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In the first of a four-part series on the Wal-Mart chain, NPR's Wade Goodwyn reports that the retail giant has its roots in small town capitalism. The company has now developed one of the most sophisticated information management and product distribution systems in the world.

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.

Jules Vitali has spent the past few years creating sculptures from styrofoam coffee cups. NPR's Scott Simon learns that Vitali has turned more than 2,000 throw-away cups into quite a collection of art.

Allied officials say they will soon pick a council of leading Iraqis to work under U.S. and British occupation forces. It's billed as a small first step in turning power over to Iraqis, but it does not constitute the start of a new government -- that will have to wait for a constitutional convention and elections. NPR's Steve Inskeep talks with NPR's Deborah Amos in Iraq.

Illustrator Marjane Satrapi is the author of the memoir, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. The book is in the form of an illustrated comic. Satrapi was born in 1969 in Iran, and grew up in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution. One reviewer writes, "A triumph... Like Maus, Persepolis is one of those comic books capable of seducing even those most allergic to the genre."

Gunmen armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons attack a U.S. resupply convoy in Iraq, killing one American soldier and wounding others. In another incident, a land mine set on a Baghdad roadway explodes, destroying a U.S. Humvee and injuring the soldiers inside. Hear NPR News.

Scientists in Idaho have produced the world's first cloned mule. Born May 4, Idaho Gem is the brother of a champion racing mule race, Taz, and some are betting cloning may provide a way to reproduce champion mules -- and horses. NPR's Joe Palca reports.

Every few weeks, All Things Considered likes to quiz people around the country on the music that grabs them right now. This week's selections come from Nicole Jefferies, a 24-hour copy shop employee in Muncie, Ind.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair defends his Iraq policy under a firestorm of House of Commons criticism from both the opposition and members of his own party. The Blair government is accused of doctoring a dossier that was said to prove Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capability. Members of Parliament are calling for an investigation.

NPR's Jim Zarroli visited a town in southwest Wisconsin where downtown merchants have found a way to compete with the local Wal-Mart. Many store owners say they can coexist because they offer an expertise not easily found in the larger retail chains.