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Deborah talks with NPR's Michael Skoler, who visited the strategic city of Kisangani in northeast Zaire today. Zairean rebels are advancing on the city, which is the base for the government's military operations. If Kisangani falls, many believe that would signal the end of the government of President Mobutu Sese Seko (mo-BOO-too SAY-SAY SAY-ko), who has ruled the vast central African nation for more than three decades. (4:00) CUTAWAY 2C 0:59 2D

NPR's Michael Sullivan reports that Sri Lankans went to the polls today to elect a new parliament, but in the city of Jaffna, residents seem disinterested in the results. They don't believe that the election will end the 17-year war between government forces and Tamil Tiger separatists, who are fighting for control of the region. The government currently has control of Jaffna, but the rebels are fighting hard to take the city, which they view as the cultural and spiritual home of Sri Lanka's Tamil minority.

Urban Chinese are embracing the Internet. One especially popular site is Ninth City, which provides an imaginary world. Men and women can plan weddings, invite guests, set up registries and tie the knot -- multiple times. There are half-a-million bloggers now. But a digital divide remains between wired city dwellers and poor, often illiterate country peasants.

Cawker City, Kans., boasts one of America's great roadside attractions: the world's largest ball of sisal twine. Is the claim really true? NPR's Steve Inskeep investigates in a conversation with Kay Thull of the Cawker City Community Club.

White-and-middle-class black flight to the suburbs has left Detroit's landscape pockmarked with abandoned homes and buildings. The city has demolished some of these structures. But not everyone agrees bulldozing is the best solution.

NPR's Ivan Watson reports that U.S. forces are working hard to win public support in Mosul -- the city where American troops have met their greatest resistance. Tensions are running high in this northern Iraqi city, long a bastion of Arab nationalism and considerable support for Saddam Hussein. The influx of Kurds has the Arab majority edgy, and they're taking out their frustrations on U.S. troops.

The Italian city of Turin is about to take the world stage as the host of the 2006 Winter Olympics, but its citizens seem rather blasé about the event. This northern Italian city is a complex mixture of the old and the modern, and it has seen enough history to be unfazed by a single sporting or media event.

Bright lights, big cities and neon... The signs that illuminate the landscape of many American cities were first seen in Los Angeles. Alex Cohen of member station KQED rides along on a tour that spotlights the neon landmarks of Los Angeles -- kicking off a Day to Day series featuring summer tours around America.

The mayor said the two intruders were making a mockery of the city. The tourists were fined and their surfboards confiscated — then they were expelled from the city of canals.

Author Joshua Olsen talks about Better Places, Better Lives. It's a biography of James Rouse, the renowned city planner behind the shopping mall. Rouse planned Columbia, Md., one of the best-planned communities in America, but some of his other ideas for saving America's cities and controlling urban sprawl didn't meet his expectations.