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NPR's Barbara Bradley reports on issues surrounding the new grand jury empanelled by Independent Counsel Robert Ray to investigate President Clinton. Legal experts say Ray may have needed a new grand jury to look at new evidence, or simply to get the subpoena power necessary to tie up loose ends. Since he took over the office from Kenneth Starr, Ray has said he was not ruling out the possibility of trying to indict Clinton after his presidential term ends.

With her hair neatly braided, the girl sat next to her baby brother, dressed for an outing, complete with a backpack and note — but their parents were nowhere to be found, the U.S. Border Patrol said.

Conventions have as many meanings as they have participants. Most of the people involved in the political process make their own contribution and experience the event in their own ways. NPR's Andy Bowers offers several vignettes from this week's convention.

It's the final installment of call-outs to undecided female voters in suburban Ohio -- a key group to win over in the upcoming Presidential election. Today, Linda checks in with Gina Cronan for her reaction to Vice President Al Gore's speech last night. Gina is a working mom from University Heights, Ohio. She's a life-long Republican but has not been pleased with Texas Governor George W. Bush. Last night, Gina says, Gore won her over -- in large part by his discussion of key issues.

Noah checks back with Stacy Jessop, a Montana middle school teacher who was evacuated to a Red Cross shelter to avoid wildfires which were burning perilously close to her house. She's returning home today.

NPR's Richard Gonzales reports on efforts to improve the safety of development in fire prone areas. Regulations against building in high fire risk areas are most effective, but still pretty rare. In some communities, people and their neighbors, insurers and local officials have taken the task of "fire-proofing" into their own hands.

Vice President Al Gore kicked-off his Mississippi River campaign tour today. NPR's Anthony Brooks reports that, with a hoarse voice, Gore is charging through the heartland searching for votes. People interviewed along the way give their reviews of Gore's speech last night accepting the Democratic presidential nomination.

Unions say talks have intensified, the company says a deal is within reach, but Verizon telecommunications workers are still on strike and without a contract. NPR's Snigdha Prakash reports the main disputes revolve around work transfers and mandatory overtime. One participating union had threatened to bolt the talks, but backed off, saying that "significant progress" has been made.

NPR's Daniel Zwerdling traveled to Nicaragua to report on a new twist in the ever expanding global economy. As international companies travel the world in search of cheap labor, some workers are trying to form unions to demand better wages and better conditions. Zwerdling tells the story of Chentex, a Taiwanese consortium that was attracted to Nicaragua because the nation offered space in an industrial park, no taxes for the first ten years and lots of people willing to work for low wages. But unlike many developing nations where "sweatshops' are set-up, Nicaragua has a history of unions. Under the Sandinistas, peasants and factory workers were encouraged to unionize. When the workers, mostly women, tried to organize at the Chentex factory they were fired and harassed. The way the workers see it, the government made a kind of pact with the devil and they need unions to protect themselves. The way the government sees it, international companies offer employment and a much needed economic boost. The way the companies see it, they are not anti-union, and they are offering work and wages in places where none would exist without them.

Linda talks with E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post and David Brooks of the Weekly Standard about Vice President Al Gore's speech last night at the Democratic Convention. It was a speech in which Gore asserted he was "his own man" -- promising a vision for America's future. The speech was packed with a laundry list of specific issues he promised to tackle -- including healthcare, campaign finance reform and needs of the working and middle class.

Mark Moran of member station KJZZ in Phoenix reports the latest information on Senator John McCain's health. The senator has had a recurrence of skin cancer and has been meeting with his doctors.

Noah Adams talks with sportswriter Stefan Fatsis about the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics trials in Boston. Several members of the women's team which won a gold medal in 1996 are trying to make the team again. Interestingly, women's coach Bela Karoly has been given unprecedented power to select the team from among the top finishers at the trials. Usually, the team consists of the top six finishers at the trials.

NPR's Peter Kenyon is following the George W. Bush campaign. With the Democratic convention over, the Republican nominee got right back out on the road today, trying to limit any post-convention bounce for Gore. Bush started today in Gore's home state of Tennessee, and told the crowd he could win there.

Noah talks with Ronald J. Ostrow, a veteran Los Angeles Times writer who is covering a probe of the FBI Crime Laboratory. The probe began three years ago because of allegations of sloppiness in the handling of evidence for 3,000 criminal cases. Some of the defendants of those cases landed on death row.

NPR's Mike Shuster reports that the Russian navy is continuing rescue operations, hoping against hope to save survivors among the 118 men aboard the submarine Kursk. British and Norwegian teams are heading to the site of the disaster in the Barents Sea, but won't arrive before Saturday. President Vladimir Putin said today that immediately after the accident in the Barents Sea last weekend, he was told the chances for saving the men were extremely slim.

Texas Governor George Bush flew to West Virginia this morning for a rally at a veterans memorial. On the way there, Bush talked to reporters aboard his campaign airplane and shared his view of retired General Colin Powell's speech as well as President Clinton's comments about the Bush campaign. NPR's Don Gonyea is traveling with Bush as he heads toward the GOP convention in Philadelphia.

Commentator Lisa Jones says she's always been attracted to biologists, but put off by their often too-pure, "back-to-nature" lifestyle. But then she meets the biologist of her dreams...

Linda talks to Savita Deva, a resident of Bangalore, India, where the kidnapping of an Indian movie star has sparked riots. Schools and other buildings are shut down, and Savita says buses are burning.

Even though scientists acknowledge the limits of the study, that won't necessarily limit the political fallout - coming, as it does, on the eve of the presidential election. While the study's authors - both advocates of gun control - say their work supports "greater" regulation, gun control opponents say the study is proof that gun control doesn't work. NPR's Eric Westervelt reports.

Linda talks to Howard Neufield, Professor of Biology at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, about his study of the effects of ozone on vegetation in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Neufield says ozone levels in the Great Smokies are among the highest in the National Park system. The study documents visible ozone injury to at least thirty species of plants in the park.