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NPR's Jennifer Ludden explores how Zairean rebels are running Kisangani, their biggest prize in the war so far. The guerrillas captured Kisangani, Zaire's third-largest city, earlier this month. Despite their leader's Marxist past, the rebels are promoting the private sector and have held rudimentary elections for local offices. While many of the city's residents fled before the rebels' arrived, life in many ways has returned to normal.

Attention to border security has increased dramatically since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. A crackdown along the Texas border has closed illegal crossing points, making life hard for two towns on opposite sides of the Rio Grande. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from Lajitas, Texas.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden in Jerusalem reports on the latest Israeli-Palestinian violence, including a series of bomb blasts in central Israel that left dozens injured. The bloodshed came amid US efforts to broker a breakthrough with the two sides for a final Middle East peace settlement. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is now expected to fly to Washington for talks with President Clinton this week.

Today in a West Bank town, Binyamin Kahane, son of the slain Rabbi and militant Jewish settler Meir Kahane, was shot to death along with his wife, and five of his six children were wounded. Then a local head of Yasser Arafat's Fatah Party was gunned down in what appears to be a revenge attack, according to Palestinians. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from Jerusalem on the latest violence.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden in Jerusalem reports Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has again ordered the army to use all means necessary to punish and prevent Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets. Increasingly, this has meant hunting down and killing individual militants that Israel suspects are responsible for the attacks. Palestinians call it "state terrorism", and the policy is provoking new debate among Israelis.

The prospects for a long-term peace agreement in the Middle East have declined sharply with yesterday's election of Ariel Sharon as prime minister of Israel. In the short time since his election, Sharon has sent numerous signals that the 7-year-old Oslo peace deal is dead. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from Jerusalem.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has issued an ultimatum to Yasser Arafat: bring an end to violence in the next two days or the peace process will be dead. But in New York, the U.N. Security Council is stalled over a resolution condemning Israel for provoking the riots of the past week, and using excessive force. From Jerusalem, NPR's Jennifer Ludden speaks to host Jacki Lyden with the latest.

In the early months of the Bush administration, momentum was gaining to liberalize immigration laws for Mexican workers. Interest cooled after the Sept. 11 attacks, but now some officials are again considering a guest worker program. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from Jerusalem on the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Barak's popularity has dropped following more than two months of violent clashes between Israelis and Palestinians, and his coalition government has seen its power erode. Still, the resignation is thought to be a tactical maneuver on Barak's part, which could help clear the way for him to run for re-election.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden in Jerusalem reports Israeli helicopters rocketed Palestinian police and security offices across the Gaza Strip Monday, in retaliation for the roadside bombing of an Israeli bus that left two dead and several others wounded, including schoolchildren. The Palestinian Authority and Yasser Arafat's Fateh faction denied responsibility for the bombing, but a senior Israeli official said the "Palestinian military establishment" was linked to the attack.