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NPR's Ann Cooper reports on the work of South Africa's Truth Commission, which is trying to discover who was responsible for human rights abuses committed during apartheid. The commission has the power to grant amnesty to those who fully admit their crimes; the former white minority government insisted on this process as part of the price of a peaceful transition to democracy. While the Truth Commission's work is supposed to help heal the nation's wounds, testimony about gruesome acts of torture and murder is making it hard for many to forgive.

NPR's Mary Kay Magistad goes on a reporter's trip to the "Three Gorgeous Dam" in Central China.

Critic Bob Mondello has a review of the new romantic comedy "Jerry Maguire," which stars Tom Cruise and newcomer Renee Zellweger. It's about a sports agent who decides to put people ahead of profit...and what happens after he conveys his new philosophy to his clients. Mondello says the film is smart and appealing.

NPR's Debbie Elliott reports from New Orleans, the site of this weekend's freighter accident. Investigators are saying "it's a Christmas miracle" that apparently no one was killed when the giant freighter crashed into a shopping complex on a downtown wharf. NTSB investigators start hearings tomorrow to interview ship officials so that the safety board can try to recreate the accident.

Commentator Marion Winik struggles with how to talk to her kids about drugs. Since drugs were a big part of her life and her husband Tony struggled with them until the day he died, she feels she can not simply counsel her children to "just say no".

Kofi Annan, a career diplomat from Ghana, was chosen by the U-N's Security Council to be the international body's next Secretary General. NPR's Ann Cooper reports.

by a recent series of crashes to agree to install more safety devices on airplanes. Additional fire safety equipment could reduce the possibility of fires in cargo holds and fuel tanks.

into Saturday's crash of a freighter into a crowded retail shopping district known as the River Walk. The vessel lost power before colliding with the complex, which includes numerous restaurants, stores, and a hotel.

acquittal has forced LA District Attorney Gil Garcetti into a controversial campaign for re-election.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from Kigali that Zairean Tutsi rebels today declared a unilateral three-week ceasefire. The guerrillas say the truce is designed to give more than one million Rwandan Hutu refugees in Zaire a chance to go home. In the past two weeks, the rebels have captured all of the main cities along Zaire's border with Burundi and Rwanda, and foreign relief agencies have evacuated their staffs. There is little hope the refugees will return to Tutsi-controlled Rwanda, and relief groups say shortages of food and medicine could soon lead to mass starvation and epidemics among the refugees.