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In two of the most anticipated races of the Olympics, Michael Johnson and Cathy Freeman triumphed in the men's and women's 400 meters, fulfilling historic expectations. Freeman, the Australian who lit the Olympic cauldron, became the first Aboriginal athlete to win an individual medal. Johnson succeeded in defending his 400 meter title, the first male sprinter to do so. The win places him among the top runners in Olympic history. NPR's Howard Berkes reports.

Host Bob Edwards talks to Commentator John Feinstein about the tip-off of the college basketball season, which begins tonight. John makes his annual prognostications about the top teams and tells his yearly "feel-good" human interest story about a college athlete.

Reducing poverty tops the priority list for Brazil's president-elect, Luiz da Silva. Poor Brazilians have high hopes for his administration, but "Lula" faces creditors who demand he not bust the federal budget. NPR's Martin Kaste reports. Oct. 30, 2002.

Raquel Maria Dillon reports Boston area critics of the Roman Catholic Church have turned their sites north, to the Bishop of Manchester, New Hampshire. John McCormack was a top aid to Cardinal Bernard Law, who stepped down last month as a result of the priest sex abuse scandal. The protesters say McCormack is also to blame for the abuse, and they want him to step down.

NPR's Ron Elving profiles Sen. Don Nickles (R-OK), the new chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, who will have a critical role in helping President Bush try to get his budget through Congress. Nickles has been in the Senate since the early years of the Reagan presidency. Sen. Nickles has made elimination of the estate tax a top priority.

The director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory resigns, along with his top deputy, amid Department of Energy accusations that managers ignored fraud and theft by lab employees. The DOE spends $1.5 billion a year to run the lab, birthplace of the atom bomb. NPR's Christopher Joyce reports.

African-Americans are traditionally among the Democrats most loyal voters, with more than 8-in-10 voting for the party nominees in recent presidential elections. But blacks are less likely than whites to vote. In an election as close as this, turning up the turn out among African-Americans is a top priority for Vice President Al Gore's supporters. From Chicago, NPR's Phillip Martin reports on the get-out-the-vote effort, and the Republican's parry.

Internet toy seller E-Toys was supposed to be one of the e-commerce companies with a shot at becoming a retail powerhouse. It had a top-rated Web site, a vast selection of high-end toys and excellent customer service. But as NPR's Elaine Korry reports, E-Toys is having a miserable holiday season. Sales are running way below expectations, cash is running short, and the company is unlikely to survive without a merger or a major sell-off of assets.

Linda Wertheimer talks with Sebastian Rotella, staff writer for the Los Angeles Times in Lima, Peru, about the four-month-old manhunt for Vladimiro Montesinos, Peru's former chief of the National Intelligence Service. He says that top officials fear Montesinos could still threaten the country's fragile democracy as long as he's still at large. Eighty investigators are looking for him.

The two men, who happen to acrobats, walked up 100 stairs together outside a Spanish cathedral. One brother was upside down with his head balancing on top of his brother's head.