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NPR's Pam Fessler reports on the Democrats' push to get their agenda acted on during these final weeks of the 106th Congress. Led by President Clinton, Senate Leader Tom Daschle and House Leader Richard Gephardt, the Democrats once again urged passage of an increase in the minimum wage and a patients' bill of rights. But both parties know that much of what is going on maybe less about legislation and more about gaining the electoral advantage as November 7 approaches.

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.

Host Bob Edwards talks with Wendy Hamilton of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The group was founded twenty years ago.

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.

Sylvia Poggioli reports from Rome that the Vatican's watchdog agency, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, released a document today asserting the primacy of Roman Catholicism over all other world religions. The document's release follows just two days after the controversial beatification of Pius the Ninth, the pope who established the dogma of papal infallibility. The document released today asserts that non-Christians are "in a gravely deficient situation" with regard to salvation. Other Christian churches, it states, have defects, in part because they do not recognize papal authority.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports on the marathon Gore/Lieberman campaign swing through several key states yesterday. The tour began Sunday with a meeting with construction workers in Philadelphia, continuing to Flint, Michigan and Tampa Florida. The circuit ended in Louisville at a dinner sponsored by the AFL-CIO. Along the way, Al Gore spoke about issues he thinks will appeal to working families: tax breaks for the middle class, better wages, and lower prescription drug costs.

Veta Christy of Peach State Public Radio reports from Atlanta on a new paging system that's being installed on school buses and alerts school children in the morning, when their bus is within a few minutes of picking them up. It's called the Bus Pal, and sends a signal from the bus to a pager in the home, alerting them that the bus is approaching. It also alerts parents or caregivers, when students are about to be dropped off after school.

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.

One of the issues most often mentioned by voters this election year is education. The presidential candidates Al Gore andGeorge W. Bush are responding. Both men have made schools and education reform a top priority on the campaign trail. But as NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports, what can the president of the United States really do to improve the nation's schools?

Writer Lynn Nygren leaves today on what she and her family hope will be a five year cruise around the world. They are sailing in their sixty-foot sloop, Roxanne. She feels a queasy mix of confidence, excitement, and fear.

NPR's Martin Kaste reports from Cartagena, Colombia on the international convention of Narcotics Anonymous, a 12-Step Program for recovering drug addicts. About 15-hundred members of NA, mostly from the Americas, gathered in the Caribbean port city to celebrate their ongoing recovery from drug addiction. Ironically, the host country, Colombia, is the world's largest supplier of cocaine, and the second largest supplier of heroin and marijuana.

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.