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On Friday the Justice Department asked the U.S. Supreme Court for its official thoughts about pot. Two weeks ago a federal judge in San Francisco ruled there can be legitimate medical reasons to make the drug available legally. Now the Justice Department's action could set the stage for new rules about marijuana. Kai Ryssdal reports from San Francisco.

The World Toe Wrestling Championships, the Cone Museum, and the Blood Pudding Tossing Contest: these along with other British eccentricities are celebrated in the light-hearted book Eccentric Britain. Host Jacki Lyden speaks to author Benedict le Vay about the people that in some countries would be looked at as crackpots, but in Britain are respected and even revered. (Eccentric Britain: The Guide to Britain's Follies and Foibles;The Globe Pequot Press; 2000)

Linda has a series of interviews about tonight's scheduled shutdown of Napster -- the Web-based service that allows users to trade music recordings free of charge. A US District court judge ordered Napster to stop facilitating these trades tonight at midnight, saying the company was aiding copyright infringement. Linda talks to Ric Dube an analyst with Webnoize, which researches and reports on the new media entertainment industry. Then she chats with two university students. First, Jeff Meredith, who will be a senior at Indiana University in the fall, and has 1000 MP3 files on his computer, about 400 of which come from Napster. And finally, Sam Ross, a student at the University of Virginia who has thousands of mp3 files, downloaded courtesy of Napster.

Napster has won a temporary reprieve. A federal appeals court stayed a lower court injunction that would have effectively shut down the song-swapping service used by millions. NPR's John McChesney reports.

NPR's senior news analyst Dan Schorr reviews the week's news.

Millions of music fans cheered Friday's appeals court ruling that lets the internet music company Napster stay in business at least temporarily. Napster was slated to shut down most of its Web service at midnight Friday. Jacki talks to NPR's Rick Karr about why Napster has been such a hot-button case for music fans and internet users, and why the move to shut it down may hurt the recording industry more than help it.

American scientists sometimes complain that they are underfunded and underappreciated. But compared to researchers other countries, they have it pretty good. In Russia, for instance, one physics experiment has been attacked by thieves trying to steal precious metals. In this week's science wrap-up NPR's David Kestenbaum took a look at happenings overseas.

Mid-summer is the busiest time of year for America's traveling circuses. These family-owned businesses play rural towns and county fairs across the country. Stiff competition from movies and television has forced circuses to be leaner and more efficient - but the allure of clowns and elephants and trapeze artists still draws a good crowd. Reporter Brian Mann spent the morning recently with a circus as they prepared for a show.

NPR's Laura Sydell reports on the increasing conversion of Latinos from Christianity to Islam. The number of Latinos Muslims remains small but mark a significant change. Sydell attended a gathering in Stockton California of Latino Muslims and has this report.

Host Jacki Lyden speaks with Khalil Shikaki of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research about Arab reaction to President Clinton's statement that he would consider moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Such a move would directly support Israeli claims over the city. Shikaki says the President's statement helps breed deep suspicion that the U.S. isn't impartial when it arbitrates between Israel and the PLO.