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Secretary of Defense William Cohen told a Senate committee today that the United States would not be able to deploy an anti-missile defense system without the help of its allies -- some of which have been critical of the system. Cohen, however, said he was not discouraged by recent setbacks to the system's testing program. NPR's Guy Raz reports.

Laura Womack reports from Albany, Georgia that Alabama and Georgia have both been declared agricultural disaster areas because of the southeastern drought, but that may not help some farmers survive. The disaster declaration means farmers can apply for federal assistance programs, but after being hammered by three successive years of drought conditions many farmers are so deeply in debt that they may not have the minimal assets necessary to qualify for the programs.

Beth Fertig of member station WNYC reports advocates for the poor have been successful so far in their lawsuit against New York City. They are charging that New York's welfare to work programs have been actively discouraging people from getting the welfare benefits that they are legally entitled to.

Steve Krueger reports on how and why a new wireless company could be worth 50 Billion dollars in less than a year. That's how much Detsche-Telekom is offering for Voicestream Wireless, a Seattle-based firm.

NPR's Larry Abramson reports on the uproar over a FBI computer program that sifts through e-mail for evidence for investigations. Civil Liberty advocates say it's an unconstitutional loss of privacy, but the FBI argues it's no different from tapping phone lines.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden in Jerusalem reports on reaction to the collapse of the Middle East summit among Israelis and Palestinians.

A note on some of the other stories we're following today.

Commentator Daniel Ferri gives a quick lesson in how be a teacher. Some of the basics: learn how to say "now" before you say anything else, wear dumb shoes, make dumb jokes and lie awake in bed all Sunday night.

NPR's Alex Chadwick concludes a two-part Radio Expedition series on Palmyra, a small, privately owned coral atoll a thousand miles south of Hawaii. The rainy island remains uninhabited by humans. It swarms with bird and animal life, and the lagoons are filled with schools of large tropical fish. The Nature Conservancy hopes to purchase Palmyra from the three American brothers who own it.

Host Bob Edwards talks to NPR's Ted Clark about the status of the Middle East peace negotiations at Camp David. According to the White House, President Clinton will keep the two sides talking as long as there is a possibility of success.