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NPR's Ted Clark reports that the Clinton administration is under pressure to "decertify" Mexico's anti-narcotics program because of alleged links between drug traffickers and Mexico's top narcotics officials. The President must make a decision by Saturday. Congress requires yearly certification as a condition for continuing U.S. financial aid.

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.

A Connecticut legislative committee yesterday heard testimony from one citizen who thinks the state should replace "Yankee Doodle" as the official state song. Certain references, say the citizen, are dated and sexist. We do a top-to-bottom analysis of the song to highlight its other possibly objectionable lyrics.

Liane Hansen speaks with jazz composer and bandleader Carla Bley. Perhaps best know for her big- and VERY big-bands, she's pared down to a mid-sized group of eight top-notch players for her new cd, 4X4. (WATT records 012 159 547-2).

Iraq's interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi talks about Sunday's elections. He has spent the past week urging Iraqis to vote, while campaigning at the top of the Iraqi List slate. He discusses his legacy as interim leader and his determination to keep the polls open, regardless of security concerns.

President Bush nominates the head of one of Wall Street's top financial firms to lead the Treasury Department. Henry Paulson Jr. -- chairman of Goldman Sachs -- is slated to replace resigning Secretary John Snow. The White House hopes Paulson will do a better job than Snow selling the president's economic record.

The United States Olympic Committee is wracked by turmoil. Again. Members of the group charged with promoting America's Olympic fortunes are bickering so incessantly that Congress will hold a hearing next week. A top corporate Olympic sponsor says the bureaucratic infighting could wind up harming athletes. NPR's Howard Berkes reports.

The song "Promiscuousl" has been everywhere lately: the top of the Billboard charts; the No. 1 iTunes download; and all across the radio dial. The song is a dialogue between singer Nelly Furtado and the producer and musician Timbaland. Their flirting conversation in the song generated a conversation among several of the young men and women at Youth Radio.

The former top U.S. administrator in Iraq says the United States deployed too few troops there. L. Paul Bremer said the U.S. military also failed to contain violence and looting. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel and retired Maj. Gen. William Nash of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Will John McCain go over the top? Would an Obama sweep get Clinton out of the race? Or does a Clinton victory in either state — or both — keep the battle going on to Pennsylvania on April 22? Robert Siegel talks with NPR's Mara Liasson about what to look for in Tuesday's primary elections in Texas and Ohio.

Bill Gates surprised even his closest advisers when he said his dream is to eliminate the world's top 20 diseases in his lifetime. Gates-watchers say it's not naïve over-reaching. The Gateses have an optimistic belief in technology and management that, combined with their resources, could make a difference.

On May 19, 1989, a tearful Zhao Ziyang, one of the Communist Party's top officials, addressed student protesters in Tiananmen Square. After that speech, Zhao was put on house arrest, where he remained until his death in 2005. Editor Bao Pu talks about a new book of Zhao's memoirs.

Pianist, singer and songwriter Bruce Hornsby has sold more than 10 million records since releasing his multi-platinum debut in 1986. That album generated three Top 20 hits, and it laid the groundwork for a wildly diverse career encompassing jazz, pop, classical, bluegrass, folk, rock and Vaudeville.

Before Hurricane Katrina hit land, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, FEMA Director Michael Brown and other top agency officials received e-mails warning that Katrina posed a dire threat to New Orleans and other areas. Yet one FEMA official tells NPR little was done.

Fruit Ninja. Bejeweled. Plants vs. Zombies. These are all top-grossing apps through Apple's app store. Plenty of folks dream about creating the next mobile application smash hit. But the latest group of tech entrepreneurs — some not even old enough for a learner's permit — are going after their slice of the pie.

In order to feel for black radio stations as they fight against paying new royalties for the songs they play, I'd first have to like them. Although I grew up with urban music — R&B, hip-hop and neo-soul — I am proudly anti-Top 40/urban radio.

Seattle broke the Guinness World Record for largest snowball fight in January with 5,834 participants. St. Paul, Minn., hopes to top that next month during its Beer Dabbler Winter Carnival. For more, Melissa Block speaks with Joe Alton, a project manager for the carnival and its snowball-fight organizer.

In 2010, writer Don Winslow hit it big with his crime novel, Savages. Although he'd already written 12 novels, Savages was the book that really launched his career. It made it to the top of The New York Times best-sellers list. His new book, The Kings of Cool, is a prequel to Savages.

A top leader of the Sunni Arab movement that has been aligned with U.S. forces in Iraq's Anbar province was killed Thursday in a roadside bombing. Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha was founder of the Anbar Salvation Council, which joined U.S. troops fighting al-Qaida in Iraq last year.

The same week that President Trump issued his hire American executive order, the president of one of China's top tech companies said his company wants to do the same thing. Baidu's President Ya-Qin Zhang hit the Stanford University campus trying to recruit American computer science students.