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Marion Jones won Olympic Bronze in the long jump, finishing three inches behind Germany's Heike Dreschler. It was her third medal in these games, but ends her quest for FIVE GOLD medals. Jones has already won two golds -- in the 100 and 200 meters. She still plans to run in two relays tomorrow. In an even bigger surprise, NPR's Eric Weiner reports, Morocco's Hicham el Gerrouj suffered a bitter defeat in the 1500 meters. He'd been virtually unbeatable since getting tangled with another runner and finishing last at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

Austin, Texas online columnist Mike Jasper thinks its time to allow any kind of performance enhancing drug athletes want for the Olympics -- to level the playing field. In his tongue-in-cheek commentary, he advocates equal opportunity for all players.

NPR's Ted Clark reports that the Taliban, the militant Islamic movement that's taken over most of Afghanistan, has sent a delegation to the U.S. to lobby for international recognition of the Taliban as the country's legitimate government. The Taliban is trying to gain Afghanistan's United Nations seat. It also wants to dilute international criticism in the areas of human rights and terrorism. The Taliban has refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, who's accused of masterminding the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in Africa.

Robert talks to Geneive Abdo, a correspondent for the Guardian newspaper, about the reform movement in Iran. Abdo says the crackdown on the reformist press has muzzled the ability of the reformers to communicate their ideas with the electorate. She says it proves the real power still lies with the hard-liners, despite recent electoral victories.

Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman was regarded as a bold and risky choice for a vice presidential candidate, the first Jew to appear on a major party's national ticket. Since he was named in August, Lieberman has clearly helped the man who picked him, Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore. But while Lieberman's strong emphasis on his religion and ethnicity has been a plus, it has also generated controversy in some unexpected ways. NPR's Nina Totenberg reports.

Each fall, the New York Jets welcome a few lucky fans to a special training camp for women only. It was originally designed to help football widows better understand the game. But Tandaleya Wilder reports most of the women at this year's camp came to improve their own performance on the gridiron.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports on a second straight day of violence at Jerusalem's holiest site, where at least four Palestinian protestors were killed and dozens more wounded in clashes with Israeli riot police.

NPR's Mandalit Del Barco reports on how regular bus and rail riders are dealing with the two-week-old public transit strike in Los Angeles. Many of these people are poor, service workers who don't own car. The extra costs of getting to their jobs have left some worried about how they'll pay for rent and groceries.

Commentator Mark Jenkins was a student at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia in 1971. He says the new film Remember the Titans, which is based on events in at Williams High that year, doesn't square with his memory of the school.

This week, entertainment industry executives proclaimed to Congress that they would never again allow young children to be part of the industry's test audience for R-rated films. Satirists Amy Dickinson and Rebecca Flowers pretend to be two 9-year-olds who took part in the screenings.