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A handful of nonprofit companies, mostly church-based, are challenging holiday shoppers to give money that will buy practical gifts to help needy people in developing countries. They ask Americans: 'instead of buying for the person who has everything, why not buy for the family that has nothing?' For more information...Alternative Gifts International 800-842-2243; Serve International 800-723-3712; World Concern 800-755-5022; Heifer Project International 800-422-0474; American Friends Service 888-588-2372

President Clinton has nominated for his national security team in his second term and the issues they will confront.

and opponents over a researcher's findings on concealed weapon laws. The study says that the 31 states allowing its citizens to carry concealed guns have a decreased rate of violent crimes.

Noah talks with NPR's Jennifer Ludden about conditions in the eastern Zairean city of Goma, recently captured by Zairean Tutsi rebels. The rebels escorted foreign journalists into the city today. The city is for the most part calm, though reporters were only allowed to see certain areas. Goma is the site of camps housing hundreds of thousands of Rwandan Hutu refugees; the battle for the city left the refugees cut off from food and medicine.

The BBC's Daniel Lack reports from Islamabad on the ouster of the government of Benazir Bhutto. A caretaker Prime Minister and nine cabinet members were sworn in this morning to replace the Bhutto government, which has been accused of widespread corruption. She is currently under an unofficial form of house arrest.

There is more to presidential politics than just the Republicans and Democrats fighting over control of the White House. Although Ross Perot did not receive as large a proportion of the vote in yesterday's election as he did in 1992, he made a significant showing in several states. We consider the fortunes of Perot, Ralph Nader, and other "minor party" presidential candidates.

NPR's Ina Jaffe reports the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has found NO link between the introduction of crack cocaine and CIA support of contra rebels in the 1980's. The Department was investigating charges first raised in a series of articles by the San Jose Mercury News, saying that the CIA had supported contras who were involved in the crack trade. The sheriffs spent 2 months investigating the charges.

For the past two weeks, NPR's Mike Shuster has been travelling through the former Soviet republics in Central Asia, following the ancient trade route known as the Silk Road... from Iran through Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and now Tadjikistan, which has been embroiled in a civil war since 1992. He spoke with Robert Siegel from the town of Garm, about 100 miles east of Tadjikistan's capital, Dushanbe. He says that the people in Garm are proud of their new-found independence, but are struggling to rebuild a city that has essentially collapsed with the departure of the Soviets and a four year civil war.

about the results and implications of last night's presidential and congressional races.

Noah talks with Ethan James, former rock musician and punk rock producer, now a passionate hurdy-gurdy player. He has just put out his first CD featuring the hurdy-gurdy. It's called "The Ancient Music of Christmas." James brings two hurdy-gurdies into the studio - one he made himself, and the other from Hungary. He demonstrates how they sound and describes what they look like.