Judging by the attacks on Newt Gingrich at Saturday's GOP debate in Des Moines, Iowa, the former House speaker is the man to beat in the Republican presidential field.

The past few weeks have seen a remarkable turnaround for Gingrich's campaign. It wasn't long ago when his bid was all but left for dead. This summer, nearly his entire campaign staff resigned on a single day. One of those staffers was Gingrich's longtime communications aide Rick Tyler.

Tyler explains that he left because he lost perspective, but is now open to rejoining Gingrich's campaign.

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.

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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.

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.

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.

David Beckham's contract with LA Galaxy ends Dec. 31. Beckham's star power has helped make soccer more popular in America. Host Audie Cornish speaks with football critic David Henry Sterry about the impact Beckham has had on Major League Soccer.

Last week, a 16-year-old British schoolgirl became the youngest person to ski to the South Pole. Amelia Hempleman-Adams was part of a nine-person party that slogged 97 miles to the bottom of the world. Host Audie Cornish takes note of Hempleman-Adams' feat.

After a third sleepless night, climate negotiators in Durban South Africa finally found a way to reach a compromise early Sunday morning. The deal doesn't set hoped-for new targets to limit global warming, but delegates ultimately decided to embrace it rather than risk a major collapse of this international process.

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.