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Beginning tomorrow night, Passover. Passover is the holiday in which Jewish families gather to retell the story of Exodus from Egypt. An important part of the traditional preparation for many Jewish families involves going to the store and buying a box factory-made matzah. But for those who follow a strict interpretation of the Torah [TOE-rah], store-bought matzah isn't good enough. Dean Olsher reports on SHMORAH MATZAH. (8:00) (INS

NPR's Mike Shuster reports that Iraq appears to be violating a United Nations program that allows it to sell oil and buy food and medicine for needy citizens. There's evidence that Iraq is re-exporting some of the food and medicine to other countries. Iraq refuses to allow UN inspectors to evaluate living conditions 10 years after the UN imposed economic sanctions. And it refuses to allow UN weapons inspectors into the country.

Recent increases in state cigarette taxes lead to new concerns about illegal tobacco sales. Authorities say more smokers are crossing state lines, or heading online, to buy cheaper cigarettes. Hear NPR's Adam Hochberg.

Jacki talks with Professor Peter Pellet, head of the Nutrition Department at the University of Massachusetts, about a report he helped write on malnutrition in Iraq. He recently returned from a Iraq with a group that was given free reign to travel throughout the country. He says they discovered that millions of people are malnourished in Iraq and he blames the UN sanctions for the worsening situation. He says because Iraq cannot sell its oil, it cannot buy the food its people need.

NPR's Adam Hochberg reports that officials in Macon County in western North Carolina want to build an industrial park on the site of an ancient Cherokee burial ground. The county is one of the poorest in the state and the burial ground is the only site suitable for development. The Cherokees are understandably upset, but don't even have standing to take the matter to court. County officials have already refused an offer from an archeological preservation society to buy the site.

The campaign reform group Common Cause today asked for an independent counsel to investigate what it called "an illegal scheme" on the part of both the Republican and Democratic parties to circumvent campaign finance laws by buying television ads that presidential candidates Bob Dole and President Clinton should have paid for, because the ads weren't for party-building, but were meant to support the candidates. NPR's Peter Overby reports.

John Reznikoff collects hair. The president of University Archives, a company that buys and sells valuable manuscripts, currently has 101 hair locks in his collection that originate from a wide range of celebrities, from George and Martha Washington to Geronimo to England's King Charles I. Daniel talks with Reznikoff, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who is currently allowing some of his hair samples to be used for their DNA in "DNA Jewelry," which Reznikoff is now marketing.

State and local officials buy electronic voting machines in hopes of avoiding the low-tech messiness of pencil marks on paper ballots and so-called "hanging chads." But some computer scientists say vote-counting computers are inaccurate. NPR's Dan Charles reports.

David Kestenbaum reports on astronomers plans to deal with some future climate changes. A billion years from now the sun will swell and grow brighter as it burns more fuel. By nudging an asteroid into close passes with the earth, they say it would be possible to move our planet into a cooler, more distant orbit. That would buy us a five billion years to figure out what happens when the sun becomes a red giant and engulfs us.

Olympic mascot Bing Dwen Dwen has become so popular people have been camping overnight to buy fluffy versions of the lovable-looking animal.