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U.S. soldiers are involved in an operation to hunt down and destroy militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Baghdad's Sadr City. In Ramadi, 12 Marines die in intense battles. In Fallujah, U.S. rockets hit a mosque, reportedly killing dozens. Three days of clashes in the Sunni stronghold have killed as many as 30 U.S. soldiers and more than 150 Iraqis. Hear NPR's Philip Reeves.

Twenty years ago the nation faced a new drug scourge: crack cocaine. With it came thousands of children born to addicted mothers and labeled "crack babies." When the drug first hit the streets of New York in the 1980s, the city had 17,000 children in foster care. A decade later, that number had soared to 50,000. Many of the children had been exposed to crack cocaine before birth. NPR's Cheryl Corley speaks with several people who were affected in some way by the crack epidemic.

Spaniards vote to remove Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's government from power in favor of the Socialist Party. Analysts say the result reflects anger over last week's deadly terrorist attacks in Madrid, which many blame on Aznar's support for the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Socialist leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero vows to remove Spanish troops from Iraq by the end of June. Hear NPR's Sylvia Poggioli.

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage discuss the turnover of power in Iraq with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Wolfowitz said it's too early to say how many troops would stay in the country. Lawmakers from both parties also expressed unease over the continuing scandal at Abu Ghraib prison. NPR's David Welna reports.

International art experts meeting in Paris say some thefts of ancient artifacts from Iraq museums were made on behalf of smugglers who hired the looters. Among the items stolen or destroyed are tens of thousands of examples of cuneiform -- the world's oldest-known form of writing. Baghdad's Museum of Antiquities housed 100,000 of the tablets, many of which had yet to be studied and translated. Hear NPR's Bob Edwards.

Singer Sam Phillips began her music career as a Christian singer. She took her faith with her and began to make pop music that are modern torch songs, songs of love and pain. The music on her latest CD, A Boot and A Shoe, is stark, with production from T Bone Burnett. NPR's Melissa Block talks with Phillips about the characters and many angles the writer uses to compose music that is more impressionistic than storytelling.

Poet and professor Craig Arnold is a volcano enthusiast. Three days ago, he went missing on a Japanese island where he had gone to see a local volcano. He has visited many volcanoes around the world and written poems and essays about them. His colleague Peter Parolin talks about Arnold's life and passions.

This year's performers included J. Cole, Drake, Usher, Burna Boy, City Girls, Ari Lennox, Summer Walker, JID and many more.

People all around the world are saying goodbye to 2020, but as coronavirus cases surge in many regions, New Year's Eve events have been seriously scaled down.

For more than 20 years, Ethan and Joel Coen have written, directed, and produced films together — many of them bloody, absurd and revolving around some kind of criminal enterprise gone awry. Their latest, No Country for Old Men, is up for eight Academy Awards — and they're the first siblings to share a nomination for best director.