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NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from Richmond, Virginia, on the detention of a U.S. citizen captured with the Taliban in Afghanistan last year. Yasser Esam Hamdi has been labeled an "enemy combatant," by the Justice Department. They say this means he is not entitled to normal constitutional protections -- like meeting with his lawyer. A Federal Appeals Court has heard arguments, and its decision could set an important precedent in the war on terror's affects on civil liberties.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports on how the war in Liberia has affected the country's Lebanese community. The Lebanese have been in Liberia for about a hundred years, and they control much of business. The war has driven most of the original community of fifteen thousand Lebanese out of the country. About two hundred are holding out, however, including two Lebanese who have kept the capital's only hotel running despite the city's plunge into anarchy over the past month.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports that among the roughly half million refugees returning to Rwanda are some of those who carried out the 1994 genocide there. Survivors of the massacres against Tutsis and moderate Hutus are now faced with the dilemma of how to deal with returned neighbors who killed their relatives. We meet one woman who searches for her family's killers, and finds the murderers' mother and brother.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports on the intense political crisis gripping Zaire, one of Africa's largest nations. A rebellion which began several weeks ago in the east of the country is steadily spreading, and Zaire's underpaid and poorly disciplined army is putting up very little resistance. To compound the problem, President Mobutu Sese Seko (mo-BOO-too SAY-SAY SAY-koh) has been out of the country for months, as he recuperates from cancer surgery on the French Riviera.

As violence continued to flare in the Middle East, American diplomats say they are mediating talks between Palestinian and Israeli security forces in an attempt to end 10 days of violence. Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Barak today repeated his ultimatum that PLO Leader Yasser Arafat must rein in Palestinian protesters or consider the peace process finished. But it's not clear Arafat has the power to stop demonstrations. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from Hebron.

Host Bob Edwards speaks with NPR's Jennifer Ludden about Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon's efforts to form a national unity government. Though nothing is final, much progress has been made in negotiations between Sharon's Likud Party and the more liberal Labor Party. In a national unity government, outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Barak might be Sharon's Defense Minister and Nobel Laureate Shimon Peres could be Foreign Minister.

Fishing communities along the Indian Ocean are reeling from the devastation wrought by Sunday's tsunami, and whole fishing fleets are in ruins. Offshore, fish communities could be equally devastated -- and the impact this will have on local fishing communities could be long-lasting. Hear NPR's Jennifer Ludden and Fernanda Guerrieri, an official with the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization.

As U.S. forces assembled in the Persian Gulf region, the Pentagon conducted one of the biggest information wars in its history. Thousands of leaflets were dropped over Iraq. At Fort Bragg, N.C., engineers with the Psychological Operations Unit -- known as Psy Ops -- produced radio broadcasts that mimicked Iraqi stations. Key Iraqi officials have received E-mails and cell phone calls crafted by Psy Ops officers. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports.

Setting the stage for a ground assault on Baghdad, U.S. forces move within 10 miles of the Iraqi capital. Facing only sporadic Iraqi resistance, U.S. Army units approach from the southwest, while Marines advance from the southeast. Calm prevails inside the city as those who remain prepare for attack. Hear NPR's Jennifer Ludden and NPR's Anne Garrels.

A probe into the largest electrical outage in U.S. history focuses on an area in northern Ohio, where an investigator says three transmission lines failed just before the blackout. In New York City, power has been restored to most areas. But grid overseers warn of more rolling blackouts as a new work week begins. Hear NPR's Jennifer Ludden, NPR's Scott Horsley and NPR's Mike Pesca.