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On Dec. 26, 2004, the biggest tsunami in recent memory killed more than 250,000 people around the coast of the Indian Ocean. Two years after the tsunami, people displaced by the disaster are still living intents or makeshift homes. The Red Cross promised to build 50,000 homes; so far, there are only 8,000. Host Robert Siegel speaks with the United Nations' Miloon Kothari.

President Bush is expected to outline a new Iraq strategy in an address to the nation Wednesday night. The plan is likely to include an increase in troops. Some Army and Marine commanders are worried that their forces may be stretched to the limit.

South Korea's Ban Ki-Moon starts work today as the new secretary-general of the United Nations. He says he will pay particular attention to the crisis in Darfur, Sudan, and the nuclear standoff with North Korea.

Hostile questioning and a tense exchange with a fellow Republican, Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, mark Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The Labor Department's employment figures for the month of December are a bit stronger than expected. And economists expect the labor market will remain relatively strong despite a slide in the housing industry.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky says his "robust minority" of 49 Republican senators will take full advantage of the chamber's time-honored rules. He adds that today's minority is always tomorrow's majority.

U.S. military forces have long planned the operation under way in Somalia, training Ethiopian troops and gathering intelligence on the ground. They have awaited an opportunity to attack Islamist extremists there.

When member nations of the African Union meet this weekend, representatives hope to find a way to stabilize Somalia, where a weak government has beaten back Islamist forces with the help of Ethiopian troops. There is concern that the fighting will resume unless peacekeepers are introduced into the country.

Last week from Baghdad, Anne Garrels introduced us to Sabah Mohammed, a Sunni who lived in a Baghdad neighborhood that came under frequent attack by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's forces. On Monday, Mohammed was shot to death by Shiite militiamen. One of NPR's Iraqi reporters witnessed the killing.

Microsoft is about to unveil its first new operating system in a number of years, amid much fanfare. But a big question remains: Is Vista any good?