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France's Louvre is opening a branch in the Middle East. In a deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars, one of the United Arab Emirates will get to use exhibits from, and the name of, the Louvre. But critics say the deal is nothing more than crass commercialism.

The opening of the new airport in the Iraqi city of Najaf highlights plans to turn this holy city into the "Baghdad of the south" for Shiites. What does the economic boom mean for a country that is trying not to split up along ethnic and religious lines?

The Department of Agriculture confirms that a cow in Alabama was infected with mad cow disease. It's the third case of mad cow disease detected in this country. Agriculture officials say the animal's carcass was buried and was not used for animal or human food.

The latest Iowa polls, emerging one week before the state's caucus, show Howard Dean with a narrow lead. Chicago Tribune and Zogby International polls show Dean being followed closely by Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt. But the polls also note a large number of undecided voters. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and Steffen Schmidt, professor of political science at Iowa State University.

Microsoft is about to unveil its first new operating system in a number of years, amid much fanfare. But a big question remains: Is Vista any good?

Hundreds of pages of documents, search warrants and other court records show that the late Bruce Ivins was deeply troubled, but the evidence is largely circumstantial. Officials said Ivins was the "custodian" of a specific anthrax strain that was used in the 2001 attacks that killed five people.

Imperial County sprawls across deserts, date groves and labor camps from Julian to Arizona and from Riverside County to the border. William Vollman has written a 1,300-page portrait of this immense hot and dry land, the people who pioneered it and the people who live and work there today.

By studying huge cosmic explosions called gamma-ray bursts, an astronomer finds an important clue to one of the most profound mysteries of the universe: why is it's expansion speeding up?

After analyzing piles of transportation research, UC Berkeley professor Pravin Varaiya concludes California's carpool lanes are not as efficient at moving cars during rush hour.

Hurricane Wilma has grown rapidly grew from a tropical storm with 70 mph winds to a Category Five hurricane, the most rapidly strengthening hurricane recorded. It's expected to weaken before possibly making landfall on Florida's west coast over the weekend. Christopher Landsay at the National Hurricane Center in Miami discusses Wilma.