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The House concludes its last session of the 107th Congress after passing legislation creating a new Homeland Security Department. But lawmakers fail to extend unemployment benefits that are due to expire three days after Christmas. NPR's David Welna reports.

NPR's Sarah McCammon talks with ESPN's Monica McNutt about how as the NBA season begins, fans are talking about two players who won't be on the court anytime soon.

The Miss World pageant is moved from Nigeria to London after dozens of people are killed in bloody riots triggered by a newspaper article that suggests the Islamic prophet Muhammad would "probably have chosen a wife from among" the contestants. Hear freelance reporter Silvia Sansoni.

In Prague, organizers of a NATO session scramble to rearrange the seating chart so President Bush and British Prime Minister Blair would not have to sit near Ukraine's president, who's been accused of approving military sales to Iraq. NPR's Guy Raz reports.

NPR's Patricia Neighmond reports on the Federal Trade Commission's action against false claims in diet advertisements.

In Doha, Qatar, World Trade Organization talks focus on dramatically reducing or eliminating agriculture subsidies. Some analysts say subsidies make it difficult for developing countries to compete in growing and exporting crops. NPR's Kathleen Schalch reports.

Robert Siegel speaks with Wall Street Journal sportswriter Stefan Fatsis about some of the news coming out of Major League Baseball's winter meetings. Among the news: The Montreal Expos will play some of their home games in Puerto Rico. The Atlanta Braves managed to trade for a star pitcher they won't have to pay for a few years. And baseball's future as an Olympic sport may be dim.

Lynn Neary talks with counter-tenor David Daniels. When Daniels was training in graduate school at the University of Michigan he sang tenor but felt it wasn't his true singing voice. With help from a therapist, he decided counter-tenor was what he should be singing. He's had a very successful career as a counter-tenor and will perform in the first ever counter-tenor solo concert at Carnegie Hall tomorrow night. The music heard in this piece was: Vivaldi: "Fac ut ardeat" from Stabat Mater (Virgin Veritas 7243-5-45474-2 3); Handel: "Ombra mai fu" from opera Serse (Virgin Veritas 7243-5-45326-2-7); Handel: "Cara speme" from opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Virgin Veritas 7243-5-45326-2-7); Handel: "Despair No More Shall Wound Me" from opera Semele (Virgin Classics 7243-5-45497-2-4).

Satirists Bruce Kluger and David Slavin have discovered that German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was secretly tortured by his diplomatic missteps. Schroeder angered President Bush earlier this fall when he denounced the planned U.S. invasion of Iraq. Conspicuously missing from the president's agenda this week in Prague was a meeting with the German leader. Our satirists present a series of diary entries that present Schroeder as a heartbroken lover.

Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar is revered as a director of women, but Bob Mondello says it's the men who scale the emotional peaks in his latest movie, Talk To Her, which opens today.