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Robert Siegel talks to Joshua Landis, Director of the Center for Middle East Studies and Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oklahoma, about the recognition by the Friends of Syria of the Syrian opposition. He says it's an important step, but the longer the group of exiles go before naming officers in the transitional government, the harder it will be to exert any authority over the small local governments and militias that have sprung up all over rebel controlled Syria.

For punishments to work, they need to be both swift and meaningful. The HSBC settlement may be neither.

On Friday, Sotheby's is putting up for auction 44 letters and 35 drawings Charles Schulz gave to a young woman he was courting. Schulz, 48, wrote Tracey Claudius, 25, poignant, funny, even innocent notes in pictures and words, often using Charlie Brown to stand in for himself.

Susan Stamberg presents the year's best books, picked by independent booksellers around the country. Selections range from gritty, free-verse fairy tales to ballerina photographs and a grim Southern story about a small town that would rather its ghosts remain at rest.

Across the country, so-called hip-hop churches fuse religion, music and dance to lure gang members off the streets. Troy Evans, a former gang member, leads Edge Urban Fellowship in Grand Rapids, Mich. He says that leading church congregants isn't that much different from leading gang members.

Of the 535 members of Congress, not many are in the loop about negotiations to avoid automatic spending cuts and tax increases in the new year. Lawmakers are waiting to see what President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner come up with — and some are nervous about having to quickly vote on a bill despite misgivings.

NBC News reports that U.S. officials tracking the object warn it isn't orbiting normally. South Korea's defense ministry says it may be a couple more weeks before it's known for sure if the satellite is circling the planet safely.

Kristina Green knew she couldn't trump her next door neighbor's elaborate Christmas light display. The neighbor's house is covered with 16,000 lights. Green's display features 900 lights spelling out the word "DITTO" with an arrow pointing next door.

For the first time, a top Russian diplomat has said that the Syrian president may be toppled. Coming from a country that has been among Assad's strongest supporters, the words are significant, analysts say.

Also: Sen. Jim DeMint thinks President Obama will prevail in tax argument; the nurse involved in hoax at British hospital killed herself; the Ukrainian parliament brawls (again) and the Golden Globes are announced.

Think the apps your kids download are harmless? A federal government report says that may not be true. The investigation found that hundreds of popular mobile device apps have been collecting and sharing data about children. Host Michel Martin talks with Rey Junco of the Harvard Berkman Center, about how best to protect your kids' digital privacy.

Zakale Creations is a jewelry-designing operation that employs 30 young people — former thieves and prostitutes. The Nairobi-based operation is the brainchild of John Mucheru, himself a former mugger.

A holiday reminder of how generous many Americans are: More than 64 million people volunteered through a formal organization in 2011, a new report shows. That was up from the year before and part of a trend.

The legendary Indian sitar player, Ravi Shankar, died this week at the age of 92. His music touched a wide range of people - from rock musicians to international ambassadors. Host Michel Martin pays tribute to Shankar's musical legacy.

M75 fragrances for men and women get their name from rockets fired from Gaza into Israel in November. Sales have been soaring, shopkeepers say. No, they don't smell like rocket fuel. They're citrus-scented.

2012 was a very jittery year — what with the presidential election, extreme weather events and the looming "fiscal cliff." Fresh Air critic Maureen Corrigan found that her favorite fiction and nonfiction this year directly confronted the atmospheric uncertainty of the age.

A fresh look at what makes people sick around the world finds that life expectancy has ticked up in the past 20 years. But people aren't necessarily in the best of health during those extra years. Chronic problems, like depression and pain, are on the rise.

We've invited Collins to play a game called "OWWW!" Three questions about athletes and the surprising new ways they find to injure themselves.

Myrlie Evers-Williams is the widow of assassinated civil rights activist Medgar Evers. After her husband's death, she became a noted activist herself. But music has always been one of her loves, and she's about to fulfill a longtime dream on the Carnegie stage.

Newtown, Conn., is the kind of place where the biggest thing that happens is the Labor Day parade. Now, that peace has been shattered and residents are trying to make sense of what happened after a gunman opened fire in an elementary school, killing at least 20 children and six adults.