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After appearances by Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin before House and Senate committees yesterday and today, the parameters of the budget debate are beginning to emerge. There's likely to be agremeent on changing the way the Consumer Price Index is calculated, for example, but disagreement over a capital gains tax. Still, NPR's Elizabeth Arnold reports that this budget negotiation is likely to be much easier than in previous years.

Some of the most common diseases in the United States are sexually transmitted: syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and hepatitis. But they're difficult to track and to treat. About a fourth of the 12 million cases that occur each year affect adolescents. The most serious consequences are born by women of child-bearing age who may become infertile or develop cancer as a result of untreated infections. NPR's Vicky Que (KWAY) reports that an Institute of Medicine study concludes that not enough is being done by either the private or the public sector to prevent these infections.

Heart disease is one of the main killers of African-Americans, who have a higher mortality rate than whites. But there are variations in the occurrence of heart disease among African-Americans from different regions of the country and different parts of the world. Those who immigrated to New York from the South had a much higher death rate from heart disease, and blacks from the Caribbean had a much lower rate...a lower rate even than whites. NPR's Joanne Silberner says the report suggests that factors ranging from diet to cultural and social conditions are more important than genes.

NPR'S MaryKay Magistad reports that Secretary Warren Christopher met today with China's top leaders to forge a better relationship between the United States and China. Though there was no official statement made, progress was made on several issues, including nuclear non-proliferation.

who have seized control of large areas of eastern Zaire and driven out the Hutu militias.

NPR's Richard Harris reports on a new study showing that women who eat a high-sugar, low-fiber diet greatly increase their risk for diabetes. But the American Diabetes Association said the study was flawed because it failed to find a link between diets that are high in fat and the development of diabetes. The study appears in tomorrow's Journal of the American Medical Association.

Music reviewer Tom Manoff has been swept away by a new recording of Alexander Borodin's String Quartet Number Two. Many people may have heard some of the familiar melodies in the musical "Kismet." Manoff reminds us that the musical was composed 70 years after the death of Borodin, and says that this new performance of the composer's work by the Takacs Quartet is magnificent.

about the defection of an important North Korean official. Hwang Jang Yop, is the highest official ever to desert the Ruling Workers party.

ever to be charged with espionage is in jail after being caught trying to sell secrets to the Russians.

about the implications of the latest spy charged in the CIA.