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NPR's Michele Kelemen reports that the tragedies of the gulag archipelago still haunt the Siberian mining city of Norilsk. Stalin deported prisoners to this frozen region in Russia's far north to mine some of the world's richest deposits of nickel, palladium and platinum. Today, construction crews plough up miners' bones from mass graves in the industrial wasteland.

Commentator Jeffrey Tayler was in the Belarusian town of Polatsk. He opted to spend the evening at the restaurant in his hotel. As he writes in his journal, he was pulled into the drunken conversation of two young women. The women mistake him for a Pole, and take offense at his unwillingness to share their bottle of vodka with him.

NPR's Larry Abramson reports on the struggle between new high-tech businesses and unions over whether employees are allowed to organize. Union membership has been dropping in recent decades, while high-tech jobs are growing, so the industry is key to the future of labor relations.

Charlotte Renner reports that a pharmaceutical industry trade group is suing the State of Maine over a new drug pricing law. The law enables the state to negotiate lower prices for Maine residents who do not have insurance coverage for perscription drugs. Maine's law has attracted the interest of other states that are also looking to reduce drug prices.

The city of Santa Monica was one of the first communities in the nation to discover that its underground water source was contaminated by the gasoline additive MTBE. Now they are suing seven major oil companies for the money to pay for the cleanup. Nova Safo reports from Santa Monica.

The 11th World Conference on Tobacco or Health wraps up in Chicago today with delegates -- all of them anti-smoking antivists -- going home to focus on how they can work towards the same goal. Tobacco-related diseases kill more than four-million people worldwide annually. Many public health officials believe smoking rates would fall if federal regulators had more control over tobacco products. NPR's Debbie Elliott reports.

Gay civil rights activist Candace Gingrich talks about Mary Cheney -- the openly gay daughter of Republican Vice Presidential candidate Dick Cheney. Ms. Gingrich says that Mary is now in a difficult position because her father supports a GOP platform that is hostile to homosexuals. Candace also talks about her experience having a brother -- former House Speaker Newt Gingrich -- who is opposed to equal rights for homosexuals.

Noah talks to Kelly Joe Phelps. Phelps switched from jazz guitar to playing country blues and found even more space there for improvisation. His instrument is the lap slide guitar.

The National Transportation Safety Board says a preliminary investigation has not yet determined the cause of last year's crash of an Egyptian airliner off the coast of New York. But NTSB Chairman Jim Hall said there were no unresolved safety issues. Egyptair flight 990 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in October killing all 217 people on board. Egyptian officials said more work needed to be done, mainly on the Boeing 767's elevator control system. Speculation about the cause of the crash has centered on one of the plane's co-pilots and the possibility that he deliberated plunged the aircraft into the sea. NPR's Guy Raz reports

Noah talks with Bill Carrick, a democratic media consultant. His firm is Morris, Carrick and Guma. They talk about the flap over a fundraiser scheduled at the Playboy Mansion, President Clinton's apology for his behavior at an evangelical conference yesterday and the other fundraising scheduled this weekend. Mr. Carrick disagrees with the rumor that VP Gore is keeping Clinton away from his campaign.