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NPR'S Wendy Kaufman reports that Boeing and McDonnell Douglass have expressed confidence that the merger they announced yesterday will be approved by federal regulators. Experts agree, since the Pentagon has been driving much of the consolidation in aerospace, and they predict that odds the federal government will find a way to sign off on the proposed merger. But final approval is far from a sure thing.

Journalist MARTIN MAYER. He writes about finance, advertising, education and law, but his expertise is in finance. His written many books. His latest: "The Bankers: The Next Generation: The New Worlds of Money, Credit and Banking in an Electronic Age" (Dutton) is a rewritten, updated version of his best selling book on banking which he wrote 20 years ago

NPR's David Welna reports from Havana that Cuban President Fidel Castro is defiantly insisting that he will not permit further political reforms, despite expectations raised by Castro's recent meeting with Pope John Paul the Second. Cuba is also under fire from Europe, particularly from longtime ally Spain, for its lack of democratic freedoms. In the latest sign of his hardline stance, Castro today oversaw a huge parade of military hardware, the first such display in Havana in ten years.

Convicted murderer John Salvi took his own life last week while in prison for the slaying of two women two years ago at clinics where abortions are performed. His parents want federal officials to investigate the circumstances of his death. A debate is now raging over treatment of mental illness in prisons, and whether Salvi should have been sentenced instead to a mental institution. NPR's Tovia Smith reports.

Commentator Joyce Maynard tells the story of one-armed Frank... a man who lives in her town whom she took to a concert by the Fabulous Thunderbirds-- and he delighted in pulling out his own harmonica to play along. Frank was deep into his eighties at the time, and prompted Joyce to reflect on her own father -- she wished she had taken him to a concert when he was still alive.

Commentator Kristine Holmgren tells the story of growing up in a family that did not attend church...but deciding she wanted to be part of the church community. On her own, she went to Sunday School and confirmation, and became an active member in the church community. She found her own way...as she believes many children are able to do.

marked her 33rd birthday by giving her first solo press conference. The multi-lingual, Harvard-educated princess usually speaks only when accompanied by her husband. The princess did not discuss the questions that's on everybody's mind... when will the couple produce a male heir to the throne?

Eric Westervelt examines the changing role of the drill sergeant.

Marianne Jennings feels that men who were geeks in high school have a strength of character unknown to the handsome varsity stars of yesteryear. She'd take a chess-club geek over the school quarterback any day.

NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports that two months of protest against the Milosevic government in Belgrade Serbia hasn't changed anything in Serbia...but it has caused a ripple effect in the rest of the Balkan peninsula. Demonstrators in Bulgaria and Albania are in the streets protesting against their governments. The reasons aren't exactly the same in each country, but the underlying themes are: improved economies and democratic reforms.