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In the last installment of our series on Emerging Southern Artists, Melanie Peeples profiles 37-year-old writer Melanie Sumner. Ambivalent about growing up in the south, Sumner recently completed a comic novel, The School of Beauty and Charm. The book satirizes life in small towns, including organized religion, and lampoons many values that Sumner's parents instilled in her as she was growing up.

The annual Gilroy Garlic Festival draws garlic lovers to the Central California town of Gilroy to sample treats like garlic ice cream. But there may be dark days ahead for domestic garlic growers. NPR's Lisa Simeone reports for Weekend All Things Considered.

The caste system remains in India, even though "untouchability" is banned by the Indian constitution. The estimated 160 million dalits, or untouchables in India still face discrimination.

NPR's Gerry Hadden reports from Honduras on the effect that the severe drought in Central America has had on crops. The government's help has been minimally effective, and even with support from aid groups like the Red Cross, peasants are pressed to figure out how to survive until the next harvest.

The Iraqi Interior Ministry is investigating the case of 22 men dressed in Iraqi police commando uniforms and holding a Sunni prisoner who said they were going to execute him. The incident follows numerous reports of abductions throughout Iraq of Sunnis by men dressed in police uniforms.

Another unpleasant task awaiting people returning to their homes in New Orleans is cleaning out refrigerators full of rotten food. We visit residents of one neighborhood as they hold their noses and open their refrigerator doors.

What does the death of Abu Musba al-Zarqawi mean to the future of the insurgency in Iraq? Paul Wilkinson, chairman of the Center for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at Scotland's University of St. Andrews, offers his insights to Mike Shuster.

Protests continue against the rule of the King Gyanendra of Nepal. The king's announcement last week that he's willing to turn over power to a prime minister has done little to quiet demands for democracy and a new constitution for the Himalayan kingdom.

A report from the non-profit organization, the International Crisis Group, warns that the Iraqi constitution as written will push Iraq toward full-scale civil war. Melissa Block talks with Robert Malley, director of the ICG's Middle East program.

Michele Norris visits again with Hurricane Katrina evacuee Sharon White. We have been checking in with her from time to time as she tries to get her life back to normal. She currently lives in Baton Rouge but is hoping to return to her home in New Orleans next month.