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The price of gold is shooting up and one modern-day miner has an ambitious plan to get to the ore still left in one of California's boomtown mines. But residents of that town, now a bucolic tourist draw, are wary of the environmental cost.

Without our interstate highway system, the United States would have far fewer suburbs, fewer fast-food joints, and "just-in-time" production would be all but unknown in America. The second of a four-part series explores how the vast road system has changed America, for good or ill.

Senior English and Russian referees have been cut from the World Cup roster, after their controversial handling of previous matches. Graham Poll, who issued three yellow cards to one player in a match, and Valentin Ivanov, who worked the Portugal-Netherlands second-round match, were omitted.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Hamdan case challenges a key part of the Bush administration's policy toward terrorism suspects. A main architect of the policy is Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, David Addington -- subject of a recent New Yorker profile by Jane Mayer. She talks with Alex Chadwick about Addington's career and influence.

The past week has brought big changes to CIA headquarters. Former CIA officials tell NPR that there's a growing sense of optimism for the future. In particular, they generally like the choice of Gen. Michael Hayden to lead the spy organization.

Congress is demanding answers from the Bush administration about published allegations that the National Security Agency is secretly collecting the phone records of millions of Americans. Lawmakers and privacy advocates say they're still not being told the full story about the domestic activities of the NSA.

Iran's supreme leader says his country does "not need" to hold talks with the U.S. over Iran's nuclear program. But state TV also reports that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Iran is ready to hold such talks if others recognize Iran's right to nuclear energy.

The U.S. Congress passes a $70 billion tax-cut package that would extend lower capital gains rates for investors. President Bush says he will gladly sign the bill into law. John Ydstie talks about the tax package with Len Burman of the Tax Policy Center.

The nation's largest Spanish-language media company has been sold. A consortium of investors has agreed to pay about $13 billion to acquire the company, which reaches into the homes of about 98 percent of Spanish-speaking households in the United States.

A draft law being reviewed by China's legislature would impose fines on the Chinese media if they report on "sudden events" without official approval from local governments. Wall Street Journal reporter Geoffrey Fowler says those "sudden events" could include things such as mining disasters, health scares and riots.