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Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle becomes the first Senate leader in half a century to lose a bid for re-election. Republicans had made the Democrat's defeat one of their top priorities and threw powerful support behind the challenger, John Thune. Hear NPR's David Welna.

Teach for America is attracting a record number of applicants this year. The program recruits top college graduates to spend two years teaching in low-income public schools. At Dartmouth College alone, 11 percent of the entire senior class has applied.

A new study ranks 64 of America's largest cities by their commitment to literacy. Minneapolis, Seattle and Denver top the list, which was compiled based on the availability and number of booksellers, quality of libraries, educational level of the population, number of periodicals published and newspaper circulation. Hear the study's author, John Miller.

Gas prices are soaring across the country, but particularly in California. Fuel in the San Francisco Bay Area has topped $3, though the hike has not caused an attendant spike in public transportation ridership.

Top Fannie Mae executives defend the company's accounting practices in Congress. CEO Franklin Raines denied allegations the company had manipulated its books, telling lawmakers the controversy at the mortgage giant stems from different ways to interpret complex accounting rules. NPR's Jack Speer reports.

The top U.S. arms inspector contradicts the Bush administration's pre-war claims that Iraq had WMDs. After a 16-month investigation, Charles Duelfer concluded Saddam Hussein did not have the weapons but aspired to build them.

Given the proliferation of year-end Top 10 lists, it seems natural that Shadow Classics — which gives shelter to under-appreciated music — would feature its own list of 2006 recordings likely to become Shadow Classics down the line. Don't let these gems go unnoticed.

Historian Douglas Brinkley considers Ronald Reagan one of the top five American presidents of the 20th century. Brinkley is the editor of The Reagan Diaries.

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been charged on eight counts, including perjury, after explicit text messages contradicted his sworn denials of an affair with a top aide. Kilpatrick refuses to step down and says he expects to be exonerated. Detroit Public Radio's Noah Ovshinsky reports.

CIA director Michael Hayden says the agency destroyed videotapes of its interrogations of two top al Qaida suspects, made in 2002. Philip Zelikow, executive director of the 9/11 Commission, had hoped to review the tapes.