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Liane Hansen speaks with jazz composer and bandleader Carla Bley. Perhaps best know for her big- and VERY big-bands, she's pared down to a mid-sized group of eight top-notch players for her new cd, 4X4. (WATT records 012 159 547-2).

British Prime Minister Tony Blair says battling crime will be a top priority in the government's new legislative agenda. His pledge comes as officials are investigating the murder of a ten-year old Nigerian boy in London, which sparked loud public outcry. NPR's Julie McCarthy has the story.

Oregon's college football teams are accustomed to losing. But they are laughing stocks no more. This season, as NPR's Tom Goldman reports, the University of Oregon and Oregon State University are both ranked in the top 15. The Ducks and the Beavers don't have fearsome nicknames, but the two schools could square off in one of the most important games in Oregon's history --- for a berth in the Rose Bowl.

NPR's Jack Speer reports on an agreement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and top accounting firms for guidelines requiring the companies to disclose the value of their consulting contracts with businesses they also audit. Both sides agree the new voluntary rules will help assure investors that they're getting a reliable look at a company's financial health.

Hurricane Ivan moves inland along the Gulf Coast, spawning tornadoes, causing flooding and tearing beach houses from their foundations. Its top winds have dropped to 80 mph, but the storm remains dangerous. Hear NPR's Jon Hamilton.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell is resigning after four years in the agency's top job. His efforts to lift ownership restrictions on media properties earned him critics on both the left and right.

Guest host Jacki Lyden gets a demo of the Web site meetup.com from one of its co-founders, Scott Heiferman. The Web site has helped Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean move to the top of the fundraising list. But it also helps pug lovers, gardeners and knitters, among others, to "meet up."

The Senate votes of 53-45 to approve former Alabama Attorney General William Pryor's nomination to a lifetime seat on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Republicans hailed Pryor as a top-notch public servant, even as many Democrats described him as a right-wing extremist.

Two worlds have come together in a rare teaching program at one of the nation's top universities. Students at Stanford University are reaching across a cultural divide to help tutor the Mexican immigrants who clean their classrooms and dorms.

This is going to be a big weekend for college sports. There's basketball -- of course -- but for commentator Bob Cook, the real action is going to be at Bethany College in Kansas. It's the President's Cup, where the top four collegiate chess programs in the nation will compete. But, he says, the tournament's favorites are as disliked in the chess world as any outlaw basketball program.