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Louis Freedberg reports that South Africa's government is trying to deal with a crush of illegal immigrants flooding into the country from all over Africa.

NPR's Ann Cooper reports that the nearly three-year-long odyssey of Rwandan Hutu refugees is finally coming to a close, as the United Nations prepares to repatriate those who remain in Zaire. This refugee crisis has confounded the relief community and world powers since its inception. Among the two million Hutus who fled Rwanda in 1994 were many thousands who carried out the genocide against the country's Tutsi minority. While receiving foreign aid, these Hutus intimidated other refugees, terrorized Zairean Tutsis, and used their camps to re-arm and stage military raids against Rwanda's new Tutsi-led government.

NPR's Richard Harris looks at a controversial new study that suggests there may be an up and down in the universe, after all. Until now, physicists and astronomers have based their theories on the idea that there is NO directionality in the universe -- that it is spread out evenly. But the new report analyzed radio waves from 160 distant galaxies and concludes that there is a kind of north-south axis in the universe.

Scott speaks with Grand Forks, North Dakota's fire captain, Vince Liddy, about the flooding in his town.

NPR's Mara Liasson has an update on the Democratic National Committee's fundraising troubles. Congressional Republican leaders said today that Vice President Al Gore may have violated the law by soliciting campaign contributions from the White House. And a Republican lawmaker is suggesting the first lady knows more than she's acknowledged about links between the White House and fund-raising. Indiana Congressman David McIntosh points to a 1994 White House memo. In it, Hillary Rodham Clinton encourages a plan to share computer data on supporters with the Democratic National Committee.

NPR's Mandalit Delbarco reports that the L.A. Police Commission is scheduled to vote soon on whether to authorize LAPD officers to carry more powerful weapons. The move comes in the wake of last Friday's shootout between heavily armed bank robbers and the police. Police have complained they've long been outgunned by well-trained, well-armed bad guys.

Commentator Leslie Lang is getting to know her Hawaiian great grandmother from sifting through a lifetime of her things, and by reading her journals. The writings reflect a long life, lived well. Lang is now keeping a journal of her own which she hopes some descendent not yet born will someday read.

across the country are on high alert...they are guarding against any possible attacks April 19 -- the anniversary of the Federal raid in Waco and the Oklahoma City bombing.

Ray talks with NPR's Phillip Davis about the case against Army Staff Sergeant Delmar Simpson, who is accused of raping 19 female trainees at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. The prosecution rested today. Then a defense lawyer tried and failed to get most of the rape charges dismissed, saying the women had not tried to resist Simpson's advances.

The government has too many secrets according to a report issued today by The Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy. The commission, chaired by Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, (D-NY) says that the government's "culture of secrecy" hinders decision making and wastes billions of dollars each year. The panel says that new procedures aimed at reducing the number of classified documents will better protect the relatively few documents that are important to national security. NPR's Neal Conan reports.