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Boston's Cardinal Law will comply with a subpoena to appear before a grand jury investigating the church-abuse scandal. The move comes on the heels of a legal settlement with New Hampshire church officials who admit they violated criminal laws. NPR's Tovia Smith reports.

Robert Siegel and Michele Norris read from some of this week's letters.

NPR's David Welna reports on the latest developments about Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott. Today, President Bush weighed in on the matter for the first time, saying that Lott's comments -- which seemingly endorsed the views held by Strom Thurmond when Thurmond ran for president on a segregationist platform in 1948 -- were "offensive" and "wrong." Mr. Bush made his comments before an enthusiastic Philadelphia audience made up of many minorities. But the President refused to ask for Lott's resignation as leader.

NPR's Jack Speer reports President Bush is naming former Goldman Sachs investment banker Stephen Friedman as his top economics adviser. Friedman is being appointed to the White House job despite an aggressive campaign to torpedo his candidacy by some conservative Republicans.

A 12-day-old general strike in Venezuela turns violent again as supporters and critics of President Hugo Chavez battle in Caracas. Detractors say Chavez has impoverished the country. The leftist leader fired four dissident oil executives Thursday, increasing tensions. NPR's Gerry Hadden reports.

NPR Religion Correspondent Duncan Moon reports on the dilemma the Roman Catholic Church faces over whether to give the Boston Archdiocese the go ahead to declare bankruptcy. Cardinal Bernard Law, archbishop of Boston, resigned this week after meeting with Vatican officials in Rome. Moon reports that bankruptcy may not remove the tremendous financial problems the Boston Archdiocese faces because of lawsuits, filed by victims of alleged sexual abuse by Catholic priests.

Starting Dec. 16, Morning Edition premieres its first original radio play, "I'd Rather Eat Pants." The five-act play, starring Edward Asner and Anne Meara, is a comic tale of an elderly couple's cross-country trek on a young slacker's motorcycle. They're in search of fame, fortune and a whole lot more. NPR's Bob Edwards and Susan Stamberg have cameo roles.

NPR's Nancy Marshall reports a price war between two bus services recently cut the price of a trip from Washington to New York to $10. That particular fare didn't last long. Both bus services that offered it have raised their prices a bit, but budget travelers are still filling the buses, even though most of them leave in the middle of the night. The buses go from Chinatown D.C. to Chinatown in New York and are a good enough bargain to lure passengers away from Greyhound. NPR's Nancy Marshall reports.

Michele Norris talks with David Hampton, editorial director for the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., about how the Trent Lott controversy is playing out in his home state. Hampton says the Clarion-Ledger has been deluged with mail, both condemning and supporting Lott.

Adding to a tense standoff centered on its nuclear ambitions, North Korea tells the United Nations it wants surveillance cameras removed from a nuclear plant it intends to reopen. China may be asked to play a diplomatic role in the evolving crisis. NPR's Vicky O'Hara reports.