Today's Story Line

Russia's efforts to rescue 116 men aboard one of their newer submarines at the bottom of the Barents Sea so far have been unsuccessful. But many experts - Russian and American - say the means, although dangerous and untested, are available.

A huge sticking point for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is how to deal with some 1 million to 3 million Palestinian refugees who were displaced when Israel was created in 1948. The issues confronting the family featured on this page illustrate the problems.

Faye Bowers Deputy world editor

REPORTERS ON THE JOB..

*BACK TO THE FUTURE: Moscow correspondent Scott Peterson, while covering the Russian submarine story, was brought back to his childhood by an interview with retired US Army Gen. John Reppert.

"Out of the blue," Scott says, General Reppert brought up the Apollo-Soyus space docking of 1975, that "brought back a flood of memories from my youth, when I was in love with space and bent on being an astronaut."

When Scott was in third grade, he and his childhood buddy - also an aspiring astronaut - spent the night at each other's houses, waiting up all night for live transmission of the hook-up.

"The hook-up was delayed, so I think we missed it," Scott says. "But my mother bought a gold medallion to commemorate the event - the closest I may ever get to the final frontier."

UPDATE ON A MONITOR STORY..

*WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL: In the Aug.10 issue of the Monitor, we reported that the United Nations Security Council was set to consider a US-backed resolution to establish a war crimes tribunal for Sierra Leone. On Aug. 14, the Security Council voted unanimously,15-0, in favor of the court. At the top of the tribunal's agenda will be prosecuting rebel leader Foday Sankoh for his role in the war, in which civilians' limbs were routinely amputated.

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