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Marc Pachter, director of the National Portrait Gallery, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., describes the process the museum went through to find a donor willing to contribute $20 million toward the purchase of the famous Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington -- on loan since 1968.

NPR's Alex Chadwick talks with Tess Vigeland of Marketplace about a business development that means one less headache for Halliburton. The Texas-based oil conglomerate has finally settled thousands of asbestos claims it inherited with the purchase of an engineering and construction firm.

The film House of Sand and Fog tells the story of an Iranian immigrant whose legal struggle over a home purchase escalates into tragedy. NPR's Bob Mondello has a review.

For a second consecutive New Year's Day, the 10 percent federal tax on commercial airline tickets is lapsing. Unlike last year, travelers won't benefit. The carriers already have announced fare increases equal to the anticipated tax cut on 14-day and 21-day advanced-purchase tickets. Steve Inskeep reports.

The United States government objects to the latest UN proposal for letting Iraq sell oil in order to purchase much-needed food for its deprived citizens. The Clinton administration claims the UN proposal being studied is unacceptable because it would give Saddam Hussein control of food distribution within the U.S.-protected Kurdish zone of Iraq. NPR's Ted Clark reports.

President Bush defends the quality of intelligence he received on Iraq's banned weapons programs, calling it "darn good." Bush's comments follow renewed criticism of an incorrect claim he made in his January State of the Union speech that Iraq had tried to purchase uranium for nuclear weapons. Hear NPR's Don Gonyea.

New York Federal Reserve research has found that the share of renters who believe they will eventually be able to purchase a home has fallen to a record low.

With fast food now a staple at home and Danish and Spanish chefs in the limelight, France's culinary supremacy is no longer a given. The government has mobilized to save French food traditions.

Top National Security officials appeared at a White House press briefing Thursday to emphasize threats of foreign political influence and what they're doing to confront them.

"After 21 years of teaching in grades 1-6 I have no answers as to why this is a problem now," Ann Marie Corgill wrote, refusing to pay fees and take tests for another state certification.