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including efforts at privatization and difficulties in securing an International Monetary Fund loan.

NPR's Anne Garrels reports from Moscow on the continuing battle between Russians and Chechen rebels. In a southern Russian village, it is the third day of artillery and rocket attacks on Chechens holding hostages. In the Chechen capital of Grozny, 30 workers at a power plant have been kidnapped. And, in the Black Sea, another group of rebels holds 200 people hostage aboard a ferry which they have threatened to blow up.

Robert talks with author Salman Rushdie, who's latest novel is "The Moor's Last Sigh." It is set in Bombay, with characters drawn from different religious groups, and a narrator who is living his life at double speed. (Publisher: Pantheon)

American poet T.S. Eliot wrote about the planets revolving "like ancient women / Gathering fuel in vacant lots." Robert reads his poem "Preludes."

WEEKEND EDITION'S DANIEL SCHORR DISCUSSES THE NEW ERA IN U.S.-FRANCE RELATIONS, AFTER THIS WEEK'S VISIT TO WASHINGTON BY FRENCH PRESIDENT JACQUES CHIRAC, WITH HARVARD UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR STANLEY HOFFMANN AND JIM HOAGLAND, CHIEF FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT FOR THE WASHINGTON POST.

Pope John Paul II begins his week-long tour of Latin America today. This trip includes stops in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Hopes run high that this visit will help shore up support for the Catholic church in a region that has traditionally been one of its strongholds. Emma Paterson reports from Guatemala on how increasingly popular evangelical churches are posing a threat to the dominance of the Catholic Church in Central America.

Noah talks with Jack Webb, a citrus farmer in East Lake, Florida. Webb says the low temperatures are worrisome, but the weather so far this winter is nothing compared to devastating cold snaps of the 1980's, when the mercury dropped to the low teens overnight.

NPR's Trevor Rowe reports that criticism is mounting against some countries participating in the NATO-led peacekeeping operation in Bosnia. Indonesia has sent some people to serve as policemen who do not speak English and another country has sent policemen who do not know how to drive.

SIMON/ BABE RUTH MUSEUM: SCOTT SPEAKS WITH PETER SOLLOGUB PRINCIPAL DESIGNER FOR THE MUSEUM EXPANSION. THE MUSEUM WILL BE "HANDS ON" AND INCLUDE EXHIBITS SUGGESTED BY BALTIMORE SCHOOLKIDS.

Yet another study has focused attention on the effects of television violence. NPR's Brooke Gladstone reports that a year-long study funded by the National Cable Television Association finds TV programming awash in mayhem that mostly goes unpunished. Researchers examined entertainment programming on broadcast and cable channels. Sports and newscast were not included in the study.

WORLD CHESS CHAMPION GARY KASPAROV GOES UP AGAINST "DEEP BLUE," AN I-B-M SUPERCOMPUTER IN PHILADELPHIA STARTING TODAY. THE ODDS MAY FAVOR THE HUMAN, BUT THEY'RE NARROWING. SCOTT SPEAKS WITH INTERNATIONALLY SYNDICATED CHESS COLUMNIST SHELBY LYMAN.

NPR'S MICHAEL GOLDFARB REPORTS ON THE BOMBING IN LONDON LAST NIGHT AND THE CALLING OFF OF THE IRA CEASE-FIRE.