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Iowa's popular Gov. Terry Branstad hasn't endorsed any of the Republican presidential candidates crisscrossing his state yet. Still, Branstad will eventually be endorsing someone after the Jan. 3 caucuses. As he told All Things Considered co-host Melissa Block Thursday: "I want to work to help unite the party behind the winner of the nomination process."

The influential writer and cultural critic died Thursday at the age of 62 from complications of cancer of the esophagus. Hitchens confronted his disease in part by writing, bringing the same unsparing insight to his mortality that he had directed at so many other subjects.

Writer Diablo Cody, who won an Oscar for Juno, is back with Young Adult, a dark comedy about a woman who can't let go of her high school self.

Tax season is months away, but there are steps you can take before year's end that could save you money when it's time to file. An editor at Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine recommends taking advantage of an energy-efficient-home credit set to expire this year, and giving yourself what she calls a self-made pay raise.

Newt Gingrich stood center state Thursday night in the Sioux City Convention Center. The sharpest elbows did not come from his close rivals, Mitt Romney or Ron Paul. Instead, it was Michele Bachmann who repeatedly went after Gingrich.

Congressional negotiators have reached agreement on a compromise spending bill to avert a weekend federal shutdown. They also worked toward a deal renewing the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits for another year.

If correct, it's an important milestone in the long effort toward recovery from the nuclear disaster triggered by a March 11 earthquake and tsunami. But skeptics fear the government's claim is premature.

A last-minute deal on spending avoids a partial government shutdown. But disagreements remain on the payroll tax and unemployment benefit issues.

A gold South African Krugerrand — worth about $1,700 — was found in a Salvation Army kettle outside a Wal-Mart in Pennsylvania this week. This is not the first time this has happened. The coins seem to appear almost every year near Gettysburg.

Also: Partial government shutdown likely averted, but no deal yet on extending jobless benefits and payroll tax cut. And: court hearing today for Penn State officials; court hearing today for Bradley Manning.