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Thursday

Europe

Ahead Of New Year, Russian Shoppers Hit Malls

For a growing number of Russians, shopping is an identical experience to that of millions of Americans. People in big cities like Moscow flock to vast indoor malls where Western chain outlets like Adidas, The Body Shop and IKEA sit alongside domestic stores.

Ahead Of New Year, Russian Shoppers Hit Malls

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Tale Of Two Cities Illustrates Battle For Israel's Soul

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men demonstrate behind a line of Israeli police outside Intel's plant in Jerusalem on Nov. 21. The men were protesting the U.S. company's operating on the Jewish Sabbath. As Jerusalem becomes an increasingly religious city, secular Jews are fleeing for Tel Aviv. Tara Todras-Whitehill/AP hide caption

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Tara Todras-Whitehill/AP

Middle East

Tale Of Two Cities Illustrates Battle For Israel's Soul

As the world focuses on the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians, a divide is growing within Israel. Religious and secular Jews are increasingly at odds, and nowhere is the split more obvious than in Israel's two main cities, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Tale Of Two Cities Illustrates Battle For Israel's Soul

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Music

A Jazz Legend's Unforgettable Visit To 'Tell Me More'

Omar Sosa To kick off the new year, Tell Me More revisits memorable conversations with musicians heard on the program in 2009. Legendary jazz musician and composer Omar Sosa has earned his ranking within a unique class of world musicians. Since his childhood years spent in Cuba, Sosa has been able to call many other places home, such as Ecuador, Spain and San Francisco. Along the way, he's soaked up various sounds and rhythms of the cultures he encountered. Back In April, Sosa dropped by NPR's Studio 4a for a performance chat in which he described his efforts to connect the sounds of the African diaspora with that of the Americas.

A Jazz Legend's Unforgettable Visit To 'Tell Me More'

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Afghan War Could Spill Over Into Central Asia

Analysts are warning that Afghanistan's Central Asian neighbors are in danger of being pulled into the Afghan conflict as Islamist groups join forces with the Taliban. That complicates U.S. efforts in the region and raises the issue of whether the war can be contained to Afghanistan.

Afghan War Could Spill Over Into Central Asia

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Wednesday

National Security

In Bomb Plot Probe, Spotlight Falls On Yemeni Cleric

Anwar al-Awlaki is believed to be targeting young men seeking guidance. He has been linked to the alleged Fort Hood shooter, among others.

In Bomb Plot Probe, Spotlight Falls On Yemeni Cleric

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Middle East

U.S., Yemen Face Juggling Act In Response To Threat

The suspect in the attempted bombing of an airliner on Christmas Day, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, spent the past few months in Yemen, and a branch of al-Qaida based in Yemen has claimed responsibility for the attack. That's raising questions about the Obama administration's complicated relationship with Yemen and its efforts to counter a growing threat.

U.S., Yemen Face Juggling Act In Response To Threat

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Tuesday

Europe

Few Clues To Student's Evolution Into Terror Suspect

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who has been charged with attempting to blow up an airliner, was a well-mannered and able student, according to his teachers at University College London. He was also president of the campus Islamic Society, but the group says he never expressed any extremist views.

Few Clues To Student's Evolution Into Terror Suspect

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Middle East

U.S. Has Long Kept Watchful Eye On Yemen

The attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day has thrown a spotlight on the nation of Yemen, after an al-Qaida group that's based there claimed responsibility for the foiled attack. But the United States had already been ramping up its operations in Yemen to counter the al-Qaida threat there.

U.S. Has Long Kept Watchful Eye On Yemen

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Middle East

Iranian Dissidents Find Escape Route Through Iraq

Demonstrations in Iran have been centered in big cities, and so far haven't gained traction in the traditionally rebellious Kurdish province in the northwest of the country. But while Kurdish Iranians don't appear quite ready to join the opposition movement, they do seem to be helping dissidents from Tehran escape to Iraq on their way to Europe.

Iranian Dissidents Find Escape Route Through Iraq

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Middle East

U.S.-Israeli Relations Ease, But Peace Process Stalls

President Obama started the year promising a big push to promote Arab-Israeli peace, but his administration ends the year, as one U.S. official recently put it, in a cul-de-sac. The U.S. has been unable to get Israeli-Palestinian talks started, and many Arab states have been frustrated.

U.S.-Israeli Relations Ease, But Peace Process Stalls

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Rare Rhinos Relocated In Effort To Keep Species Alive

Sudan, one of four endangered northern white rhinoceroses shipped to Kenya from a zoo in the Czech Republic, explores his new pen at the Ol Pejeta reserve near the town of Nanyuki in central Kenya. Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images

Animals

Rare Rhinos Relocated In Effort To Keep Species Alive

The northern white rhinoceros was hunted to extinction by poachers in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Four of the last eight known northern whites in the world, two male and two female, were sent from a Czech zoo to Kenya, where scientists hope they will breed.

Rare Rhinos Relocated In Effort To Keep Species Alive

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Monday

Year Of Iranian Discontent Continues Into 2010

An Iranian opposition protester holds stones as he faces security forces during clashes in Tehran on Sunday. The protests, the most violent since those that followed the disputed presidential election in June, cap a year of unprecedented challenge for Tehran. AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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AFP/Getty Images

Middle East

Year Of Iranian Discontent Continues Into 2010

In 2009, an outburst of protest after presidential elections has presented the Islamic government of Iran with its greatest challenge in 30 years. The protest also complicates U.S. efforts to engage with Iran, one of the Obama administration's toughest international issues.

Year Of Iranian Discontent Continues Into 2010

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Africa

Bomb Suspect's Motives Baffle Family, Friends

The family of the 23-year-old Nigerian man held after a failed Christmas Day attempt to set off an explosive device on a plane en route to Detroit issued its first formal statement Monday, describing Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's recent behavior as entirely out of character. But his father told authorities two months ago that his son had cut off contact with his family.

Bomb Suspect's Motives Baffle Family, Friends

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