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- The 17-year-long Lebanese civil war is now a memory in the capital of Beirut, where workmen are trying to reconstruct the war-damaged capital. All the digging there has created a bonanza for Lebanese archeologists, who are excited about what they're uncovering. But NPR's Eric Weiner reports that the archeologists are also worried that the city's builders might bury or destroy some of the city's most valuable ancient treasures.

NPR's Ina Jaffe reports that civil rights groups and people who've sued the Los Angeles police department over racial profiling want to become monitors of the city's consent decree, which is designed to reform the L.A.P.D. With President-elect Bush on the record opposing such decrees, they are concerned that an appointed federal monitor won't effectively enforce the city's agreement.

Paris, the City of Light, once was the city of pig manure. It's a story told in Alistair Horne's The Seven Ages of Paris, a history of the French capital that captures medieval filth as well as modern grandeur. Horne speaks to NPR's Steve Inskeep.

New York City transit officials and union negotiators announce a tentative three-year agreement that will spare the city's seven million subway and bus riders a potentially crippling strike. Cindy Rodriquez of member station WNYC reports.

Jeff Brady of Oregon Public Radio reports on how some small and medium-sized cities have solved the problem with getting access to cable lines: they've started their own cable businesses. In Ashland, Oregon, competition from the city has made the private cable company widen its services, and provide open access to it's high-speed network for public schools and libraries. (

New York City has been touting its hotline for domestic violence victims who need emergency shelter. But those who call the hotline can wait weeks before a space opens up. As Beth Fertig of member station WNYC reports, victims of domestic violence are a significant share of the rising homeless population in New York City.

New York City police arrest nearly 1,000 protesters as they try to reach the site of the Republican convention. The marches began in various corners of the city, but police set up barricades to prevent protesters from reaching Madison Square Garden. Hear NPR's Margot Adler.

U.S. soldiers with the 1st Armored Division in Baghdad are recruiting and training Iraqis to serve as security guards at government ministries and other public buildings in the city. The move is aimed at lowering the profile of U.S. troops on the city's streets. NPR's Deborah Amos reports.

Baghdad plunges into darkness in the first widespread power outage since the war began. Some Iraqis flee the city amid growing chaos. Iraqi officials blame the blackout on the Americans but a U.S. military spokesman says the city's power grid was not targeted in bombing raids. Hear NPR's Anne Garrels.

NPR's Puzzlemaster Will Shortz quizzes a listener on words that can be transformed by adding a "y" to the end to create a made-up two-word phrase. And he has a challenge for everyone at home. This week's winner is John Robinson from Iowa City, Iowa. He listens on member station KSUI in Iowa City.