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Commentator John Ridley may have missed the conventions in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, but he had a chance to attend a far more inclusive convention in the small town of Britt, Iowa.

NPR's Mike Shuster reports that Secretary General Kofi Annan has asked world governments to implement changes in U-N peacekeeping operations, as recommended by a report put together by an independent panel. The Secretary General established the panel last March after publication of two reports on the U-N's failure to prevent genocide in Rwanda and to protect residents of Srebrenica (sreh-breh-NEET-sah). The report calls for more efforts to prevent conflict and says peacekeepers must be allowed to defend themselves and their mandate. The report also calls for better peacemaking strategies.

NPR's Michele Kelemen reports from Moscow that President Vladimir Putin said today he feels guilty and responsible for the sinking of submarine Kursk in the Barents Sea. He said Russia's defense minister, navy chief and commander of the Northern Fleet had all offered to resign, but he did not accept their resignations. Putin said there would be no rush to assign guilt until the facts of the accident are known. Yesterday, family members of the 118 sailors who died on the Kursk grilled Putin for hours about his handling of the crisis. Little of the meeting was shown on television. Lawyers for the Kursk families are threatening legal action against the government over the Kursk disaster.

Noah Adams and Laura Kraut, a member of the U.S. Equestrian Olympic team discuss how the team's horses are shipped to Australia for the Sydney games. The horses are quarantined before participating in the competition.

NPR's Richard Knox reports the National Institutes of Health has announced new guidelines allowing federally funded researchers to perform experiments with cells taken from human embryos. Research with embryonic cells is controversial. Scientists say cells taken from human embryos may be helpful in treating many serious diseases, including Parkinson's and diabetes. But some people have moral objections to the research because it involves destroying a human embryo. The NIH guidelines attempt to strike a balance by insisting that federally funded scientists can only use cells taken from embryos that are left over from fertility treatments -- embryos that would otherwise be thrown away.

Susanna Capelouto of Peach State Public Radio reports on a plan by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reduce the flow of the Chattahoochee River to protect Atlanta's drinking water supply. The plan has upset those who live downstream. Because of a long regional drought, the Corps wants to hold the water in Lake Lanier, which is the main reservoir for Atlanta. Environmentalists fear that plan will prevent aquatic life below the dam from getting enough water in the river to survive the dry conditions.

Steven Dudley reports from Bogota that non-governmental relief agencies are worried that the newly approved American aid package for Colombia relies too heavily on military solutions to the drug problem. The NGO's say that the 1.3 billion-dollar program puts them in danger.

NPR's Brian Naylor reports on the congressional race in 36th district of California, near Los Angeles, between incumbent Steve Kuykendall and former seatholder Jane Harmon. It's one of the battleground seats in this election, and the Democrats are hoping to retake the seat and others like it as they try to retake control of the house.

NPR's Jack Speer reports on the creative ways companies have responded to high oil prices. Many businesses are managing to lower their energy bills with the help of new technology.

The National Transportation Safety Board has concluded that the TWA Flight 800 disaster of 1996 was probably caused by an electrical short circuit. The four-year investigation formally ended today, as the board stressed that the flight was NOT brought down by a terrorist action. NPR's Mary Ann Akers reports.