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Pharmaceutical giant Merck will pay $4.85 billion to end thousands of lawsuits over its painkiller Vioxx. The amount, to be paid into a settlement fund, is believed to be the largest drug settlement ever. Claims must meet certain criteria to qualify for payment as the settlement is not a class action.

What new information could lead 16 intelligence agencies to change their conclusions on Iran? New York Times reporter Mark Mazzetti talks with Melissa Block about how the NIE came together — and what the new estimate says about changes in the intelligence community.

Next week, the African National Congress will choose its next leader. An intense rift between the candidates — South African President Thabo Mbeki and his one-time deputy Jacob Zuma — is causing many to question the party's future.

Officials in New York are on track to spend $1 billion taxpayer dollars refurbishing 40-year-old Winter Olympic sports and tourism sites near Lake Placid. Critics doubt it will pay off.

President Bush pledges to be actively involved in upcoming peace talks by Israeli and Palestinian leaders. The president characterized the agreement to hold talks as a beginning.

Nearly 20,000 people convicted of drug offenses could find out Tuesday if they'll be spending less time in prison. The U.S. Sentencing Commission may reduce the extra punishment that's given for crimes involving crack, as compared to powdered, cocaine. The Supreme Court ruled that federal judges may give lighter sentences to crack cocaine defendants than has been required.

The sudden rise is blamed on violence in Nigeria and new warnings that OPEC will have problems meeting global demand for oil in the next two decades.

A tape of a September shootout in Baghdad involving Blackwater USA leaves Iraqis unable to distinguish between U.S. military personnel and private security contractors. The Blackwater shootout left 17 Iraqis dead.

Hundreds of people have died in post-election ethnic violence in Kenya. A hospital in Eldoret has received more than 70 bodies since election results were announced, including 17 burned alive in a church. Raila Odinga, who narrowly lost the presidential election, has called for protests Thursday.

Last September, 17 Iraqis died in a controversial shooting involving the security firm Blackwater USA. Several Iraqis involved in the incident have sued in U.S. courts. They recall that day in videotaped testimonies, and their accounts differ from Blackwater's.