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A new courthouse scheduled to open this week in Las Vegas is the first building to incorporate new architectural guidelines adopted after the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City in 1995. Noah talks to Mehrdad Yazdani, Director of Design at Dworsky Asscociates in Los Angeles, California, about the building.

NPR's Richard Knox reports from the International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa that a widely used spermicide, once thought to prevent the spread of HIV, may actually increase the risk of transmission. New research suggests nonoxynol-9 can increase the likelihood that some women will be infected with HIV. The study was presented today.

When United Airlines and US Airways announced that they wanted to merge, the plan included the creation of a new airline - DC Air - which would be owned by Media Mogul Robert Johnson, of Black Entertainment Television. Commentator Leon Wynter says the prospect is a windfall for Johnson, who Wynter contends has turned his media empire into America's official black brand.

NPR's Cheryl Corley reports on the dilemma facing states that have passed bans on so-called "partial birth" abortions. When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a Nebraska law that outlawed the procedures, it cast Constitutional doubt on similar laws in twenty-nine other states. Abortion opponents in several of those states are working to craft new bans. They hope rewritten laws will be able to pass Constitutional muster. But it may not be an easy task.

All Things Considered staff member Debra Schifrin talks about her recent 10 year high school reunion in the San Francisco Bay area. Having lived on the East Coast for six years, she was shocked at how the incredible wealth that has flooded Silicon Valley has affected her high school class. And she was surprised at her own reaction to all the talk about money.

Next week President Clinton will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at Camp David. A sticking point to final settlement talks for the Palestinians is the fate of four million refugees. Scott speaks with Middle East experts Susan Akram, of Boston University and Nicole Brackman of the Washington Institute of Near East Policy.

Scott speaks with gardening guru and doyenne of dirt Ketzel Levine about her move. Ketzel's moved to a new house in Portland, Oregon and, therefore, on to a new garden.

NPR's Tom Gjelten reports from Cuba on Fidel Castro's "doctor diplomacy." Since 1963, Cuba has sent some 25,000 doctors to work in the developing world. But lately Havana seems to be changing its approach: it has opened a special school to train medical students from across Latin America. Cuba is footing the bill for the more than three thousand students in the initial class. After they graduate, they will return to their countries to work in underserved areas.

A brief summary of some of the other news on today's program.

Vice President Al Gore brought the NAACP convention delegates to their feet today. Welcomed as a "member of the family," the Democratic presidential candidate served up Scripture, promises to fight hate crimes and discrimination, and tough talk about his Republican rival and GOP leaders in Congress. NPR's Anthony Brooks reports from Baltimore.