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NPR's Phillip Davis reports that civil rights groups in Florida are trying to free a Muslim academic who is seeking admission to the United States. He has been held in jail by the Immigration and Naturalization Service for the past three years. The INS claims the man has links a Middle-eastern terrorist group, but refuses to reveal evidence, saying to do so would threaten national security. Civil rights groups say his constitutional right to confront his accuser is being violated.

Commentator Joanne Kaufman just got her drivers license -- at age 41. Her ultimate road test was a trip to the drugstore. She talks about what she missed not being able to drive, the freedom it would have meant as a teenager. Driving solo as an adult is a defining moment she wants to tell everyone about, but the destinations and reasons to drive are different.

NPR's Mary Ann Akers reports on Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore's speech today at Howard University in Washington. Gore told the mostly-black audience that he would end racial profiling as the first "civil rights act" of his administration. Gore also said he would work for hate crime laws, affirmative action programs, and a tax deduction of up to 10-thousand dollars for college tuition.

Jody Becker of Chicago Public Radio reports on a thorny environmental case being heard next month by the U.S. Supreme Court. It involves the right of some Chicago suburbs to build a landfill on land that's being used by migratory birds. Some environmental activists warn that the court could use the case to gut the landmark Clean Water Act.

A number of the athletes at the Olympic games this week took a detour to Flagstaff, Arizona before they arrived in Sydney. They were taking advantage of the regions High Altitude Training Sports Training Complex. High altitude is known to stimulate red blood cell production which improves muscle endurance. The athletes hope the experience gave them a competitive edge. Mitch Teich reports from KNAU in Flagstaff.

Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai died today. He was 76 years old. Amichai was born in Germany and moved to Israel when he was 12 years old. He served in four wars and wove the themes of war into his poetry. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin read one of Amichai's poems when he received the Nobel Peace Prize. We have Amichai reading that poem and two others in translation when he came to NPR in 1995.

Linda Wertheimer speaks with sportswriter Stefan Fatsis about three NFL games coming up this weekend. The Washington Redskins face the unheralded and undefeated New York Giants. Two former dynasties the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49'ers face off in a game that demonstrates the hazards of manipulating salaries under the NFL salary cap for short term gain. In a battle of undefeateds, The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their star wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson play the New York Jets, Mr. Johnson's old team and one he hasn't hesitated to criticize.

NPR's Bob Mondello reviews the film Dancer in the Dark, made by Danish director Lars Von Trier. Von Treir was cofounder of the "Dogme '95" movement, which advocated removing artifice from film. Bob says this is a real departure from that -- it couldn't be more artificial. And it's dividing audiences.

Power, Politics and Style, is the name of a pre-election exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art. The show focuses on how presidents used paintings furnishings, china, and fashions to convey their values and messages to the nation. The show opens this Sunday. NPR's Susan Stamberg reports.

Linda and Robert read letters from All Things Considered listeners. (3:30) Send e-mail to atc@npr.org or actual paper letters to "Letters, All Things Considered," National Public Radio, 635 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington DC, 20001.

Three more world swimming records fell Sunday in Sydney, bringing to eight the number of records set in just the first two days of competition. NPR's Howard Berkes looks at why these Olympic games are producing faster and faster times in the water.

NPR's Bob Mondello reviews the documentary Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport, the story of some 10,000 German Jewish children sent to live with British families just before World War II. The rescue operation came to be known as the "Kindertransport."

Columnist Carl Rowan died today of natural causes at Washington Hospital Center in DC. He was 75. The Washington Post once touted the syndicated writer as "the most visible black journalist in the country." Host Jacki Lyden talks with Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page about Rowan's life.

In the Philippines, a massive military offensive continues against the Muslim separatist faction, known as the Abu Sayaf. In recent months, the Abu Sayaf has been holding foreigners as well as Filipinos hostage, trading them only for millions of dollars in ransom. Orlando Guzman reports.

Sotheby's and Christie's auction houses have been accused of price-fixing the premiums charged to their customers. After a three-year investigation by the U.S. Justice Department, the houses have agreed to pay $512 million dollars, and a criminal investigation is pending. Host Jacki Lyden talks with arts reporter David D'Arcy.

Host Jacki Lyden talks with Thomas Reppetto, co-author with James Lardner about their new book NYPD - A City and its Police. It chronicles the triumph and disaster of the nation's biggest and oldest police force during its 150 year history. (9:30)(Henry Holt 2000 ISBN 0-8050-

Australian sprinter Cathy Freeman has captured the interest of many at these Summer Olympic Games: she's the favorite in the women's 400 meter race and she is also Australia's best-known aboriginal woman. That's made her - unexpectedly - a national symbol. NPR's Howard Berkes has a profile.

Olympic Baseball -- NPR's Tom Goldman reports from Sydney on the results of the US/Cuba baseball game.

Host Jacki Lyden speaks with editors of three small-town papers about what issues their readers care about this election season. Though some towns have historically had high voter turnout, the editors say this year voters are much more motivated by local issues than by the chance to choose a president. We hear from Tom Lawrence of the Whitefish Pilot, in Whitefish, Montana; J.D. Davidson of the Times-Journal in Fort Payne, Alabama and Ross Connelly of the Hardwick Gazette, in Hardwick, Vermont.

Texas officials call it a "historic surge." Thousands of new arrivals, largely from Haiti, are straining an already overstretched system, and more are on the way.