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NPR's John Ydstie reports President Clinton addressed a gathering of finance ministers and central bankers today at the annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The President announced the US will take steps to forgive the debt of some of the world's poorest countries. He said the money should instead be spent by poor countries on basic human needs.

A brief summary of some other important news in today's program.

NPR's Anthony Brooks reports on the latest change to the presidential primary and caucus schedule. New Hampshire, historically the nation's first primary state, announced it was moving its date back one week, to February 1, 2000, because Louisiana had moved theirs back to February 8. Iowa, whose caucuses were scheduled for January 31, may now have to move back to January 24. All in all, another bizarre indication of how the presidential season is starting earlier than ever.

Anne Sutton of member station KTOO in Juneau reports that Alaska's love affair with tourism is showing signs of strain. The seasonal influx of visitors has put wear and tear on the state's infrastructure, and residents aren't sure the tourist dollars that come with them are enough to offset the damage. So voters will go to polls October 5th to decide whether to level a per-head tax on out of state visitors.

John Lurie is a saxophone player, actor, the voice of Molson on Ice, and star of his own fishing program. His band the Lounge Lizards turns 20 this year, and Lurie has released three new music projects. All Things Considered Director Bob Boilen has a profile of this offbeat big band leader. (7:00) CD's heard in this piece are the Lounge Lizards "Queen of All Ears" and the score to Manni and Lo and African Swim, by John Lurie, all the cd's are on the label Strange and Beautiful Music

Robert talks to Christopher Andrew, who collaborated with former KGB archivist Vasili Mitrokhin to write the book, The Sword and The Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB. The book details how for 20 years Mitrokhin copied information from top secret documents in the KGB archives, and gives a rare inside view of the soviet spy operation. (7:45) The Sword and The Shield is published by Basic Books, September 1999.

NPR's Mara Liasson reports on today's news conference by Vice President Al Gore. Gore, whose contest for the Democratic presidential nomination with Bill Bradley has considerably tightened, announced he is moving his campaign to Tennessee, and challenged Bradley to "lots" of debates. While some see the move to Tennessee as merely symbolic, it does allow the Vice President to reduce the size of his staff, already thought to be too large and lacking cohesiveness.

Some progress is being made three days after Ida made landfall, but the region's utility company, Entergy, faces a slew of obstacles in restoring power throughout the region.

Activists in France say the lack of a clear definition of consent means few rapes are reported, and few prosecutions for the offense are successful.

Since the massacre at Columbine High School in 1999, school shootings have sparked debates on restrictions on purchasing and owning guns. As University of California - Los Angeles constitutional law professor Adam Winkler explains to NPR's Kelly McEvers, those debates have led to very few new federal laws.