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NPR's Martin Kaste reports that in addition to all of the usual problems associated with illegal drug production, the drug trade in Colombia is causing environmental problems. Chemicals such as ammonia and sulfuric acid, used in the production of cocaine, end up in rivers that flow through sensitive ecosystems such as the country's rain forest. Colombian officials have used the environmental argument to obtain a billion dollars of U-S aid money to fight the cocaine industry. They say their efforts to eradicate illegal drug production will save vast areas of rain forest.

A note on a lawsuit stemming from the use of a picture of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara in a vodka advertising campaign. Alberto Diaz Gutierrez, who took the photo in 1965, still lives in Cuba, and has filed suit against the British ad company representing Smirnoff Vodka for the use of the picture.

NPR's Eric Weiner reports that the President of Indonesia used his state-of-the nation speech today to apologize for his performance in his first 10 months in office. Abdul Rahman Wahid has been under intense criticism for failure to cope with the country's severe economic problems, ethnic and religious violence, and corruption at a level that frightens away foreign investment. Some lawmakers have talked of impeachment, but the general consensus seems to be that Indonesia has spent the last few years in political turmoil and that the new president should be given more time to solve problems.

NPR's Linda Gradstein reports from Jerusalem on the uproar caused by an orthodox rabbi's derogatory remarks about Arabs, and about Jews who died in the Holocaust. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the leader of Israel's ultra-orthodox Shas party , has been busily trying to backtrack on his charges over the weekend that Arabs were unfit to live with or near and that the Jews who died in the holocaust were "reincarnated sinners," or Jews whose secular ways had offended God. In one single sermon he offended both Israelis and Arabs. Yosef's part was until recently a part of the governing coalition.

Janet Heimlich reports on the flaws in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. She examines the role of DNA testing in the case of a Texas man who was convicted of rape ten years ago.

Jacky Rowland reports from Belgrade that the Yugoslav Army said today it will file terrorism charges against two British policemen and two Canadians arrested in Montenegro last week. The two Britons were serving in Kosovo, helping train a new police force. The Canadians were also working in Kosovo, for a construction company. The four say they were just taking a holiday break in Montenegro. The Yugoslav government is exploiting the case politically, ahead of next month's presidential election.

NPR's Tovia Smith profiles the man Al Gore has asked to join him on the Democratic ticket. Joseph Lieberman began life as the son of a liquor store owner who never went to college. But he studied hard, got a scholarship to Yale and then attended law school there. After that it was the state legislature, the state attorney general's office and an upset win over a senior Republican senator in 1988. Now, thanks to his reputation for religious commitment and moral fiber, Lieberman suddenly finds himself on the national stage.

In the first part of a series on female vocalists, NPR's Special Correspondent Susan Stamberg profiles singer Stacey Kent. Kent's, new album was inspired by the singing and dancing of Fred Astaire. It's called, Let Yourself Go: Celebrating Fred Astaire. (6:42) Let Yourself Go: Celebrating Fred Astaire by Stacey Kent is available on Candid-Navarre; ASIN: B0000

NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr takes a look at Al Gore's unorthodox choice for a running mate, orthodox Jew Jospeh Lieberman.

The Reform Party opened its national convention in Long Beach California today, still divided over the official standing of presidential candidate Pat Buchanan. Supporters of the firebrand conservative insist he has won a mail-in primary for the Reform nomination, while other party members say he has been disqualified. Buchanan supporters had the upper hand in the convention hall, so the dissenters walked out. NPR's Andy Bowers talks to Noah live from Long Beach.