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NPR's Michele Kelemen reports on a dispute at the highest levels of the Russian military. A long-standing personal rivalry between the defense minister and the chief of general staff broke into the open this week. The chief of staff suggested scaling back Russia's strategic missile force. The defense minister called the idea "madness." President Vladimir Putin has so far refused to take sides.

The Department of Justice is investigating whether baseball's Baltimore Orioles have illegally refused to sign players who defect from Cuba. Senator Jesse Helms claims team owner Peter Angelos instituted the policy to maintain good relations with Fidel Castro. But some baseball insiders say another factor may be at work: Cuban defectors quickly find agents and don't come cheap. NPR's Tom Goldman has the story.

NPR's Chris Arnold reports the Internet music company Napster has been hauled into court by the music industry for its popular system that allows people to download copyrighted music for free. But even if the recording industry prevails, its battle against web piracy may have just begun. There's a new breed of free music services that go beyond Napster's technology.

Commentator David Fleischaker blames high gas prices around the country on consumers who drive gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles. He suggests leaders could help by educating consumers, encouraging exploration for oil and gas, and mandating minimum mileage. Fleischaker is an independent oil and gas producer who lives in Oklahoma City.

NPR's Debbie Elliott tells Linda Wertheimer a Florida jury has ordered tobacco companies to pay more than 144-Billion dollars in punitive damages to sick smokers.

Commentator Jeremy Rifkin says in the world where we measure nano-seconds and have every time-saving device imaginable, we still find ourselves without free time. Our culture is obsessed with efficiency. Rifkin is looking for a paradigm that replaces efficiency with sufficiency.

Commentators Katharine Mieszkowski and Kaitlin Quistgaard talk about Virgin Atlantic's announcement that passengers will soon be able to receive phone calls and e-mail in flight, destroying one of the last oases of unconnected time. Fliers won't be able to escape deal-making seatmates and second-hand cell phone noise.

Noah talks to George Pully, a deacon at the Beulah Christian Church in Zebulon, North Carolina, about a bell that was stolen from his church. It was one of four antique bells stolen from churches and homes in the Raleigh, North Carolina area last weekend. The missing bells are all quite large, weighing between 50 and 1500 pounds.

The Taliban took over Kabul a month ago. How is the U.S. dealing with the group's interim government in Afghanistan and what challenges lie ahead?

NPR's Ted Clark reports on the fourth day of the summit at Camp David, where the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks remain shrouded in secrecy. US spokesmen refuse to provide any substantive details of the meetings, nor will they say whether there has been any progress.