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NPR'S Jim Zarroli reports that Deutsche Telekom and Voicestream Wireless made it official today. The German telecom giant will acquire the Bellvue, Washington company in a stock and cash deal valued at more than 50-billion-dollars. The deal, if approved, would create a wireless phone service capable of operating in the U.S., Europe and Asia. The merger may face stiff opposition in Washington, though. Some lawmakers are concerned that the German government holds a majority stake in Deutsche Telekom.

Government figures released today show that nearly one million Medicare recipients now enrolled in HMOs will have to find another source of care next year. As NPR's Julie Rovner reports, HMOs are abandoning Medicare in record numbers, saying the program doesn't pay enough.

Playwright and Commentator Thom Jones talks about basketball and "Yo Mama" jokes, in a piece adapted from his play, "Birth of the Boom."

Karen Michel reports on the Alice Neel retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Painter of New York's famous and not-so-famous, Neel's uncompromising adherence to figurative painting at the height of abstract expressionism left her outside the city's art scene for much of her life. The Whitney exhibit is the first major retrospective of Alice Neel's artwork since her death in 1984.

NPR's Nina Totenberg reports on a very conservative appeals court that made a series of important and controversial decisions that made it to the Supreme Court this past term. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals was upheld by the Supreme Court on its ruling that a key part of the Violence Against Women Act was unconstitutional. But the Supreme Court rejected the 4th Circuit's decision that the Miranda warnings to a criminal suspect were not necessary if a court were confident the defendant's confession was given voluntarily.

Kathy Witkowsky reports on a controversial plan to re-introduce grizzly bears into the Bitterroot mountains of Montana and Idaho. Opponents of the plan fear that the presence of the bears will endanger human lives. Supporters argue that grizzly attacks on humans are extremely rare and that any problem bears will be removed or killed.

Commentator Cecilie Berry blames parents for the bad behavior of today's children. Parents, she says, don't speak up enough when they see other people's kids acting up. Parents are more interested in high achieving children than children who behave. Grownups used to be a "united front" who helped each other raise kids. Now things are more fragmented, and everyone, she says, suffers as a result.

NPR's Michael Sullivan reports from Kabul on the plight of women in Afghanistan. Two weeks ago Taleban leaders in Afghanistan issued an edict banning women from working for foreign aid agencies. The ban is the latest action by the Taleban to curtail the activities of women under its interpretation of Islamic law.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden in Jerusalem reports on reaction to the collapse of the Middle East summit among Israelis and Palestinians.

NPR's Alex Chadwick concludes a two-part Radio Expedition series on Palmyra, a small, privately owned coral atoll a thousand miles south of Hawaii. The rainy island remains uninhabited by humans. It swarms with bird and animal life, and the lagoons are filled with schools of large tropical fish. The Nature Conservancy hopes to purchase Palmyra from the three American brothers who own it.

Steve Young of Vermont Public Radio reports on a new agricultural temp agency. It helps dairy farmers find workers when they need help, and allows them take vacations, which was impossible for farm families before.

Commentator David Frum says the problem with political conventions is not that they're boring. It's that they are staged, which is not going to change as long as there are television cameras are there.