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Election season is in full swing to pick the next leader of Japan. Taro Kono is considered a maverick — a surprising change for a country that's been ruled by the same party for decades.

Seen as more convenient than voting in person and more efficient than voting by mail, ballot drop boxes were used more than ever in 2020. Now, drop boxes are facing backlash in some Republican states.

NPR's Richard Gonzales reports on an elementary school volunteer who's become very involved in student's lives. Diane Mintz started out as a ready tutor, but now she's paying for meals, dental work, and eyeglasses for needy students at Coronado Elementary in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mintz even helped raised enough money this summer to send dozens of kids to camp.

As of this week, the 41 residents of the small town of Libby Creek in Washington State have telephone service for the first time. Until now, they've had to rely on cell phones, but the Cascades Mountains have interfered with reception.

NPR's Brian Naylor talks to two House members who came to Washington as House revolutionaries -- and who are leaving, as promised, after three terms, honoring their campaign pledge.

The presidential campaign took a turn for the ugly today, as the two campaigns swapped charges and ads. Republican George Bush accused Democrat Al Gore of "changing his tune" on Hollywood and having a tendency to "make up facts." The Gore campaign fired back with an ad accusing Bush of making up his facts of his own in a negative television ad. NPR's Andy Bowers is in Sunnyvale, California, where Gore today talked about his plan for making prescription drugs more affordable.

NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr wonders why America, so ready to help the world's poorest nations through food aid, is hesitant to help them through debt relief.

Misty Hyman, an American, defeated Australia's Susie O'Neill Wednesday for the gold medal in the 200 meter butterfly. O'Neill, nicknamed Madame Butterfly by her countrymen, was heavily favored in the race, and Hyman, a first-time Olympian, reacted to her victory with joyous disbelief. Americans fared well in the pool, also capturing gold in the women's 4x200 freestyle relay. Jenny Thompson anchored the US team, winning her seventh career gold medal. Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands won swimming's glamour event, the 100 meter freestyle, making him the surprise star of the swimming competition. NPR's Howard Berkes reports.

In a report from the annual International Monetary Fund/World Bank meeting in Prague, NPR's Julie McCarthy says managing director Horst Koehler is eager to show that the IMF has become more attentive to the needs of Third World nations it is trying to help. Asian nations in particular felt the IMF imposed unduly harsh conditions in exchange for debt relief during their financial crisis in the late nineties. Faced with planned protests by an array of activists, Koehler also said the IMF is now listening to the concerns of a broad range of non-governmental organizations.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden in Jerusalem reports three Israeli policemen are soon to stand trial for the brutal beating of three Palestinians at a checkpoint earlier this month. The incident gained international attention after photographs the Israelis took of themselves and of their victims were published in local newspapers.