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General Motors reports that its profits for the third quarter of 1996 are double what they were for the same quarter last year. NPR's Don Gonyea reports that despite the good financial news, more than ten thousand auto workers have been laid off from GM plants in the US and in Mexico due to the Canadian Auto Workers' strike against GM.

NPR's Eric Weiner reports that King Hussein of Jordan and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat toured the West Bank today in a show of solidarity. The king's visit to the West Bank was his first since Israel captured the territory during the Six-Day War twenty-nine years ago.

last night after a power failure, which left tens of thousands of commuters stranded.

From the Zairean capital, Kinshasha, NPR's Jennifer Ludden eports on the success of Tutsi rebels in eastern Zaire, who are continuing to ake military gains. Last month, the rebels attacked Rwandan Hutu militia holed p in sprawling refugee camps, forcing more than half a million Hutu to return ome to Rwanda. Now, they say the want to topple the government of Zairean resident Mobutu Sese Seko (moh-BOO-too SAY-see SAY-koh).

In another of our audi postcards, NPR's Mike Shuster visits the legendary Uzbek city of Samarkand and tells the story of Ulug Beg, an enlightened 14th century leader and one of the world's first astronomers.

Jackie talks to Zia Jaffrey about her new book The Invisibles, A Tale of the Eunuchs of India. The history of the Eunuchs or `hijras' as they are called in India, has never been documented. Jaffrey gives readers a glimpse into the culture of these castrated, cross-dressing men. She says even though she spent many months in India interviewing them and collecting information on this closed group of people, Jaffrey says much about the Hijras remains as mystery.

Commentator Donald McCaig tells the story of "Uncle Peewee" - a 97 year old man - who died recently. For the people of Williamsville, West Virginia, it was the loss of their last nineteenth-century man.

Linguist GEOFF NUNBERG on corporate language. REV. : Jazz critic KEVIN WHITEHEAD reviews the reissue "Earl Hines Plays Cole Porter" (New World).

the former Soviet Central Asia for business and political influence. Trying to sidestep the US-inspired trade boycott, Iran is building a railroad into the former Soviet republic of Turkmenistan in an effort to channel trade from the region through its Persian Gulf ports.

NPR's Tom Gjelten reports that Western powers are getting closer to agreeing on the creation of a multinational force to provide security for the delivery of aid to a million refugees in eastern Zaire. Canada has apparently offered to lead such a force. The Clinton administration agrees that some sort of military intervention will be necessary, but it won't participate until numerous details about the size and mandate of the force are worked out. Some countries, notably France, have sharply criticized the US go-slow attitude, accusing Washington of dragging its feet.

is causing problems for local telephone companies, and their customers. The telephone networks were designed for relatively short voice communication, not the lengthy data transfers common on the internet. The local phone companies have complained to the FCC that the internet access providers should be treated just like long-distance carriers.

could soon be used to help Alzheimer's patients...a disease that causes irreversible memory loss in about five million people. The new drug was designed in a laboratory, and it's been shown to improve memory in rats and now in humans.