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Joe Smitherman is running for his 10th consecutive term as mayor of Selma, Alabama. He has been mayor since 1965. Smitherman once referred to Martin Luther King in very unflattering terms and was an unabashed racist. He says he has reformed. NPR's Debbie Elliott has a profile of this southern leader from another era.

Mary Louise Kelly reports from London that former British spy David Shayler returned home from exile in France today and was promptly arrested. Shayler has been charged under Britain's official secrets act. He has accused the MI-6 intelligence service of plotting to kill Libyan leader Moammar Gaddhafi -- a charge the British government denies.

Jennifer Schmidt reports residents of Walpole, New Hampshire are attempting to record everything that happens in their town this year. The idea is to leave future citizens with a complete understanding of what life was like in Walpole at the dawn of the millennium.

Mike Shuster reports on President Clinton's trip to Africa, which began today in Nigeria. Clinton hopes to promote democracy on the continent through Nigeria's example, and to encourage the country's leadership in regional peacekeeping.

On the 37th anniversary of Martin Luther King's March on Washington, Nancy Marshall reports on today's "Redeem the Dream" march in Washington, D.C. Demonstrators are demanding an end to racial profiling and police brutality.

Host Jacki Lyden speaks with Suzanne Rogers of the Belfast Telegraph about new violence in Northern Ireland. Three people were killed this week in attacks between rival Protestant militia groups. Prisoners released under terms of Northern Ireland's peace agreement are returning home, seeking a cut of the drug trade or simply vengeance.

Mark Roberts reports on questions about the safety of the nation's pipeline system in the wake of last week's explosion in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Eleven campers were killed when a natural gas pipeline ruptured near their campsite.

The San Francisco Giants' most popular team members aren't seeing much action this summer. When the team inaugurated a new ballpark, it also introduced a group of canine helpers, trained to retrieve home-runs hit into nearby San Francisco Bay. So far, the dogs are still waiting to make a splash. Scott Shaefer reports from member station KQED.

During last day of his two-day visit to Nigeria, President Clinton was confronted with one of Africa's most desperate problems: the spread of infectious diseases, in particular HIV/AIDS. At a gathering of AIDS activists and health care workers, the president heard from Nigerians who have AIDS and from children whose parents who have died of the disease. NPR's Mike Shuster has more from Abuja, the Nigerian capital.

The announcement is the latest development in Jeopardy!'s troubled search for a new host following the November death of longtime presenter Alex Trebek.

An Indian immigrant allegedly murdered her children to spare them the shame of divorce. The court is weighing whether holding different cultural beliefs mitigates the crime. Commentator Lis Wiehl feels she deserves compassion, but that excusing the murder could open the floodgates for other immigrants to use a similar defense.

David Greenberger reviews the new CD from The Glands, a band from Athens, Georgia. You could classify them as indie-rock, but they like to avoid adhering to any stylistic direction, and are all over the map musically. Some songs sound like LA pop songs from the mid-60s, others are atmospheric psychedelia, and others still have a modern rock sound. (4:00) The Glands' new self-titled CD is on the Capricorn Records label.

The German government is considering whether to ban a radical right-wing party in the wake of violent, Neo-Nazi attacks which have killed four people already this year. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder appealed to Germans this past week in Berlin, saying racially motivated violence is damaging the country. NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from Berlin

Midwestern singer-songwriter Greg Brown is both a road poet and a keen observer of the natural world. He says that he likes to think about his work as stories sanded down into songs. His new CD is called Covenant; it's his 17th album. He talks to Jacki from his home in Iowa City. (Red House Records 2000)

Edward C. Walker, the inventor of the Lava Lamp, has died. Noah talks with Cressida Granger about Walker and his creation. She is the managing director and owner of Mathmos, which now owns and sells Lava Lamps.

New research suggests that transplanted brain cells can help some people whose brains have been damaged by a stroke. As NPR's Joanne Silberner reports the technique has been tried on only a few patients. But the results are promising.

Claudio Sanchez reports on the latest results of a 30-year survey of nine, thirteen, and 17-year old American students. The report, which looks at reading, math and science scores, shows today's students are doing better in math than students did 30 years ago. Performance is mixed in reading and science. The survey finds the academic gap between boys and girls has virtually disappeared. It says the gap between white and minority students closed for a while, but has started to open up again. The report also says a much greater percentage of today's students are taking tough courses, such as calculus, than students did 30 years ago.

NPR's Mike Shuster reports that Mexico's President-elect Vicente Fox is on a two-day visit to Washington to present his proposals on trade, immigration and drug trafficking. Fox defeated the ruling party's candidate, President Ernesto Zedillo, in a July election. He supports opening borders as a way of addressing illegal immigration and helping to develop Mexico's economy. US business and labor leaders are unenthusiastic, but President Clinton has said he wants to hear more about Fox's ideas before expressing an opinion. In addition to visiting President Clinton, Fox met with Vice President Gore and plans a similar session tomorrow with Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush.

Richard Harris reports that scientists in Finland have succeeded in making a chemical compound out of one of the few elements on earth considered to be completely inert -- argon. Argon is a gas that makes up 1 percent of our atmosphere. Until now, argon atoms have been complete loners. In today's issue of Nature, chemists reveal a method to make chemical bonds between argon and other atoms.

Doug McLennan reviews the two CD set entitled "Serenity" by the Bobo Stenson Trio. (4:00) Serenity by the Bobo Stenson Trio is on the ECM label, http://www.ecmrecords.com