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NPR's Tom Gjelten reports on changes in U.S. trade policy toward Cuba. Last night, the Senate gave final approval to a bill that modestly eases the trade embargo on Cuba. It will allow sales of food to Cuba for the first time in four decades, but bars the federal government or U.S. banks from financing shipments.

Ev Ehrlich comments on the Nobel Prize in Economics. Economic theory has changed over the years to reflect contemporary conditions, and the choices for recent prizes reflect those shifts.

NPR's Anne Garrels reports from Belgrade that Yugoslavia's new president Vojislav Kostunica met with a special U.S. envoy, James O'Brien, today and expressed hope for a normalization in relations. In Washington, President Clinton announced a lifting of sanctions against Serbia, including an oil embargo and flight ban. His moves were welcomed not only by president Kostunica but by ordinary Serbs, who will face a long, cold winter without help from the international community.

Debbie Elliott reports that World Health Organization hosts two days of hearings, beginning today in Geneva, on first draft of international treaty on tobacco control. The goal is to get countries to do such things as ban cigarette advertising and limit sales to adults only.

In the past ten years, one third of the executions in the United States have been carried out in the state of Texas. Since 1924, executions in Texas have taken place in the Walls Unit in Huntsville. The Warden of that prison, Jim Willett, narrates a documentary titled Witness to an Execution. It includes first hand accounts from the men and women who participate in and witness executions as part of their jobs. Guards, chaplains and reporters talk about their work -- detailing what occurs in the minutes before, during and after the execution. The prison employees say they do the job because the vast majority of citizens want it done. Most are affected by the work. Some reach the breaking point and find they can no longer work in the system.

The USS Cole was crippled by a terrorist attack half a world away, but the emotional damage is being felt hardest in its port of origin. NPR's Mary Ann Akers reports from Norfolk Virginia where families of the servicemen on the destroyer converged on the Navy base to receive news of their loved ones.

Violent events in the Middle East drew American attention away from the presidential election today, and even drew the candidates away from their campaigns. Vice-President Gore returned to Washington to meet with security advisors, while Bush decried the terrorist attack on the USS Cole during his campaign stops in Pennsylvania and Michigan. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

South Korean president Kim Dae-Jung has won of the Nobel Peace Prize this morning. The Nobel committee recognized Kim for his promotion of democracy and human rights after years of authoritarian rule in South Korea, as well as his work towards peaceful relations with North Korea. NPR's Eric Weiner reports from Tokyo on the award.

Linda talks to Bashraheel Bashraheel, a reporter for the Al Ayyaam newspaper in Yemen, who saw the aftermath of the explosion that killed four American sailors aboard the U.S.S. Cole. The Navy destroyer was refueling in a Yemeni port when the explosion occurred this morning. Bashraheel describes the port, the ship, and the condition of the sailors aboard. And he fills us in on additional information about the investigation that is being conducted by the U.S. and Yemeni authorities.

This year's Miss America Pageant is undergoing an overhaul. The stage sets, the swimsuit competition and the selection of the judges is all new. One of the most radical of changes is the music. There She Is, the song made famous by Bert Parks, has been redone in a techno style. Robert talks with Jeff Margolis, the producer and director of this year's pageant, about the changes to this year's show.