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A car bomb explodes near the Baghdad police station, wounding at least 14 people and damaging the offices of the U.S.-appointed police chief. The blast comes four days after an explosion at a Najaf mosque killed a top Shiite cleric and at least 80 others. Hear NPR's Ivan Watson and Fawaz Gerges of Sarah Lawrence College.

The new Israeli film Broken Wings has garnered international praise, winning top prizes not only in Israel but at film festivals in Toyko and Berlin as well. Critics say the melodrama about a dysfunctional family could take place anywhere. Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan has a review.

The driving rock songs of British producer Oli Bayston have shot to the top of KCRW's most-played list. Watch him perform "All Your Love Is Gone" live for Morning Becomes Eclectic.

Nigeria is one of the top producers of oil in the world and a major supplier of oil to the United States. The book, Curse of the Black Gold, traces Nigeria's 50-year history of oil interests, featuring pictures by photojournalist Ed Kashi.

Jacki speaks with Edward Murphy, president of the Medal of Honor Historical Society about the importance of combat medals to military personnel. This week, the Navy's top naval officer Admiral Jeremy 'Mike' Boorda took his own life. His suicide has been linked to questions over whether he was qualified to wear two Vietnam war decorations.

David Welna reports from Tijuana, Mexico on the on-going controversy in the fight against drugs in that country. Last night, military forces replaced Tijuana's civilian agents. This comes amidst disclosures that the army general in charge of Mexico's drug fighting agency worked for the country's top drug lord. Welna says Mexicans are now skeptical about the effectiveness of this military takeover.

NPR's Mike Shuster reports from Sarajevo that in the face of continued manipulation by the leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Radovan Karadzic, no one seems to know what to do next. Neither the top civilian in Bosnia, Carl Bildt, nor the IFOR Commander, Admiral Leighton Smith or any of the Western powers seem to want to take responsibility for the next steps in the peace process.

NPR's Michael Goldfarb reports on the European Union summit to be held in Dublin, Ireland, beginning tomorrow. At the top of the agenda is a single currency for Europe. When Europeans agreed to a single, common market four years ago, they also agreed to a single currency. But the simple idea of one currency for all of Europe has set off a complex set of reactions.

The New York Times reports that the Bush administration has created a hit list of top al Qaeda operatives, authorizing the CIA to use lethal force. NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says this bends the longstanding executive order prohibiting assassination.

Organic dairy farmers have been making much more than their conventional competitors for the last decade. And the number of organic farms has been skyrocketing. But the top buyer of organic milk just cut the price it pays its suppliers. That may signal a change in the industry. Naomi Schalit of Maine Public Radio has a report.

Liane Hansen speaks with jazz composer and bandleader Carla Bley. Perhaps best know for her big- and VERY big-bands, she's pared down to a mid-sized group of eight top-notch players for her new cd, 4X4. (WATT records 012 159 547-2).

British Prime Minister Tony Blair says battling crime will be a top priority in the government's new legislative agenda. His pledge comes as officials are investigating the murder of a ten-year old Nigerian boy in London, which sparked loud public outcry. NPR's Julie McCarthy has the story.

NPR's Jack Speer reports on an agreement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and top accounting firms for guidelines requiring the companies to disclose the value of their consulting contracts with businesses they also audit. Both sides agree the new voluntary rules will help assure investors that they're getting a reliable look at a company's financial health.

Unemployment benefits expire for nearly 800,000 Americans as a congressional logjam holds up a possible extension. The new Congress, which meets in January, is expected to take up the issue as a top priority. NPR's David Molpus reports.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell is resigning after four years in the agency's top job. His efforts to lift ownership restrictions on media properties earned him critics on both the left and right.

Guest host Jacki Lyden gets a demo of the Web site meetup.com from one of its co-founders, Scott Heiferman. The Web site has helped Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean move to the top of the fundraising list. But it also helps pug lovers, gardeners and knitters, among others, to "meet up."

The Senate votes of 53-45 to approve former Alabama Attorney General William Pryor's nomination to a lifetime seat on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Republicans hailed Pryor as a top-notch public servant, even as many Democrats described him as a right-wing extremist.

Two worlds have come together in a rare teaching program at one of the nation's top universities. Students at Stanford University are reaching across a cultural divide to help tutor the Mexican immigrants who clean their classrooms and dorms.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) reflects on his rise to the top in his new book, Speaker: Lessons from 40 Years in Coaching and Politics. He speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep.

This is going to be a big weekend for college sports. There's basketball -- of course -- but for commentator Bob Cook, the real action is going to be at Bethany College in Kansas. It's the President's Cup, where the top four collegiate chess programs in the nation will compete. But, he says, the tournament's favorites are as disliked in the chess world as any outlaw basketball program.