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NPR's David Welna reports on today's action in the House of Representatives on the proposed repeal of estate taxes. The plan would reduce the top rate of 55 percent to 39 percent by 2010, and then phase it out altogether in 2011. It's a move that is expected to cost $193 billion over the next 10 years.

Top officials of the 9/11 Commission, Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton, push Congress to pass an intelligence reform bill. NPR's David Welna reports.

A new collection of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers DVDs from Warner Home Video is out, called the Astaire and Rogers Collection, Vol. 1. It includes "Top Hat" and "Swing Time."

The top of 14,000-foot Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano on the big island of Hawaii, is one of the last best places to do astronomy. But astronomers now have devised a way to make "the seeing," as they call it, even better. Join NPR's Christopher Joyce for a visit to Mauna Kea.

Baghdad's nearly 5 million residents prepare for a war that seems inevitable. The streets of Baghdad are surprisingly calm, and a top aide to Saddam Hussein appears in public to refute rumors he had defected. NPR's Anne Garrels reports.

As Secretary of State, Retired General Colin Powell will shift from being an advocate for the military to becoming the nation's top diplomat. NPR's Tom Gjelten looks at Powell's past recommendations as one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff about military intervention in hot spots around the world.

Commentator Marion Winik has thoughts on those traditional holiday letters so many people feel they must write at this time of year, and a few suggestions. For instance, drop the "Dear Everyone" and replace it with a real headline. Instead of anecdotes, try one good paragraph. Maybe include a top ten list or a haiku.

These days we live in informal times. First names are in, and formal titles are going the way of the top hat. Commentator Elissa Ely isn't sure she likes the change.

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.

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.