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NPR's David Molpus concludes Morning Edition's series on Dirty Work with a profile of industrial laundry workers in New York City. Most of these workers are immigrants who are paid less than $7 an hour to clean clothing and linens from restaurants and hospitals. They sort thousands of pounds of laundry by hand, and frequently encounter trash, smeared human waste, and needles. The job has little protection and few rewards, but union leaders are working to improve safety and increase salaries.

The morning commute goes as planned with no major problems for millions of New Yorkers on the first Monday after last week's blackout. And trash collection returns to schedule. Mayor Michael Bloomberg calls for an investigation into how the blackout was able to disrupt parts of the city's 911 emergency-dispatch system. Hear NPR's Margot Adler.

Fighting broke out among Iraqi Muslims in Karbala after followers of a young, radical cleric tried to take over a religious shrine in the holy city. Muqtada al-Sadr spoke to reporters Tuesday in the nearby town of Najaf, explaining a plan to create his own cabinet to challenge the authority of the Iraqi Governing Council. NPR's Guy Raz reports.

While deadly attacks on U.S. troops continue in Northern and Central Iraq, Basra in Southern Iraq has remained free from major combat incidents since August. Officials in the British-controlled port city, however, worry about interference from neighboring Iran. NPR's Guy Raz reports.

U.S. troops clash with Shiite Muslim militia in the Iraqi holy city of Karbala, killing at least three American soldiers and at least eight Iraqis. In Baghdad, a roadside bomb kills a U.S. military policeman and wounds two other Americans. NPR's Deborah Amos reports.

One voter on Wednesday's Palestinian elections will be 31-year-old Abdelhadi "Hadi" Abushahla. We've been following his story since Israel's withdrawal from Gaza. Nancy Updike reports on how the election campaign looks from Gaza City and what's at stake for Abushahla and his business.

Los Angeles grapples with what may be the largest homeless population of any U.S. city. A new study shows thousands of homeless people are leaving crime-plagued areas for better, safer lives in affluent suburban neighborhoods.

A new report says New Orleans' levee system offers insufficient protection for the city. And the Army Corps of Engineers calls the levees outdated. Guests talk about how to fix the protections for New Orleans -- and who is to blame for their failure.

Fayetteville, N.C., is home to Fort Bragg, the Army's biggest post by population. Soldiers and their families make up half the city's population, and the fort's $2 billion annual payroll fuels the local economy. But Fayetteville struggles with the problems of a military town.

In almost every big city in the United States, traffic is terrible and likely to get worse, according to a new study from the Texas Transportation Institute. In 1982, the average driver spent 16 hours stuck in traffic. That number is now at 42 hours a year. NPR's John Nielsen reports.