NPR News

Barcelona and Real Madrid are two of the best soccer teams in the world. They're also bitter rivals, and when they met Saturday in the showcase El Clasico match-up, fans around the world turned out to watch the game. Reporter Jesse Hardman joined soccer enthusiasts at New York's Spanish Benevolent Society.

California software developer Octavio Good and his team won $50,000 for reassembling shredded documents. Host Audie Cornish talks to Good about the Pentagon-sponsored contest.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki comes to Washington Monday to meet with President Obama. They'll discuss the two countries' strategic relationship as U.S. troops move into the final stages of their withdrawal from Iraq. NPR's Kelly McEvers reports from Baghdad.

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Whoever winds up winning the Republican nomination will get a chance to be president, and one of the most trying parts of that job is dealing with Congress. Joining us now is NPR congressional correspondent David Welna to walk us through the issues still on the table as Congress approaches its Christmas recess. Hi there, David.

DAVID WELNA, BYLINE: Hi, Audie.

All 17 nations that use the Euro have agreed to integrate their fiscal policies and give the European Union more control over their national budgets. Germany was the prime mover behind this push for greater fiscal discipline. Some are saying the agreement, in effect, unites Europe under German control. Host Audie Cornish speaks with NPR's Sylvia Poggioli in Rome.

Tens of thousands of Russians took to the streets of Moscow Saturday, shouting "We exist!" against Vladimir Putin's inevitable return to the presidency. Host Audie Cornish speaks with Julia Ioffe, Foreign Policy's Moscow correspondent, about post-election protests in Russia.

America's biggest trade partner, Canada, sailed through the economic downturn almost unscathed, with low unemployment, no mortgage crisis and not a single major bank failure. As part of WBEZ's Front and Center series, Brian Mann reports on how Canada emerged as one of the world's most stable and prosperous economies.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has a newfound eagerness to talk to reporters — some of them, at least.

To hear Romney tell it, you'd think he had always welcomed the press corps.

"You're going to see me all over the country, particularly in early primary states," Romney said last week to Fox News host Neil Cavuto. "I'll be on TV — I'll be on Fox a lot because you guys matter when it comes to Republican primary voters. I want them to hear my message and have an opportunity to make their choice."

Off Mic, On Script