grateful Dead...the rock band Phish (FISH). He says that their music has come a long way from the days of simple folk-tinged jamming, and their lyrics have now caught up to the rest of the technical abilities of the band. ("Billy Breathes" is the latest album from Phish, and is on Elektra Records.) (5:00) ((ST

Commentator David Brooks talks about the "Big Thinkers" tent on the National Mall that's part of President Clinton's second inauguration festivities. He says that neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have many "big ideas," and that they're making up for their lack of ideology by becoming scandal-mongers.

NPR's Elizabeth Arnold talks with Noah about the implications of the report on House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Many see Gingrich as a weakened leader, and say the ethics problems have shifted more power to the Senate and Majority Leader Trent Lott.

The dramaturg for the hit Broadway musical "Rent" is suing the estate of the show's late author. Lynn Thompson claims that her contributions went far beyond the fee she was paid. Thompson wants 16% of playwright Jonathan Larson's royalties. She says she did extensive rewriting, and was more of a co-creator than the mere "editor" that the Larson estate says she was. The suit is creating some worry in the theater world about whether it will have a chilling effect on the often informal creative collaborations that occur among playwrights, directors, and other theater professionals. NPR's Melissa Block reports.

We note the publication today of the 116th Statistical Abstract of the United States. The 1,000-plus page book is a listing of numbers about births, deaths, the use of automatic teller machines ... just about everything measurable in American life.

The BBC reports on today's defiant statement by P.W. Botha, former apartheid president of South Africa, to that nation's Truth Commission. Botha refused to apologize for white minority rule, and shunned the suggestion that he would need to seek amnesty for past crimes committed by the regime.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden in Nairobi reports that questions have been raised about a planned air drop of relief supplies to Rwandan refugees in Zaire. Zaire's government opposes the plan. The supplies are intended for refugees who have been cut-off by fighting between the Zairean government and rebels.

Steve Tripoli has a report on the annual two-week intensive lobster harvest in New England, which culminates this week. The harvest and shipping season coincides with the tremendous seasonal demand in Europe for lobsters, which are part of the traditional New Year's meal in that part of the world.

Europe is suffering through extremely harsh weather conditions this week. NPR's Michael Goldfarb reports that the normal winter-time weather patterns have changed. This week, Europe is affected by cold winds blowing out of Russia. Temperatures in some areas have dropped to as low as 34 degrees below zero.

Two members of the Dallas Cowboys football team are being investigated on charges of sexual assault. A twenty-three year old woman has accused offensive lineman Erik Williams and wide reciever Michael Irvin of assaulting her. The investigation is the latest in a series of legal troubles for members of the Dallas Cowboys. Glenn Mitchell of member station KERA in Dallas reports on the charges, and what they might mean for the Cowboys, who are preparing for Sunday's second-round playoff game against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte.

Noah talks with Harry Robidoux, the director of Emergency Management Servic in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. Robidoux led the search for a family of four whose plane crashed in the Pocono Mountains. Gary and Marie Knapp and their two children had been on their way home from visiting relatives in Massachusetts for Thanksgiving when their plane went down. All four survived, thanks to the rescue efforts which discovered the family some sixteen hours after the crash.

From Belgrade, NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports on the continuing protests against the regime of President Slobodan Milosevic by opposition party supporters and students. They're protesting the annulment of municipal elections held on November 17th, which Milosevic's opponents appeared to win. Thousands marched in front of the Serbian Parliament..the largest crowd yet in the 17 days of demonstrations. Earlier in the day, student protestors warned of possible fighting in the streets, and ninety judges joined in the opposition to Milosevic by demanding a re-examination of the election annulment rulings.