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Bob Edwards talks to NPR's Cokie Roberts and Wayne Slater, Austin Bureau Chief for the Dallas Morning News, about the news of the week. Roberts talks about Washington happenings. Slater has George W. Bush analysis.

With Singapore's kids scoring number one on international math tests, an Oregon company is making a business out of importing Singaporean textbooks. Robert Smith reports.

Host Bob Edwards talks with Tom Rankin, Director of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, and co-director of the new documentary Indivisible. The project explores how individuals come together to solve problems in their communities. It introduces a range of compelling people and subjects, including a midwifery practice in Stony Brook, New York; an organization in Texas which helps low income Mexican Americans buy their own homes; and Youthline, a San Francisco program that trains young people to offer peer advice and counseling on a toll-free phone service. Indivisible was produced by the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University in partnership with the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona. The website is www.indivisible.org

A 1971 work by Steve Reich, "Drumming" is widely considered a masterpiece of minimalism.

NPR's Sarah Chayes in Jerusalem reports Israeli and Palestinian officials have agreed to resume high-level peace talks. The surprise announcement came after Israel eased some of the restrictions it has imposed on the Palestinians during the past three months of violence.

NPR's Amy Costello reports on the use of stun guns -- devices that deliver a strong electric shock -- in law enforcement. In 1994, a research branch of the U.S. Justice Department offered 900 stun guns to the Maricopa County, Arizona sheriff's department, to study whether the weapons would reduce violence between prisoners and officials. The sheriff swiftly put them into use by prison guards. Only a year later, the Justice Department proper was investigating charges of abuse of inmates by guards using the weapons.

NPR's Peter Kenyon reports on Senate confirmation hearings for Donald Rumsfeld to be Secretary of Defense, a position he held in the latter stages of the Gerald Ford administration. Rumsfeld is expected to win support from the Senate Armed Services Committee and go on to become confirmed with little difficulty. But some Democrats want to question him about his advocacy of a missile defense system.

Confirmation hearings will begin next week for John Ashcroft, the former senator from Missouri whom George W. Bush has nominated as his attorney general. Liberal groups who oppose Ashcroft have been vocal since his nomination was announced. But Ashcroft's supporters have been getting organized as well. NPR's David Welna reports on how the battle is taking shape.

When President-elect George Bush takes office later this month, he'll have to consider new aggressive posturing by Russia. Russian jets recently buzzed a US aircraft carrier, and moved nuclear weapons to the western most point of the country. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

NPR's John Burnett reports on the celebration in Southeast Texas of the world's most important oil strike. It's been 100 years since Spindletop first spewed out black gold.