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Linda talks with NPR's Steven Inskeep about continuing negotiations in Washington to avert a possible strike by pilots at American Airlines. Talks continue on a new contract, but there's been no significant progress on issues such as pay increases and whether lower-paid pilots for American Eagle, American's subsidiary for shorter flights, would be allowed to fly a new generation of smaller planes for regional traffic. The strike deadline is midnight Friday.

On the steps of the Supreme Court today, activists for both sides of the assisted-suicide issue held demonstrations while the Justices heard arguments. Members of the Hemlock Society, which advocates the right to suicide, debated disabled-rights activists who fear legalized suicide could lead to euthanasia. NPR's Phillip Davis reports.

Linda reads from listeners' comments. To contact All Things Considered, send a letter to All Things Considered Letters, 635 Massachusetts Avenue Northwest, Washington D-C, 20001. To contact us via the Internet, the address is A-T-C at N-P-R dot ORG (ATC@NPR.ORG).

Music reviewer Bonnie Grice has only good things to say about a new recording of tangos called "Tango Among Friends." Classical pianist Daniel Barenboim is featured on the keyboard, along with Hector Console on acoustic bass and Rodolfo Mederos on the bandoneon. She says it reflects the musical roots of Barenboim, who spent part of his childhood growing up in Buenos Aires---and reflects the sounds of Argentina's national dance and the European concert hall.

Commentator Kevin Kling thinks that the right haircut can do wonders for a person's outlook on life...transforming the timid to the bold, the shy to the extroverted. The wrong haircut, though...that's a different story.

Noah talks with Tim Weige, sports director at Chicago television station WBBM and a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, about today's news that the baseball owners have ratified a new five-year agreement with the players' union, effectively ending the dispute which began with the 1994 baseball strike. Under the agreement...the same one that was rejected by owners three weeks ago...there will be inter-league play in 1997, and a revenue sharing agreement for the smaller major-league baseball markets. Bud Selig, the interim commissioner of baseball, applauded the agreement, but leaders of the Major League Players' Association will have to meet next week to finalize the deal.

Charles de Ledesma reviews From the Brothel to the Cemetary,a new album by a London-based group called the Tiger Lillies. The group plays a wonderful assortment of instruments, but what stands out is the quality of the lead singer's voice and the oddness of the lyrics.

Singer-songwriter Cheryl Wheeler speaks with Noah and performs an amusing song appropriate for the day before Thanksgiving. The Potato Song praises the virtues of the tuber to the tune of "The Mexican Hat Dance." Cheryl Wheeler will be joining us tomorrow and provide some more reflective musical thoughts for the holiday.

Commentator David Brooks says that both Democrats and Republicans have adopted a "Kissingerian" foreign policy, putting nationalistic self-interest above idealism and the promotion of democracy.

Robert talks with classical guitarist Eliot Fisk. Fisk shares his life story with Robert... particularly, about how an attempt to bring the family together with music and a banjo led him to the great guitarist Andres Segovia. Now Fisk's life parallels the late Segovia and has released a recordings featuring transcriptions of Segovia's work. Eliot Fisk's latest CD is called Segovia: Canciones Populares. It's available on the Musicmasters Label. If not available at record stores locally, call J & R Music World, at 1-800-221-8180 to order.

NPR's Edward Lifson reports from Belgrade that the government of President Slobodan Milosevic has admitted that the Opposition Party won some of those municipal elections held last November. In a letter to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Serbian foreign minister did not concede his position on the most important elections that were annulled. The Opposition and Western diplomats say it's another Milosevic stalling tactic.

House Republicans continued their public campaign to keep Georgia Republican Newt Gingrich in control of the Speakership today. Party leaders held a conference call to reassure caucus members of the inconsequential nature of Gingrich's ethics violations. And Republican National Committee chairman Haley Barbour told a press conference that Democrats were making a raw partisan power play to manipulate the ethics process and deny Republicans the leadership they won in the election. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

Hans Jaap Melissen of Radio Netherlands reports on a race today which took place on the frozen canals and lakes of Holland. More than 16 thousand skaters participated in this 125 mile race which is only run when that country's network of canals freezes over.

- After days of optimistic predictions that a deal over Hebron was at hand, the chances of an agreement for an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank town once again are slipping away under a tide of mutual fingerpointing. Reporter Laurie Neff reports the sticking point now is Israel's refusal to commit itself to a timetable for further wihdrawals from the occupied territory.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from the Zairean capital Kinshasa that longtime President Mobutu Sese Seko is expected to return tomorrow after spending several months in Europe getting treatment for prostate cancer. Mobutu will be returning to a country in severe crisis: a weak civilian government and a largely inept military are facing a surging rebel army in eastern Zaire. Some believe the uprising, combined with Zaire's legendary corruption, economic mismanagement and political instability, could lead to the complete disintegration of one of Africa's largest nations.

Jennifer Ludden reports that Zaire's longtime ruler Mobutu Sese Seko returned from a four-month absence today. Tens of thousands of people welcomed him as he returned to the capital, Kinshasa. Mobutu has been receiving treatment for prostate cancer in Europe. While he was away a civil war erupted, and the rebellion threatens to split up one of Africa's largest nations.

A special commission set up by Congress to study the accuracy of the consumer price index has concluded the C.P.I. overstates inflation by approximately 1.1%. The commission, headed up by former Bush Administration economic advisor, Michael Boskin, made several recommendations for correcting the upward bias...which costs the federal government billions of dollars every year because the C.P.I. is used to adjust benefit payments to millions of American retirees and veterans. NPR's John Ydstie reports.

Beth Fertig of member station WNYC reports that New York Governor George Pataki proposes testing every welfare applicant for drug use, and cutting off cash benefits for those testing positive. They'd be sent to treatment programs "when available," and experts predict chaos because of the number of addicts on welfare far exceeds the number of treatment centers.

Linda talks with Dr. Ed Kilborn, a Research Professor of Microbiology at New York Medical College, about why influenza seems to strike and spread more during the winter than in any other season. Kilborn says it's a combination of factors...including the dryness of the air and the fact that the flu viruses tend to incubate better when people stay close together indoors in overheated environments.

John Biewen of Minnesota Public Radio reports on the rise of the so-called fringe banks...pawn shops and check cashing businesses which charge very high rates of interest and cater to the poor. An increasing number of poor families have no relationship with a traditional bank or savings and loan. Advocates for the poor say that higher and more pervasive fees are pushing the poor out of banks and into the pawn shops. Bankers disagree and suggest there are lots of reasons why poor people prefer "fringe" banking.