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One of the top priorities before Congress adjourns for the holidays is a bill that would prevent more than 20 million middle-class Americans from having to pay the alternative minimum tax in 2008. The Senate recently approved a repair to the rule, but neglected to pay for it with spending cuts.

In January 2003, U.S. Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) took over as the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee and, as the ranking member, was briefed in February 2003 on the existence of videotapes of CIA interrogations.

Ken Khachigian, senior adviser to Fred Thompson's exploratory presidential campaign, says Thompson has caught up with top GOP candidates in fundraising. It helps that Americans have some comfort and familiarity with Thompson, he tells Michele Norris.

Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and top White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey resign as a jump in unemployment figures and United Airlines' financial woes stir more concern about the U.S. economy. Hear more from NPR's Scott Simon and Joe Nocera of Fortune magazine.

A Senate newly controlled by Republicans means key changes at the top of powerful committees. And with a brand-new GOP leader, committee chairmen may wield additonal influence. Alaska's Sen. Ted Stevens takes over as head of the Appropriations Committee. NPR's Elizabeth Arnold offers a profile.

The State Department has collected essays of 15 top authors on what it means to be an American writer. The anthology, aimed at promoting American values abroad, will be distributed free at U.S. embassies worldwide. An anti-propaganda law makes it illegal to disseminate the works in the United States, but they are available on a government Web site aimed at foreign audiences. NPR's Susan Stamberg interviews novelists Bharati Mukherjee and Charles Johnson about their participation in the project.

President Bush today tried to keep the focus on the tax cut plan he will submit to Congress tomorrow. But the shooting just off the White House grounds got most of the media attention. Earlier in the day, top aides to the president had scrambled to deny stories that said they were shutting down White House offices devoted to AIDS research and to promoting better race relations. NPR's White House correspondent Don Gonyea reports.

The Bush administration condemns the assassination of a top commander of the Kurdish resistance in northern Iraq. A State Department spokesman says the United States had been working closely with Gen. Shawkat Haji Mushir. Mushir's death is blamed on a Kurdish Islamist movement with al Qaeda ties. NPR's Ivan Watson report.

NPR's Anne Garrels reports from Belgrade that the French foreign minister visited the Yugoslav capital today. He told president Vojislav Kostunica that assistance to Yugoslavia's new leadership is Europe's top priority. The West has been waiting to see some positive signs from Kostunica on Kosovo. The new president today raised the issue of a possible exchange of ethnic Albanian and Serb prisoners. Ironically, Kostunica's easiest task now seems to be dealing with the West. He has yet to consolidate control over the police and governmental bodies in the Serbian republic.

The Bush administration says it will not reward North Korea's threatening behavior, yet a top U.S. envoy holds out hope that some form of U.S. assistance for North Korea might be forthcoming if the North drops its nuclear weapons development. NPR's Vicky O'Hara reports.