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Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday for her confirmation hearing. The New York senator, and former first lady, got a generally warm reception from her colleagues. Some were a bit cooler, though, about foreign donations to her famous husband's foundation.

Sen. Hillary Clinton is scheduled to testify Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which will decide whether to recommend to the full Senate that she be the next secretary of state. Clinton is expected to face tough questions from the committee's right flank, but not any major hurdles to confirmation.

President Bush, at the request of President-elect Barack Obama, has petitioned Congress to release the remaining $350 billion intended to help the nation deal with its financial crisis. The idea is to make the money available to the new administration shortly after Obama takes office next Tuesday.

The nation's unemployment rate shot up to 7.2 percent last month. It's the highest level in nearly 16 years. Governments and businesses cut more than half a million jobs in December. For all of 2008, the economy lost 2.6 million jobs.

U.S. officials tell NPR about what they say is a "significant" victory in the war against al-Qaida in Pakistan. A CIA strike on New Year's Day is said to have killed the terrorist organization's chief of operations in Pakistan, along with his top lieutenant. If the U.S. intelligence is true, this is an important development.

Citigroup has reached a deal with top Democrats in the Senate on legislation to prevent home foreclosures. The lawmakers want to empower bankruptcy judges to force lenders to lower homeowners' payments.

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.