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Host Liane Hansen speaks with Peter Shrag, ditorial page editor for the Sacramento (California) Bee newspaper, Richard ard, editor of the Miami Herald's Sunday Viewpoint Section and Mike hristiansen, Washington correspondent for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution bout the top stories in the news for the past year. Topics include the budget attle on Capitol Hill, the Oklahoma City bombing and the Simpson trial.

that their party's anti-regulatory position on environmental issues is going to cost them dearly in this year's elections. Major revisions in the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, and other environmental protection laws have been a top legislative priority for the new Republican majority.

NPR's Ina Jaffe reports on a plague that is threatening the sunny image of Beverly Hills. Something is causing some of the city's signature palm trees to lose their heads. The tops, or crowns, of a number of trees have simply broken off and crashed to the ground. But with $1.5 million in its "urban forestry" budget, the city is working hard to root out the cause and keep it from spreading. After all, just imagine what a palm crown weighing a ton and a half could do if it fell on someone's Ferrari!

- Daniel speaks to Khulu Sibiya, the Editor in Chief of City Press, a leading newspaper in South Africa, about the recent revelations that have surfaced during the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Several top ex-leaders including the former President of South Africa Pieter W. Botha are alleged to have had a major role in killings during the years of apartheid. The allegations were made this week during confessions by several high ranking police officers who admit to taking part in the killings.

It employs technology that General Motors accuses one of its former top executive of stealing, when he went to work for V.W. in 1993. Jose Lopez insists the idea for the plant at Resende, Brazil, is entirely his own.

Linda talks with Joe Jackson, a pop music correspondent for the Irish Times. They discuss the new CD collection of old Irish hymns called "Faith of our Fathers," which has hit the top of the pop charts in Ireland. (STATIONS: "Faith of Our Fathers," featuring Frank Patterson, Regina Nathan, the Monks of Glenstal Abbey and the Irish Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, is not yet available in the United States. It is expected to be released in March of this year, on the RTE label, catalogue number RTE CD198.) (8:00) ((ST

The United States Olympic Committee is wracked by turmoil. Again. Members of the group charged with promoting America's Olympic fortunes are bickering so incessantly that Congress will hold a hearing next week. A top corporate Olympic sponsor says the bureaucratic infighting could wind up harming athletes. NPR's Howard Berkes reports.

A new book about Howard Lutnick, the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, shows the personal and financial damage the Sept. 11 attacks caused the company. On Top of the World discusses how the brokerage firm survived after losing most of its employees in the terrorist attacks. NPR's Juan Williams reports.

Host Bob Edwards talks with commentator John Feinstein about high school basketball superstar LeBron James. He was benched after accepting two free sports jerseys worth nearly $900. Yesterday, a judge in Ohio said the 18-year old can play again, but he must sit out a total of two games. James is expected to be the top overall pick in this year's NBA draft.

Commentator Rawlins Gilliland, a public speaking-consultant and former National Endowment for the Humanities Poet-in-Residence, says other people's music seems to form a soundtrack to his life. It's a constant background din -- as he drives with his top down, talks on his cell phone, stops at a gas station, works out at his gym, visits a park, and finds a birthday party in progress on his own block.