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Jon Miller reports from Lima that the government of Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori has engaged in talks with the political opposition on democratic reforms. The two sides are considering ways to restructure institutions throughout the government, from the military and intelligence services to the judiciary. Fujimori agreed to the talks under intense international criticism of the country's last election, which returned him to office for a third term. His immediate obstacle is convincing opponents that with his record, he can become a champion of democracy.

Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr wonders why George W. Bush is hesitant to engage Al Gore in presidential debates.

Impressions of Peru by 9-year-old (in October) Miriam Newman-Marshall. She was born in Callao, Peru, but adopted and arrived to the United States when she was just four months old. Miriam went back to Peru recently and sent us an audio report on how she spent her summer vacation.

NPR's Linda Gradstein in Jerusalem reports on new criticism of the Palestinian Authority by Amnesty International. In a report issued today, Amnesty says Yasser Arafat's government has arrested dozens of human rights activists, journalists and intellectuals simply for criticizing Arafat or his policies.

Commentator Bob Mondello looks ahead to the Fall movie season -- a season that he says is full of remakes, sequels and revivals. Among the few original films: a vampire movie for little kids (Little Vampires); a comedy in which Richard Gere plays a flattering gynecologist (Dr. T. and the Women); and a drama in which Cuba Gooding Junior stars as the Navy's first black deep-sea diver (Men of Honor).

With polls showing that the presidential race extremely close, Republican candidate George W. Bush sharpened his attack on Democrat Al Gore today. As NPR's Steve Inskeep reports, Bush questioned Gore's truthfulness as he started a swing through several key states.

Linda talks with E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post and David Brooks of the Weekly Standard about the presidential campaigns of Al Gore and George W. Bush. Political wisdom holds that the candidate who leads on Labor Day wins the race -- but this year the race is too close to call.

NPR's Patty Neighmond reports on the trend by the nation's largest corporations and the government to contract directly with physicians -- leaving the insurance companies out. It's a move to stem double-digit inflation in health care costs.

There were violent scenes in the South African town of Sasolburg today, when a white businessman was arraigned in court on murder charges. He is accused of dragging one of his black employees to death behind a pickup truck. The incident has caused outrage among South Africans, and led to accusations that not enough is being done to halt racist violence, six years after the end of apartheid. Jim Fish of the BBC has a report.

Chicago Public Radio's Edie Rubinowitz reports on Aaron Patterson, a Illinois Death Row inmate who claims he was tortured by police into confessing to a murder years ago. The Illinois Supreme Court recently agreed to allow an evidentiary hearing in the case and he could be the latest on Death Row in that state to be granted a new trial.

Banning Eyre reviews the CD Bambay Gueej by Chiekh Lo. Lo is from Senegal, and marries the West African traditional music with Cuban and other Latin sounds. He is just beginning to reach an international audience, with this, his 2nd international release. The CD is Bambay Gueej by Chiekh Lo. It's on Nonesuch Records, catalog number PRCD 300008.

NPR's Allison Richards reports that medical ethicists are awaiting the outcome of a case in Britain in which judges will rule whether doctors may surgically separate Siamese twins in hopes of saving one of them. Doctors have said both babies will die in three-to-six months unless they are separated, but the operation means certain death for one of the infants. The case is important ethically because it involves the power of doctors and courts to sacrifice one life to save another.

Anne Garrels talks with All Things Considered's Noah Adams about the U.N. Millennium Summit, which is being called the largest gathering of world leaders in history. President Clinton addressed the summit today, delivering an impassioned appeal for peace in the Middle East. The president was holding separate meetings later with Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, hoping to revive prospects for a final peace agreement.

A Pentagon security barrier accidentally lifted the German Defense Minister's car yesterday, injuring the minister who was arriving for talks with Defense Secretary William Cohen. A similar incident occurred in 1998 to the Japanese defense minister's car. Noah talks with Jim Mannion, Pentagon Correspondent for the Agence France-Press, about the Pentagon's security malfunctions.

As the U.S. Open tennis championship moves into crucial late rounds, all eyes are on stars like Pete Sampras, Venus and Serena Williams and Martina Hingis. Reena Advani reports there are also other performers out there on center court -- the ballboys. Unlike tennis players, when ballboys do their job well, they go virtually unnoticed.

The Fugitive was one of the classic television programs of the 1960's. Now, the drama of a man on the run from the law, trying to prove his innocence, is coming back this fall in an all new series. Roy Huggins, who created The Fugitive and is executive producer of the new version, talks to Linda about its return.

NPR's Ted Clark reports that a diplomatic row between the United States and North Korea is likely to undermine efforts to normalize relations between the two countries. North Korean diplomats headed for the U.N. Millennium summit were searched by American Airlines security personnel in Frankfurt, Germany. The angry North Koreans turned around and went home, after loudly denouncing the United States as a "rogue" nation. The diplomatic delegation included the North Korean number two official, who had been scheduled to hold first time, face-to-face meetings with the leaders of Japan and Russia in New York.

Commentator Lenore Skenazy, who lives in New York City has a few words about the traffic gridlock caused by the United Nations Millennium Summit.

We hear an excerpt of a speech yesterday in Allentown, Pennsylvania, by Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush, in which he outlined his plan for Medicare.

Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore likes to present himself as the candidate of substance and detail. Today, he might have outdone himself, presenting a 200-page tome containing his plan for the U.S. economy. Gore's blueprint includes a $300 billion "rainy day fund" as a buffer against an economic downturn, but Republican rival George W. Bush says Gore's spending programs would wipe out that much of the current surplus and more. From Cleveland, Madeleine Brand reports for NPR News.