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The BBC's Jane Standley reports from Tanzania on the latest movements of hundreds of thousands of Rwandan refugees. Tanzania has told the half-million Rwandans in camps there that they should go home by the end of the month. That had prompted many of the refugees to leave their camps and head away from Rwanda, but today large numbers headed back toward the camps. Tanzanian authorities insist it is safe for the refugees to return to Rwanda; many of the Hutu refugees fear retribution for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, carried out against Tutsis.

Noah talks with Harry Robidoux, the director of Emergency Management Servic in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. Robidoux led the search for a family of four whose plane crashed in the Pocono Mountains. Gary and Marie Knapp and their two children had been on their way home from visiting relatives in Massachusetts for Thanksgiving when their plane went down. All four survived, thanks to the rescue efforts which discovered the family some sixteen hours after the crash.

NPR's Eric Weiner reports from Jerusalem that after the intercession of King Hussein and the threat that the US mediator Denis Ross would pack up and go home, Palestinian and Israeli negotiators are finally close to signing an agreement for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Hebron. But what was held up the talks is not so much reaching an agreement on how the withdrawal should be handled. The real concern appears to be getting a commitment to time tables for further Israeli withdrawals in the next year from the occupied West Bank countryside.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will meet today with members of the United Nations Security Council, to argue against the Israeli government decision to build thousands of new homes in Arab East Jerusalem. The U.N.'s role in the dispute is expected to be minimal, but they'll discuss Israel's actions today.

The woman heard what sounded like a black spitting cobra and local animal experts agreed. A team searched her home for an hour before they found the source: a malfunctioning electric toothbrush.

NPR's Margot Adler reports on the case of a Ghanaian woman named Adelaide Abankwa - who won political asylum in the U-S, based on her claim that she would be subject to female genital mutilation if she were returned home. Feminist groups and others - including Hilary Clinton - rallied to her cause. Now, the INS says its lengthy investigation of Abankwa concluded she had not only lied about her identity - but also her fears of being tortured in Ghana.

The year 2002 was a tough one for the people of Stonewall, Miss. The town's biggest employer, Burlington Industries, closed its factory, putting 800 people out of work. NPR's Kathy Schalch introduces us to Byron and Jo Dearman, both worked at the plant for decades. The Dearmans don't think they'll be able to find work anywhere near Stonewall and worry that they won't be able to sell their home.

When Venezuelans come out to protest, it used to be that they didn't leave home without a pot or pan to bang. This type of noisemaking is popular throughout Latin America and has come to epitomize civil discontent. The "caserola" cacophony is so ubiquitous that it's now possible to buy CD and taped versions of the din for those who don't want to bother with hammering away at kitchenware. NPR's Gerry Hadden looks at history of the caserola.

President Bush sent out more than 1 million Christmas cards this year, a presidential record. And they're postmarked "Crawford, Texas" -- home of the Bush family ranch and a tiny little post office that couldn't possibly handle such a crush. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep and Denise Gamino of The Austin American-Statesman newspaper.

A different Senate committee today began hearings on a much less controversial cabinet choice: that of Colin Powell as Secretary of State. Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations committee said Powell could win unanimous approval. But Powell will face challenges at home and abroad. Hostile rulers like Saddam Hussein remain in power, just as they were when Powell was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And Powell faces challenges in selling a major Bush priority: national missile defense. NPR's Steve Inskeep has a report.