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In Sri Lanka, remittances sent from abroad constitute the number one source of foreign capital, due in large part to hundreds of thousands of poor rural women who migrate to the Middle East to work as housemaids. The mass migration of women is taking a heavy toll on Sri Lankan family traditions. Sandy Tolan reports.

In the conclusion of a four part series on Wal-Mart, NPR's Scott Horsley reports on labor problems facing the company. As the nation's largest private employer, the company has faced multiple class-action lawsuits from disenchanted employees. Critics say that Wal-Mart's system of reducing labor costs to keep its prices down is short-sighted and ineffectual when less than half of its workers are covered by the company's health plan.

An Iraqi exile group that provided the Bush administration with what it said was intelligence of evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq today defended itself in the face of charges that no weapons had been found. A spokesman for the Iraqi National Congress said that the growing discoveries of mass graves justified the US-led assault on Iraq. NPR's Nick Spicer reports from Baghdad.

In the final report of a four-part NPR/National Geographic Radio Expedition to Mali, Chadwick descends into one of the biggest salt mines in the Sahara Desert, where West African miners still extract salt by hand, the way it's been done for centuries. Such mines have been the destination of camel caravans for at least a millennium.

Three-and-a-half months after the fall of Baghdad, resentment to the presence of U.S. soldiers seems to be growing. When Saddam Hussein's regime collapsed and looting erupted across Baghdad, doctors at the city's Al Kindi hospital begged American troops to protect them. But now, relations between U.S. soldiers and the medical staff are strained. NPR's Anne Garrels reports.

In an effort to attract more foreign contributions, the Bush administration circulates a draft resolution within the U.N. Security Council that authorizes the creation of a multinational force in Iraq under U.S. command. The cost of the U.S. operation in Iraq continues to mount, and reports suggest the White House will ask Congress for about $60 billion in aid. Hear NPR's Vicky O'Hara.

In White House interviews with Arab television journalists, President Bush calls the reported abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. forces "abhorrent" and vows to punish those responsible. The interviews were part of an overall White House effort to limit the political damage from a scandal it admits has hurt America's image in the Arab world. Hear NPR's Don Gonyea.

The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy recommends the creation of a national council to oversee coastal concerns ranging from fisheries management to onshore sources of pollution. The bi-partisan panel appointed by Congress calls for the new body to be part of the executive branch. NPR's Christopher Joyce reports.

A $1 billion-a-year industry has sprung up offering advertisers and other businesses advice on how to get the most consumer traffic out of their Web pages. Most are ethical, but some specialize in building pages that trick search engines into thinking they're more important than they are. In response, engines continually tweak programs to prevent misleading returns. NPR's Rick Karr reports.

The Supreme Court hears arguments in the case of prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The detainees have requested a ruling on whether U.S. courts can review challenges to their incarceration. The Bush administration argues foreign prisoners picked up on the battlefield and held outside U.S. borders do not have the right to access the courts. NPR's Nina Totenberg reports.