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It was a bonanza year for blockbusters — four topped the $300 million mark — but there was a trove of art-house gems, too. Herewith, Bob Mondello's 10 favorite films of 2007, plus an additional baker's dozen that deserve another mention at year's end.

Violinist Gil Shaham, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Emanuel Ax and Audra McDonald top the bill

Killer whales rarely risk hunting leopard seals - Antarctica's second-top predator.

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.

The latest California Field Poll shows Republican voters are focused on immigration issues, while Democrats are most concerned about health-care reform. We examine candidates' policies on the matters.

Liane Hansen speaks to Diane Roberts and poet E. Ethelbert Miller about race and identity in America today. The question: Which is more fundamental, more essential — gender or race? Do you throw your support to the white woman or the black man? Whose "turn" is it?

State Farm Insurance has been ordered to pay $2.5 million in punitive damages for denying a claim on a house destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. The judge in the case ruled earlier that the company had failed to prove that damage to the house in question was caused by water and not wind. Wind damage is covered under a regular homeowners' insurance policy, but damage from water is not.

Trevor Paglen discusses military black ops patches, which he's collected in a a new art and history book, I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to Be Destroyed by Me.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished above 14,000 Thursday for the first time, adding 82 points to close at 14,000.41. The market has been spiraling upward in recent weeks, as many U.S. companies thrive on a booming world economy.

The hearing underscored how deeply divided Republicans and Democrats remain on top-level changes to immigration enforcement in the wake of the shootings of two U.S. citizens.