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Pub-goers in London cheer Queen Elizabeth II's announcement that Parliament will soon consider allowing pubs to stay open 24 hours. Currently, pubs must close at 11 p.m. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with London pub manager Charlotte Renick. (This story was corrected on air on Nov. 14, 2002: "It's Thursday, the day we read from your letters, and we start with a correction to yesterday's program. I said that Britain's pubs have closed early, ever since World War II. Our thanks to Charles Day in Bozeman, Montana, Marc James Small in Roanoke, Virginia and Peg Willingham in Arlington, Virginia. All pointed out that closing the pubs early was a World War I innovation, part of the Defence of the Realm Act. Mr. Day notes that the law was "affectionately known to the British' by its acronym 'DORA.' The logic of the pub closings was, he writes, 'to keep factory production levels high. Factory workers, particularly the ammunition factory workers, would be home from the pubs at a reasonable hour so that they would show up well rested on the factory floor the next morning.'"

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.

Robert Siegel remembers his cameo voice role on the TV show Northern Exposure in 1995. He played himself introducing actress Margaret "Peg" Phillips as a commentator on All Things Considered. Phillips, who won fame as the shopkeeper Ruth-Anne Miller in the television series, died Thursday of lung disease. She was 84.

Federal regulators sign off on the merger of AT&T Broadband and Comcast, the nation's largest and third-largest cable TV companies. The deal creates a company with 27 million subscribers. NPR's Jack Speer reports.

U.S. officials and analysts seek to confirm the authenticity -- and gauge the import -- of a recording that may feature Osama bin Laden's comments on recent events. Hear from NPR's Michele Kelemen, voice recognition expert Steve Cain, and Egyptian political scientist Mamoun Fandy.

America's Catholic Bishops overwhelmingly approve new rules for handling cases involving the sexual abuse of minors. The policy was crafted at the Vatican, and is expected to receive quick approval from the pope. NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty reports.

"We're not being revisionist. We're not waging a war on history," council member Inez Barron said. "We're saying that we want to make sure that the total story is told."

Iraq accepts terms of a U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at disarming Saddam Hussein, but a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan denies the regime has weapons of mass destruction. Hear from NPR's Vicky O'Hara, NPR's Lynn Neary and political writer Rami Khouri.

The frontier is long gone, but the American West clings to some of its roots. Morning Edition presents a series of profiles of people who are inspired by the region's landscape, resources and culture. The series continues with one of the Northwest's premier chefs, Christine Keff of Seattle. NPR Online offers one of her special recipes.

Commentator Ruben Navarrette is a Texan who says his state's African-American and Hispanic politicians should pay less attention to wooing white voters, and more attention to demographics that predict a Hispanic majority in coming years.