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John Powers, Fresh Air critic at large, weighs in on the trends of 2007: political campaigns, Iraq movies failing at the box office, HBO's The Sopranos, stories about hitting the road, the TMZing of America, jocks gone wild, hip sentimentality, the nightly ideological news, atheist chic and the writers strike.

China's health officials say the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus has risen to 5,974 in 31 provinces with 132 deaths. People are asking why it took so long for controls to be implemented.

Robert Siegel sits down with a group of students from Tel Aviv University for a conversation about their expectations for the future. The students are politically divided, but they agree that their main concern, even more than security, is the Israeli economy.

Miley Cyrus' "We Can't Stop" as doo-wop? Scott Bradlee imagines pop music in a time machine.

President Biden is calling for unity to address several current crises, but that will prove difficult in a country as divided as ever.

The Communist Party chooses 59-year-old Hu Jintao as its new general secretary, in effect taking the helm of the world's most populous nation. Hu is not expected to stray far from the path of outgoing President Jiang Zemin, who has pushed economic but not political reform. Hear more from NPR's Rob Gifford.

After a record-setting Christmas, Hollywood wraps up the year with more than $9 billion in the till -- the second biggest box office total in its history. Film critic NPR's Bob Mondello says a large part of that money was well-earned: some of 2003's most popular movies were also among the year's best. He offers a list of his top movie picks for the year.

Our panelists predict what will be the next heroic act performed by Dr. Jill Biden.

Called "buy-now, pay-later" loans, they essentially work the way they sound. Shoppers borrow money to buy goods then pay the loan back over time, often interest-free. Experts share risks and benefits.

To kick off summer, NPR's Ayesha Rascoe and Felix Contreras, host of Alt.Latino, discuss an album by Cuba musician X Alfonso.