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The chairman of one of India's largest technology outsourcing companies has resigned after admitting the company's profits had been inflated for several years. The scandal at Satyam Computer Services Ltd. threatens future foreign investments in India and tarnishes the once-booming outsourcing sector.

President-elect Barack Obama is expected to choose former congressman Leon Panetta to head the CIA. Panetta has relatively little experience in national security matters, although he did participate in daily intelligence briefings with President Bill Clinton when he served as Clinton's chief of staff between 1994 and 1997.

News from Somalia usually involves violent warlords or pirates hijacking ships off the coast. Other than that, average Somalis don't have much of a voice. The rapper K'Naan is trying to change that, and in the world of hip-hop, he's become an artist to watch.

It was an unusually strong year for great unknown artists. While bigger, more established bands continued to attract the most attention, smaller, lesser-known acts made the most memorable music of 2008. All of the great unknown artists featured here made music that was inspired, original and heartfelt.

Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom has begun shutting off natural gas supplies to Ukraine after a deadline passed for talks over a price dispute. There are fears that the cutoff could affect gas deliveries to parts of Europe at the height of the winter season. In 2006, Moscow cut off supplies to Ukraine and caused a brief disruption in gas supplies to Europe. NPR's Gregory Feifer talks with Steve Inskeep about Gazprom's decision.

The conflict in Gaza presents a challenge for the incoming Obama administration, which already was facing a packed Middle East agenda. Leslie Gelb tells Steve Inskeep that the question now is whether the situation in Gaza will make it harder for President-elect Barack Obama to keep his campaign promises of active peacemaking between the Israelis and Palestinians. Gelb is a former state and defense department official and president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations.

GMAC is the most recent beneficiary of a government bailout. As the financing arm of General Motors, it supplies funding for auto dealers to buy inventory and credit for consumers to buy cars. It is also a major player in the home mortgage market.

One of the best years for kids' music in recent memory includes releases from artists with feet firmly in both kid-friendly and adult-oriented worlds. Old favorites went in new directions, while emerging artists gave a glimpse of the future of a genre as diverse and unpredictable as kids themselves.

This has been a strong year for African music, with two big trends emerging: the continuing integration of African music into the U.S. and European mainstream, as well as the ongoing unearthing of treasures from Afropop's "golden era," particularly the '70s.

In Russia, a State TV contest to name the greatest Russians in history ended Sunday with more than 50 million votes cast. First place went to a medieval prince who fended off German invaders. Second place went to a prime minister who fended off revolutionaries. And, despite gulags, famines and purges that killed millions, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin came in third.