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Commentator Richard Rosenfeld talks about how the issue of religious tolerance was an issue in the Presidential campaign two hundred years ago. Then the candidates John Adams and Thomas Jefferson battled over the formation of an official state religion. Today the role of spirituality in public life is again being debated.

From Peoria, Illinois, WCBU's Jonathan Ahl reports on family farmers from Greece, Poland and the Midwest who are looking for advice on how to save family farms. They say they need new tools to keep market and pricing systems from forcing them out of business.

NPR's Jack Speer reports on the current state of the Stock Market. Yesterday, the Dow hit its fifth worst single-day decline ever. Turmoil in the Mideast and a major spike in oil prices are two culprits in the market's dive.

Ev Ehrlich comments on the Nobel Prize in Economics. Economic theory has changed over the years to reflect contemporary conditions, and the choices for recent prizes reflect those shifts.

NPR's Ted Clark reports on the United States' reaction to the crumbling situation in the Middle East in the face of recent terrorist acts in Yemen against the U.S. and Britain and increasing violence in Israel.

Violence also erupted elsewhere in the Middle East today. Israeli helicopter gunships launched attacks against Palestinian targets. Among the targets: the headquarters of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Gaza City. Arafat was not injured. Israel says the attacks are in retaliation for the killing of Israeli soldiers. Three soldiers had made a wrong turn into Palestinian territory, and sought refuge at Palestinian police station. But a mob of hundreds of Palestinians surrounded the building, and beat at least two of the soldiers to death. Mike Shuster of NPR News talks to host Robert Siegel about the incidents.

NPR's Sarah Chayes reports from Paris on the Chinese-born writer Gao Xingjian, who was honored today with the Nobel Prize for Literature. Gao -- the first Chinese writer ever to win the literature prize -- has been living in self-imposed exile in France since 1987. The Swedish Academy honored him for his novels and plays about the struggle for individuality in mass culture.

The second debate between Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore was more polite than the first, but there were contentious moments. Gore criticized the Texas governor's record on health care and hate crime legislation, citing statistics from Bush's home state. Robert talks to Dave McNeely, political columnist for the Austin American Statesman. He joins us by phone from Austin, Texas.

NPR's Richard Knox reports on clues to the earth's formation that are falling from the sky. Last January, a real estate agent in Canada witnessed the crash of a meteorite he described as a gigantic white light from the sky. A week later an amateur scientist discovered pieces of the meteorite, collected and preserved them in the freezer. Scientists now say it's the best sample they have yet to study how the earth was formed.

NPR's Jim Zarroli reports that two of the nation's largest oil companies are merging. Chevron is acquiring Texaco in a stock swap valued at more than 35-billion dollars. The deal announced today is seen as an answer to other recent mergers in the oil industry, including the mergers of Exxon and Mobil and British Petroleum with Amoco. The new company will be called Chevron Texaco and will be headquartered in San Francisco.