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Downloading popular songs to use as personal cell phone ring tones has turned into a $3 billion global industry. A growing revenue stream for songwriters and publishers, ring tones are now outselling digital downloads of music. NPR's Michele Norris talks to Geoff Mayfield, the director of charts for Billboard Magazine, which has just launched a "Hot Ringtones" chart.

CIA Director George Tenet resigns, effective in July. The move, announced by President Bush on the White House's South Lawn, comes after Tenet faced harsh criticism over intelligence failures related to Iraq and the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The president praised Tenet's leadership and work in seven years at the CIA. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly reports.

Presidential candidates are weighing in on how to address the subprime mortgage crisis. Hillary Clinton is calling for a freeze on adjustable mortgage rates. Barack Obama wants to eliminate predatory lending. And Mitt Romney wants the FHA to help more homeowners. But that's just one of the economic issues addressed by the candidates.

Pakistan's Supreme Court has reinstated Pakistan's top judge, ruling that his suspension by Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the nation's president and military ruler, was "illegal." Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry's March suspension sparked protests by lawyers and opposition parties.

All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen shares the albums and songs that stood out even if some were more peaceful than explosive.

The host of All Songs Considered shares the albums he loved this year. Many of Bob Boilen's favorite albums of 2013 were danceable. Many were intimate. Some managed to be both at once.

If one defining thread ran through 2016's best albums, it was an air of mystery: a sense of myth, otherworldliness, storytelling ambition or multimedia wizardry.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has nominated a four-star general to take command of U.S. forces in Iraq. Gen. George W. Casey, Jr. would replace Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez. Colleagues say Casey has demonstrated the ability to work closely with U.S. diplomats, a skill that will be needed in Iraq when the U.S. embassy goes into business in July. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

It was a great year for lyricists, says All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen. His favorite albums of the year are proof of that richness.

The Alt.Latino and El Tiny host shares his favorite records of the year, including jazz musicians from across Latin America as well as vocalists inspired by folk, rock and pop whose work defies genre.