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Robert talks to NPR's Jennifer Ludden in Gisenyi, Rwanda, about the mass return of refugees from the nearby town of Goma, Zaire. Relief agencies are scrambling to handle the unexpected crush of roughly half a million people who returned over the past four days. As the throngs have headed home, families have been separated, and relief agencies are caring for a few thousand children who can't find their parents. Meanwhile, returnees face the situation of returning home to find their houses occupied by squatters.

- N-P-R's Jennifer Ludden reports on the delayed efforts of Zaire to hold democratic elections. In 1990, President Mobutu Sese Seko (moh-boo-TOO say-SEE say-KOH) mandated that Zaire hold democratic elections in 1995. Elections were never held and, one year later, reform groups are calling on Mobutu to follow his 1990 mandate. In calling for elections, reformers are identifying Mobutu and his corrupt government as the primary reason for the delay in Zaire's transition to democracy. But Zaire's troubles are not limited to governmental corruption; logistical and organizational problems abound.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from the Zairean capital Kinshasa that longtime President Mobutu Sese Seko is expected to return tomorrow after spending several months in Europe getting treatment for prostate cancer. Mobutu will be returning to a country in severe crisis: a weak civilian government and a largely inept military are facing a surging rebel army in eastern Zaire. Some believe the uprising, combined with Zaire's legendary corruption, economic mismanagement and political instability, could lead to the complete disintegration of one of Africa's largest nations.

Pakistan demands exemption from a U.S. registration program for non-citizens, and Indonesia tells its citizens not to travel here. The program requires visiting males from 25 Middle Eastern and Asian countries to be fingerprinted, photographed and interviewed as an anti-terror measure. The Justice Department says the effort is starting to pay off. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from Jerusalem that a gamble by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to get a peace treaty to use as an electoral platform seems to have failed. Though U.S. envoy Dennis Ross is on his way back to the Middle East for one last ditch effort to find a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, there is little hope that he will succeed. If he doesn't, Barak's bid for re-election next month appears doomed.

Two months ago, the U.S. Navy finally honored Wheeler Lipes, a former pharmacist's mate who performed a life-saving emergency appendectomy aboard a submarine in enemy waters during World War II. Lipes died this week at 84. Jennifer Ludden and Navy medical historian Jan Herman remember Lipes' life.

A survey by a group called The Catalogue for Philanthropy finds the poorest American states score the highest on their "generosity index" for 2004 -- an annual scorecard ranking states by how much their residents give to charities in proportion to how much they have. Hear NPR's Jennifer Ludden and George McCully, a trustee of the Ellis L. Phillips Foundation and project coordinator for The Catalogue for Philanthropy.

Drawing on the centuries-old tradition of female vocal music from Eastern Europe, the women's ensemble Kitka has won wide acclaim for their lush harmonies. Their latest CD, Wintersongs, features Slavic and Balkan carols and hymns. NPR's Jennifer Ludden talks with members of the ensemble.

She is former partner-in-charge of Ethics & Responsible Business Practices consulting services for Arthur Andersen, Barbara Ley Toffler. She's the co-author of the new book, Final Accounting: Ambition, Greed, and the Fall of Arthur Andersen (with Jennifer Reingold, Broadway Books). Toffler writes about life inside the firm which she left before it collapsed in the wake of the Enron scandal. Toffler now teaches at Columbia University's business school.

The Pentagon reports U.S. forces are rolling through key areas in Iraq with little sign of Republican Guard units. A week of heavy bombing has weakened some guard divisions, but military officials say they've seen few surrenders. The Pentagon says it's not clear what Iraq's strategy is, and warns again that the toughest fighting lies ahead. Hear NPR's Jennifer Ludden.