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The World Toe Wrestling Championships, the Cone Museum, and the Blood Pudding Tossing Contest: these along with other British eccentricities are celebrated in the light-hearted book Eccentric Britain. Host Jacki Lyden speaks to author Benedict le Vay about the people that in some countries would be looked at as crackpots, but in Britain are respected and even revered. (Eccentric Britain: The Guide to Britain's Follies and Foibles;The Globe Pequot Press; 2000)

Scott with some thoughts about when the public sector gets taken over by the private sector.

NPR's Laura Sydell reports on the increasing conversion of Latinos from Christianity to Islam. The number of Latinos Muslims remains small but mark a significant change. Sydell attended a gathering in Stockton California of Latino Muslims and has this report.

Scott speak with the "Math Guy," Keith Devlin, dean of science at St. Mary's College in Moraga, California, about Archimedes' palimpsest. Auctioned off two years ago, the recycled parchment holds the first clue into the connection between math and science.

She could become the nation's new First Lady - but what does the nation know of Laura Bush? This week's GOP convention will give voters the first chance to see the woman who stands at the candidate's side. NPR's Wade Goodwyn spent time with Bush friends and associates and brings us this profile of Laura Bush.

NPR's Tovia Smith reports that Massachusetts legislature is considering a bill that would prevent parents from testifying in court against their children. The legislation would give the parent-child relationship the same confidential or privileged status as that between a husband and wife or a patient and their doctor.

NPR's Rob Gifford takes a visit to a summer camp for overweight children in Shanghai China. The opening of American fast-food restaurants, and only children who are spoiled with sugary treats, have resulted in an explosion of obese children.

GOP Sen. John McCain of Arizona arrived in Philadelphia a day early to address the Shadow Convention, an unofficial gathering focused on campaign finance reform and poverty reduction. McCain urged his followers to turn their support to Governor Bush, which drew heckles from some in the audience. NPR's Lynn Neary reports from the University of Pennsylvania campus.

Convention planners have been worried about Seattle-style protests and disruptions this week in Philadelphia, but so far, the demonstrations have been low-key. NPR's Eric Westervelt reports on the Unity 2000 protest activities today.

UN Peacekeeping forces have begun to deploy along Israel's the border with Lebanon. Since the Israeli troop pull-out earlier this year, the border strip had been under the control of the Hizbollah Guerillas. Reporter Kate Seelye has more on what the arrival of peaccekeeping forces mean for the people of Southern Lebanon.