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NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports Palestinians in the West Bank town of Nablus are in no mood to compromise in the search for a peace settlement with Israel. They have rejected President Clinton's proposals and are vowing to continue their uprising to end Israeli occupation. They're also warning Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority not to defy the will of the people.

Noah talks with John Eldridge, who covers nuclear, biological and chemical weapons for Jane's Defense Weekly, about the kinds of weapons that use depleted uranium, and why it's preferred over other materials.

NPR's David Welna reports on how well President-elect Bush's nominee for Education Secretary did on his first big test today. At his Senate confirmation hearing, Rod Paige got high marks from Senators in both parties. He called for more testing for students and teachers, and stuck by his support for Bush's voucher plan.

NPR's Jim Zarroli reports that American Airlines made it official today. It will acquire financially-troubled TWA. In a separate deal, American also announced that it is buying some of US Airways assets and will take a major stake in a startup airline, DC Air. American's parent corporation, AMR, gets TWA's 190 planes and 175 gates at airports around the country. American has also agreed to provide employment to almost all of TWA's 20,000 employees.

California and federal officials met until late last night in Washington in hopes of solving the state's bedeviling electricity crisis. California Governor Gray Davis has proposed a variety of tactics to deal with the double threat of potential blackouts and high prices. But one town isn't waiting for the bigwigs to act. West Hollywood is looking for a cheaper and better way of keeping the lights on. NPR's Ina Jaffe has the story.

A note on some of the milestones in the history of Trans World Airlines.

Robert talks with David Stempler of AirTrav Advisors about the corporate differences between airlines. With the exception of airlines such as Southwest, the flying experience for the customer has pretty much been the same across the board, and that airline customers probably won't notice much difference when they fly, he says.

NPR's Rob Gifford reports that China today announced the launch of an unmanned rocket it hopes eventually will carry astronauts into space. Currently, only Russia and the U.S. are capable of manned space flight. China says three or four more test flights will be needed before it attempts a manned flight. The Long March rocket blasted off from a launch center in the Gobi Desert and Chinese officials say it will be used to conduct experiments on the effects of space on life forms.

NPR's Guy Raz reports from Pristina on the reaction of NATO-led peacekeepers and the United Nations administration in Kosovo to reports that peacekeepers in the Balkans have become ill, because of contact with depleted uranium weapons. Spokespeople for the peacekeepers and U.N. say that until now, troops have not roped off sites where the weapons were used. They note a lack of resources and say there is still no proof that residue from the depleted uranium weapons poses a health risk. Kosovar Albanians are skeptical of the reports about high cancer rates among peacekeepers, suggesting the claims are intended to undermine international support for the Kosovo peacekeeping operation.

NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that the Chavez implosion is another example of a cover-up gone awry.