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NPR's Bob Mondello looks back at the films released in 2004, and finds a handful that prove to filmmakers that you can create films that deal with politics, memory and religion and not suffer at the box office.

Some reports suggest Iraqi police now control the shrine of the Imam Ali in Najaf, but others say it's still in the hands of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militia. Dozens have died in fighting around the mosque in the last 24 hours. Hear NPR's Ivan Watson.

Iraq's interim foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, says sovereignty should be handed over to the Iraqis as soon as possible, but in a gradual way. Iraq, he says, doesn't yet have the resources to govern itself. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Zebari.

Paul Bremer, the U.S. civilian administrator in Iraq, says American forces will seek to hasten the pace of handing security duties to Iraqis. Civil defense recruits are being trained in the Sunni Triangle, the region most hostile to the U.S. presence. NPR's Jacki Lyden reports.

A mass grave filled with the remains of dozens of people, some with blindfolds and hands bound, is discovered in a southern Iraqi town near Najaf. The bodies are believed to be those of Iraqis executed in a 1991 Shiite Muslim uprising. Red Crescent workers say they believe more graves will be found in the area. Hear Reuters reporter Christine Hauser.

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 third part of our series, "America Seen Through European Eyes," turns to Italy. The government of Silvio Berlusconi -- along with Tony Blair's Britain -- was one of a handful that wholeheartedly supported the Bush Adminstration in the war in Iraq. But the Italian people were overwhelmingly opposed. NPR's Syvlia Poggioli explains how these contrasting positions reflect Italy's longstanding duality toward the United States.

Militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr begin handing over their weapons to Iraqi police in the Sadr City district of Baghdad. The disarmament is part of an attempt to end weeks of clashes with U.S. troops. NPR's Emily Harris reports.

A pair of car bombings in Iraq kills more than 45 people and wounds some 200. Among the dead were 35 children, killed during a ceremony for the inauguration of a new sewage facility. U.S. troops were handing out candy at the opening. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

The Senate returns to debating Iraq with an all-nighter stretching ahead of them. Majority Democrats are trying to force Republicans' hands, but the GOP has threatened to filibuster a plan to require troop withdrawals within four months.