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A combination of greater job security, fewer bills and rising wealth sent shoppers heading off to car dealerships, malls and restaurants. "Job growth was not great, but it was good enough to make people feel like things are getting better," said Nariman Behravesh of IHS Global Insight. NPR's Marilyn Geewax covers 2012's economic good news.

Before Christmas Eve dinner, some families share the oplatek along with good wishes for each other. The tradition dates back hundreds of years: Back when bread was scarce, exchanging it with neighbors was a gesture of goodwill.

Say the words "high-tech startup" and chances are you picture a world that's mostly white, male and set in Silicon Valley. Now, a group in Nairobi, Kenya, is working to get more female entrepreneurs into the male-dominated world of tech.

President Barack Obama nominated Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) for Secretary of State during his second term. In a piece in the Washington Post, Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation, lays out a number of key questions the Senate Foreign Relations Committee should ask the nominee.

Like egg nog and advent calendars, Christmas songs pop up everywhere for a month and then disappear, only to be repackaged and resold 11 months later. Some of the biggest-selling and most frequently reissued holiday music of all time comes from three animated rodents.

Shopkeepers say Saturday was the first day people resumed Christmas shopping in Newtown, Conn., since the school shootings. Some locals say the community feels closer since the tragedy, and the post office is being inundated with thousands of holiday greetings, gifts and messages of support from around the world.

The inability to send coherent text messages, or 'dystextia,' is helping doctors diagnose neurological problems. In one recent case, a series of garbled text messages was an early signal that a woman was having a stroke.

Amid continued bloodshed in several parts of Syria, international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi held another round of talks with President Bashar Assad in Damascus. But there was no sign of progress toward a peace deal.

Although President Obama supports setting a path to citizenship for many illegal immigrants, his administration deported a record 1.5 million of them in his first term. With immigration advocates calling for the new Congress to address the issue, the administration says it will now focus on "serious offenders."

Undocumented students have played a crucial role in calls for immigration reform. Now, as lawmakers from both parties resume talks of legislation, student leaders have expanded their fight. Sofia Campos, who's at the forefront of the movement, shares her story of unyielding activism.