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A government report finds that efforts to limit human exposure to toxins aren't helping kids as much as they are helping adults. The report, issued today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that children between the ages of 6-11 are sponging up the chemicals found in cigarette smoke and soft plastic toys. It also found that Mexican-Americans have abnormal levels of the pesticide DDT in their bodies and that pregnant women carry more mercury than expected. NPR's John Nielsen reports that federal officials say they are concerned but not alarmed by the findings.

In April of 1970, blues pianist Otis Spann flew to Boston to play a gig. With him were his wife, Lucille, and his band. The concert would be Otis' last. Before he flew to Boston, doctors had diagnosed Spann with terminal liver cancer -- he died three weeks after the concert. Peter Malick was one of Spann's guitarists. He recently found the recordings of the concert. Noah talks with him about the last days of the blues guitarist, and the meaning of that last gig. (6:15)Find out more at: http://www.otisspann.com.

In the Horn of Africa, a drought is killing livestock across a wide swath of Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia. The United Nations estimates that more than 6 million people in the region are at risk of running out of food and water as a result of the drought if aid doesn't arrive soon.

A manuscript in Ludwig van Beethoven's own hand was discovered in a Philadelphia seminary in July. It is expected to fetch $1.7 to $2.6 million at auction next month.

Two shootings wounded five people in the city this past weekend. A curfew will go into effect late this week requiring that people be off the streets between midnight and 6 a.m.

He's been acting since he was a child. Culkin first attracted attention as John Candy's inquisitive nephew in the John Hughes film, Uncle Buck. The film Home Alone turned him into a star. He also made the films Home Alone II, Jacob's Ladder, and most recently Party Monster. Recently he returned to acting after a 6-year hiatus. His latest film is Saved! He plays a high school student in a wheelchair attending an evangelical Christian High School, whose friends are all outsiders. The film has been described as part religious satire, and part teenage rite of passage film.

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with listener Carola Ratzlaff of Lawrence, Kansas. along with Weekend Edition puzzle master Will Shortz.

Laurie Neff reports from Jerusalem on Israel's decision today to go head with the construction of a large housing project in disputed east Jerusalem. That decision was made despite U.S. misgivings and a Palestinain warning of violence. The Har Homa project will place 6,500 homes for Jews in an area claimed by Palestinians as their future capital. Paelstinians see the move as Israel's attempt to solidify its claim over all of Jerusalem before final status talks on the future of the city can be held. Israel says it simply needs more housing for all the people who want to live in Jerusalem, and has pledged to build 3,000 units of arab housing near Har Homa as well.

Behind the scenes during the golden age of the Broadway musical: SUSAN LOESSER (pronounced "lesser"), daughter of Frank Loesser, composer of the classic songs "Heart and Soul" and "Baby It's Cold Outside". He also wrote the score for "Guys and Dolls" which was revived on Broadway. LOESSER's memoir of her father is "A Most Remarkable Fella" (Donald I Fine). (REBROADCAST from 6/

Political trouble persists for Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS). The White House is holding Lott at distance. A Jan. 6 vote will decide if Lott stays as Senate Republican leader. Many in the party are worried that a continuing focus on Lott's racially insensitive remarks will alienate minorities. NPR's Michele Norris talks to Al Bartell, a member of the Grassroots Leadership Initiative for the Georgia State Republican Party; GOP fundraiser Harold E. Doley Jr.; and Michael Brady, president of the Palm Beach county chapter of the Florida Black Republican Council.