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Russia's three days of voting for its parliament and city governments begin Friday. This political season has seen unusual tactics to keep Putin's opposition from running and off the ballot entirely.

Host Renee Montagne talks with actor and author John Lithgow about his new children's story, The Remarkable Farkle McBride. Lithgow intended to produce a musical program that would draw children to the symphony. Soon after he started, he realized he had the makings of a children's book as well. In the book, Farkle McBride is a musical prodigy that learns to play something from the 4 instrument groups that compose a symphony orchestra. Farkle eventually gives them all up in fits of frustration before he discovers his passion is for conducting. (7:00) John Lithgow's The Remarkable Farkle McBride is published by Simon & Schuster, ISBN: 0689833407.

Orlando de Guzman reports U-S diplomats and law enforcement officials are in the Philippines, trying to obtain the release of a 24-year-old American taken hostage by a brutal group of Muslim separatists. Jeffrey Schilling of Oakland, California, is the latest of dozens of foreigners to be kidnapped by rebels. He was abducted from a shopping center in Zamboanga City, by the group known as Abu Sayaf. The same group beheaded two school teachers earlier this year when demands for their release were not met. Nonetheless, the U-S State Department says the US will not pay ransom, change policies, release prisoners or make any concessions that reward hostage-taking.

The government of Tartarstan -- part of the Russian Federation -- has decided to switch from using the Cyrillic alphabet to the Roman alphabet. The switch is timed to coincide with the 10-year anniversary of self-rule in Tartarstan. Robert talks with Martha Brill Olcott, a Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Brill co-authored Getting It Wrong: Regional Cooperation in the Commonwealth of the Independent States. (4:30) Brill's book is published by Carnegie Press, 0ctober 1999.

Osteoporosis is fast becoming one of the nation's leading health care problems. NPR's Alison Richards has part two of her series on the disease. She reports on two things that could prevent osteoporosis: increasing calcium intake and increasing vigorous exercise. The calcium issue is tricky, because our bodies are programmed to absorb only a small amount of the calcium we take in. And our more sedentary lifestyles make it hard to get all the weight-bearing exercise we need.

Bernd Klosterfelde talks about his new CD, Nie Mehr Allein (Alone No More), released in Germany last February. The CD is a compilation of household sounds intended to evoke the presence of a non-existent partner. Klosterfelde came up with the idea after his divorce. He says the disc can be used to make one feel less lonely, or to remind one of how annoying a partner can be. Klosterfelde says an English version will be released soon. (4:45) The label is Delta Music.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports on the latest developments in the huge Firestone tire recall, including more fatalities in crashes likely related to the defect. At the same time, eight-thousand U.S. Firestone workers are threatening to strike parent company Bridgestone. And the Venezuelan government is considering criminal charges against both Ford and Bridgestone.

Sarah Chayes reports the French government has offered a package of tax reductions to the fishing industry to offset the high price of fuel. Fishers enraged by prices that have increased 140-percent in a year have been blockading ports around France for the past week. Following the government's concessions, fishing unions have urged an end to the protests. But not all the fishermen have complied, and taxi drivers, truckers and farmers say the tax reductions for fishers do nothing to alleviate their high fuel prices.

Linda talks with Hod Lipson, a research scientist at Brandeis University about a robot he and computer scientist Jordan Pollack designed, which constructs other robots. He says this is a new step towards the autonomy of artificial life.

The cottontail rabbit used to be a common sight among the oak forests and mountain trails of New England. No more. NPR News correspondent John Nielsen reports on a request by conservationists to put what once was thought to be the most procreatively successful American animal on the endangered species list.