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NPR's Vicky O'Hara reports people of Chinese descent in the United States, both citizens and non-citizens, have been alarmed by the recent arrests of academics by Chinese authorities. At least six U.S. citizens have been taken into Chinese custody since December, and an unknown number of non-U.S. citizens. Some of those who were detained and released have signed statements promising to keep their ordeals secret. Specialists in sociology and mass communication seem especially vulnerable to arrest. Some Chinese in this country are canceling plans to visit relatives back home.

NPR's Pam Fessler reports on the complaints and proposed changes in the U.S. census numbers.

Submarine Cmdr. Scott Waddle was formally reprimanded today by the Navy for a collision with a boat. Waddle was the captain of the USS Greeneville, the submarine that crashed into the Japanese vessel Ehime Maru in February. Nine people from the Ehime Maru -- including four high school students -- died when the ship sank. Waddle will not be court-martialed, and will not face a prison term. But today's hearing marks the end of his once promising Navy career. Linda Wertheimer speaks with NPR's Andy Bowers.

The partisan battles of George W. Bush's presidency are swiftly being joined in the evenly divided Senate, where the change of a single seat could change the party in control. That makes every vulnerable incumbent a marked man, and no one is more aware of it than freshman Democrat Max Cleland of Georgia. A narrow winner in 1996, Cleland is already campaigning at full speed for his re-election bid in 2002. NPR's Steve Inskeep reports.

NPR's Phillip Davis reports Florida's severe drought is causing state officials to consider a water saving plan. The idea is to inject billions of gallons of stormwater runoff into deep underground aquifers, then pump it out the next time there's a drought. The governor and state legislature are enthusiastic, but environmentalists fear for the potential contamination of Florida's underground sources of drinking water.

The 28th annual International Ramp Cook Off happens this coming weekend in Elkins, West Virginia. Commentator Michael Ivey says ramps are related to onions, garlic and leeks, but they're stronger and zestier. And they inspire a wide range of reactions.

It's been a stunning fall for California's largest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric Company. The company played a crucial role in California's fabled economic growth, and its clout was once unmatched in the state. But California's electricity crisis has been punishing for the utility. Its future now depends largely on a bankruptcy court judge. NPR's Elaine Korry has the story.

Linda Wertheimer interviews Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, former director of the White House Office of National Drug Policy under President Clinton. He is now president of McCaffrey Associates. They discuss the U.S. relationship with Peru and the war on drugs.

Three days after the Peruvian Air Force downed a small plane carrying a missionary family, military and diplomatic officials on two continents are still trying to sort out what happened. In Washington today, Bush administration spokesmen said the CIA had been involved in the drug interdiction effort that killed an American woman and her infant daughter. But they said the CIA-operated surveillance plane had no part in the decision that led to the tragedy. NPR's Tom Gjelten reports.

Linda Wertheimer talks with Michael Loftis, president of the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism, about the work that his organization's missionaries were doing in Peru. Loftis discusses how the shooting down of a plane over Peru might affect the Association's approach to its work. The Association has 1,300 people in 65 countries. James and Veronica Bowers went to Peru in 1994, lived on a houseboat, and traveled among villages on the Amazon to preach and teach the Bible.