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NPR's Eric Weiner reports from Sydney, Australia as the track and field competition gets underway. All eyes are on Marion Jones. Today she began her quest for five gold medals with a leisurely win in 11.20 seconds in her first-round heat.

Watching the Olympic games in Sydney, Commentator James Finn Garner yearns for the days when the U.S. had a rival to reckon with.

NPR's Brian Naylor reports that the House and Senate are far apart on a strategy for completing the spending bills required before the new fiscal year begins on October 1st. There are divisions between House and Senate Republicans. The possibility is being raised of holding a lame duck session after the election.

Robert Siegel speaks with Dr. Darrell Burnett, a sports psychologist who specializes in counseling young athletes. He believes involvement in sports for young people is good for them, though intense specialty at an early age may not be the best thing for a youngster below the age of 13 or 14. Kids that young may burn out and lose interest. Dr. Burnett also says kids must pursue their sport based on their own interest, not that of their parents. Dr. Burnett is author of Youth, Sports, & Self Esteem: A Guide for Parents. (9:00) Burnett's WebPage is: http://www.djburnett.com

NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports that with just two days before Yugoslavia's presidential election, there's growing anxiety in Belgrade and abroad about the possible aftermath of the vote. Polls show opposition candidate Vojislav Kostunica leading Slobodan Milosevic. But many opposition leaders and analysts believe that Milosevic, an indicted war criminal, will resort to anything to stay in power.

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has been blamed for much of the bloodshed in the Balkans. Yet Commentator Iain Guest, a visiting fellow at the Overseas Development Council in Washington, D.C., says the elections this weekend are more about principle than personality. Demonizing Milosevic, Guest says, just strengthens his position.

French President Jaques Chirac is angrily denying charges that he was involved in unscrupulous fundraising for his party, and kickbacks to construction companies, while he was Mayor of Paris in the 1980's. The allegations come from a videotaped interview with a man who was an aide to Chirac during those years -- but has since died. Robert talks to John Henley, Correspondent for the Guardian newspaper in Paris about the story.

President Clinton has authorized the release of thirty-million barrels of oil from the nation's emergency reserves. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson made the announcement this afternoon. He denied that the move was political -- but instead said it was aimed at ensuring enough supply heading into the winter heating season. Linda talks to NPR's Pam Fessler about the news.

NPR's John Ydstie reports the U.S. joined the central banks of Europe, Japan, England and Canada in a coordinated effort to stop the slide of the Euro. The intervention in the foreign exchange markets seemed to work, at least for now. The Euro climbed as high as 90 cents, but then fell back a bit later in the day.

A British court ruled today that a pair of conjoined twins must be separated. Separating them will kill one of the twins. They only have one heart. The parents of the twins are devout Roman Catholics and oppose separating them, they may appeal to the House of Lords or the European Court of Human Rights. We hear a report from the BBC's John Duce.

NPR's Michael Sullivan reports that yesterday India announced that it would pull its contingent out of a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone. India, with the second-largest contingent of troops is pulling out at a time when the United Nations is attempting to increase the number of peacekeepers in the embattled West African nation.

Commentator Craig Childs says there's a special place in the southern Utah desert that's transformed four times a year when the seasons change. It's an ancient calendar that's hand-carved into the cliffs.