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The one-time dissident who went on to be his country's president, "spent his life removing chains of oppression, standing up for the downtrodden, and advancing the tenets of democracy and freedom," says Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Also: Pakistan rejects U.S. conclusions about airstrikes that killed 24 of Pakistani soldiers; world leaders gather to pay respects to Vaclav Havel; U.S. hopes to buy missiles that have disappeared in Libya.

Cooking crystal meth is just "basic chemistry" for Walter White, the fictional chemistry teacher and anti-hero of the TV drama "Breaking Bad." Organic chemist Donna Nelson serves as science adviser to the show; she explains how the series' writers work to get the science right.

The 112th Audubon Christmas Bird Count is underway. Citizen scientists armed with binoculars are recording data vital to monitoring bird health and conservation. But before you can count a Snowy Owl or a Rufous Hummingbird, you need to identify it. Birder Richard Crossley has some tips.

It took 40 years for Bill Conlin to write his way into baseball's Hall of Fame — but just one newspaper story for his career to unravel. Conlin stepped down from his job at the Philadelphia Daily News this week, hours before its sister paper, the Inquirer, published a lengthy investigation into charges that Conlin had sexually abused children in the 1970s. The alleged victims say they were emboldened to come forward by the child sex abuse scandal at Penn State.

Jessica Fellowes, author of a new book about the successful series Downton Abbey, talks about the story of the Crawleys and the world they inhabit.

The Justice Department has blocked a new South Carolina voting law, saying it violates the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The state law requires voters to present a photo ID in order to vote. The Justice Department says the law disenfranchises minorities, but the state says it protects against voter fraud. For more, Robert Siegel talks to NPR's Pam Fessler.

Jim Nayder, host of The Annoying Music Show! on Chicago Public Radio, returns with a fresh batch of truly irksome holiday music.

Latin America has hundreds of interpretations of this Christmas Eve treat – tamales vary not just by country but often by region. So whose version is best? That's a question likely to elicit a fiercely partisan response.

The NBA season opens Christmas Day, and every sports writer worth his tinseled tropes has made a reference to basketball fans being able to unwrap a slate of games under the tree. The theme for this year's season preview? The mythology of the Vainakh peoples of the North Caucasus. Seriously.