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John Powers, Fresh Air critic at large, weighs in on the trends of 2007: political campaigns, Iraq movies failing at the box office, HBO's The Sopranos, stories about hitting the road, the TMZing of America, jocks gone wild, hip sentimentality, the nightly ideological news, atheist chic and the writers strike.

After a record-setting Christmas, Hollywood wraps up the year with more than $9 billion in the till -- the second biggest box office total in its history. Film critic NPR's Bob Mondello says a large part of that money was well-earned: some of 2003's most popular movies were also among the year's best. He offers a list of his top movie picks for the year.

As a deal between the U.S. and the Taliban takes shape, the top American general for the region insists there will continue to be a need to combat terrorism in Afghanistan.

DJ Mike Haile of WHMS in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois shares his picks for the holidays, including "We Need A Little Christmas" by Johnny Mathis.

A group of leading Shiite clerics are holding talks to resolve the U.S. standoff with radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose anti-American rhetoric touched off a wave of attacks on U.S.-led forces in several Iraqi cities. Al-Sadr's militiamen have withdrawn from police and government buildings they had occupied, but the security situation remains unstable. Hear NPR's Anne Garrels.

The resignations came just days after a senior cleric with ties to the institution was arrested after being caught with about $26 million in cash he was trying to bring into Italy from Switzerland. Pope Francis recently set up a special commission of inquiry to resolve the bank's problems.

Starting in 2018, companies will have to disclose how CEO pay compares to median worker pay. A recent survey of the biggest CEO-to-worker pay ratios shows Discovery at the top at nearly 2,000-to-1.

Yasin Bhatkal, a co-founder of the Indian Mujahideen, has been arrested in what authorities have described as a major blow to Islamic terrorism in the region.

When the votes came in for Prospect magazine's list of the top 100 public intellectuals, at No. 1 was Turkish Sufi cleric Fethullah Gulen. Prospect Magazine editor Tom Nuttall says Gulen's global network of supporters propelled him to the top spot.

Our searchable commencement app is now updated with the best speeches from 2014 and 2015.