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NPR's Ann Cooper reports on the work of South Africa's Truth Commission, which is trying to discover who was responsible for human rights abuses committed during apartheid. The commission has the power to grant amnesty to those who fully admit their crimes; the former white minority government insisted on this process as part of the price of a peaceful transition to democracy. While the Truth Commission's work is supposed to help heal the nation's wounds, testimony about gruesome acts of torture and murder is making it hard for many to forgive.

Roving correspondent Bob Garfield had to go to Nashville, Tennessee last year to deliver a speech. While he was there, he decided he'd like to write a hit country song. After enlisting the aid of almost everyone in the region, he ended up with a song...and a better understanding of the machinery behind the country-music industry.

Noah talks about the closure of independent radio station B92 in Belgrade today. The government claims that the station was shut down because its was operating illegally...but Radio B92 was one of only two media outlets, along with a student-run station, broadcasting information regarding the ongoing protests against Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. The station has now taken its message to the Internet.

About a half-million elderly immigrants receive assistance under the Supplemental Security Income program. It's an income assistance program that also entitles them to Food Stamps and Medicaid, which pays for nursing home care for thousands. Laws passed by Congress in the last term would make immigrants ineligible for the assistance. NPR's Vicky Que looks at the possible impact of the changes on a Vietnamese couple in Philadelphia, who are too old to work and have no family in the U.S. to help them. (An adopted son is in trouble with the law.) It's not clear that either local and state public service agencies or private organizations can or will step in.

Senior news analyst Daniel Schorr says that the political pendulum has swung back to a period where states' rights are highly valued, with the latest round of innovation coming from Maryland, New York, Virginia and Hawaii.

About a fifth of adults in the U-S are using the Internet and the World Wide Web, a number which is growing daily. Many of these people get some of their news from on-line newspapers that are spinoffs of regular daily papers. The New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times all have some presence on the Web, but the on-line editions do not have the circulation or the advertising revenue to match their print equivalents, and most do not make any profit at all. Robert talks to editors and advertising researchers about the possible financial futures of publishing on the Web.

Music critic Tom Manoff recommends a new re-packaged re-release of recordings by Zino Francescatti (fran-chess-KAH-tee). Francescatti was one of the most admired violinists of the Twentieth Century...he died in 1991. Now, his recordings are finding new life in the craze for repackaging great old performances. ("Zino Francescatti: Great Violin Concertos" is available on Sony Classical.) (3:00) ((ST

Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros released a report today suggesting that in the past four years, the Clinton administration has moved thousands of homeless from shelters to independence. NPR's Barbara Bradley reports that advocates for the homeless say the administration has taken the right approach. But they add that it's barely making a dent in the problem, and they worry that welfare reform and changes in the economy will swallow up any gains.

The post-Christmas holiday rush is on at computer helplines across the country. NPR's Adam Hochberg visits one of the largest ones - IBM. Computer helpers there answer a broad range of questions from:"how do I turn it on?" to "how do I remove the dog's tongue from my CD-ROM drive?"

It's still raining over much of the west. Gamblers are trapped in Reno hotels, and the casinos and bordellos are closed down for the first time in 100 years. The governor of Idaho has declared several counties disaster areas. In California, rivers in Napa and Sonoma counties are above flood stage. Damage is in the hundreds of millions of dollars -- much of it because of bad planning, according to experts. NPR's Richard Gonzales reports.

Robert talks with Jon Miller in Lima, Peru, about the latest developments in the hostage situation at the residence of the Japanese ambassador. Negotiations are underway with leftist rebels who are holding as many as 490 captives, including senior Peruvian officials and numerous foreign diplomats. The guerrillas are demanding the release of imprisoned comrades, a ransom, and safe passage to Peru's jungles.

Daniel talks with Jorge Castaneda, professor of political science at the National University of Mexico in Mexico City, about the current state of rebel groups in Latin America. Castaneda says that though there are still a few very brutal groups left, such as the Shining Path in Peru, most rebel groups have become increasingly mild in their tactics. And recently, in a couple of countries, he notes the guerillas have put down their arms in favor of negotiation and peaceful resolutions. But Castaneda says it still remains to be seen whether or not real reform can take hold in this new 'peaceful' atmosphere. For that to happen, he says, the governments which have traditionally oppressed the lower classes, also will have to make changes.

NPR's Amy Dickinson goes to a scoring session for the TV cartoon "The Simpsons" and offers a behind the scenes look at how music is produced for the show. (7:30) ((ST

Danny talks with Jaems Fox, Dean of the College of Criminal Justice at Northeastern University in Boston, about his reaction to recent statistics showing a national decrease in violent crime. Fox says while overall crime stats have gone down, the rate of juvenile crime is on the rise, and is likely to get worse unless cities establish more youth programs.

NPR's David Welna reports on Cuba's effort to increase food production by breaking its huge Soviet-style farm collectives into smaller farmer-run cooperatives. So far the project has had only limited success, largely because the co-ops are required to sell eighty percent of what they grow to the government, at artificially low official prices. In addition, the state controls what the co-ops produce. Critics say Fidel Castro doesn't want the co-ops to do too well because economic success would make them less dependent on the government.

Linda talks with U-S Representative David Skaggs (D, CO) about the lawsuit he and five other members of Congress filed, challenging the constitutionality of the new law which gives the President line-item veto power. Skaggs believes the line-item veto law tips the balance of power in favor of the executive branch and away from Congress.

Noah talks to Katy Daley, an on-air personality at commercial radio station WMZQ in Washington, DC, about John Duffey, founder of the bluegrass group "The Seldom Scene." Duffey died yesterday at age 62 after a heart attack. Duffey was also in "The Country Gentlemen", an earlier group that helped popularize bluegrass. He played mandolin and sang in a high, tenor voice.

The Food and Drug Administration is proposing to withdraw from the market a widely used antihistamine called Seldane. It says that the very rare occurence of potentially fatal heart disease outweighs the drug's benefits. A new variant of the drug was just approved by the FDA four months ago, and the agency is advising patients to ask their doctors whether to switch antihistamines. NPR's Vicky Que (KWAY) reports.

Federal researchers are reporting that the rate of sudden infant death syndrome has fallen by one-third over the past two years. They're giving credit to a national public awareness campaign that is teaching mothers to position infants on their backs when they sleep. NPR's Michelle Trudeau reports.

Last week, the Social Security Advisory Council offered three separate options for reforming the social security system. The 13-member panel could not agree on a single approach for shoring up the nation's main retirement program, so it split into three factions, each with its own proposal. In the first report of a three-part series, NPR's John Ydstie reports on the go-slow approach advocated by council-member, Robert Ball.