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American cyclist Lance Armstrong wins the Tour de France in Paris, setting a new record with six victories. The final margin between Armstrong and his nearest competitor, German Andreas Kloden, was 6 minutes, 19 seconds. Hear NPR's Brian Naylor and John Wilcockson of Velo News.

Microsoft has made a $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo, an aggressive move by the software giant to gain market share on the Internet and compete with Google. Microsoft and Yahoo have talked about merging for years. This time, a hostile but very rich offer could seal the deal.

On Thursday, Microsoft announced a whooping $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo, a merger that would give Google a run for the money. A deal that combines the second and third largest online search companies is likely to attract antitrust review. Greg Sidak, U.S. editor of the Journal of Competition Law and Economics offers some insight.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports on President-elect George W. Bush, who today resigned from the only political office he has ever held -- governor of Texas. The emotional speech by Bush ended 6 years at the helm in Austin and comes less than a month before he is to move to his new home at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Meanwhile, jockeying continues to go on behind the scenes for filling the remaining Cabinet slots.

In an effort to address an estimated $500-million budget deficit, the state of Connecticut lays off 6 percent of its workforce. Gov. John Rowland warns more state workers could lose their jobs if unions fail to agree to concessions in the coming months. Caitlyn Kim reports.

Embattled Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) appears on Black Entertainment Television to apologize again for his remarks alluding to the glory of America's segregated past. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans will meet Jan. 6 to decide Lott's fate as majority leader. NPR's Juan Williams reports.

NPR's Peter Overby reports on today's budget surplus forecast by the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO is projecting a surplus of more than three-trillion dollars over the next decade -- or 5.6-trillion if you count the Social Security surplus. Republicans say that means there's plenty of room for a big tax cut. Democrats argue that the projections of a huge surplus may be overly optimistic in the long term. They are supporting smaller tax cuts.

Germany unveils a memorial in central Berlin to the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust. Politicians, Jewish leaders and Holocaust survivors were on hand for the solemn ceremony to inaugurate the monument designed by American architect Peter Eisenman. The opening ends 17 years of debate over how Germany should mark the darkest chapter of its past.

More than 6,000 police departments around the country now use tasers, the electronic stun guns that have been hailed as an alternative to lethal force. But Taser International, which makes the weapons, is facing questions about the safety of its products, and the accuracy of its sales reports. NPR's Laura Sullivan reports.

Melissa Block talks with John Reeves, self-described freeform industrial ice artist. Reeves is the artistic genius behind a 160-foot tall ice sculpture outside of Fairbanks, Alaska. Using strategically placed sprinklers, Reeves estimates that he flows about 6,000 gallons of water onto the sculpture every hour.