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Writing On The Sly, Nathaniel Rich's Secret Debut
It took over five years for Nathaniel Rich to finish his first novel — maybe because he was writing The Mayor's Tongue secretly, first as a college student, and then while writing film criticism during the day.
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Categories: NPR Books
Advocates Want Bush Abortion Policies Reversed
Abortion-rights backers want quick action from the president-elect, although they may not press for sweeping changes. Obama has said he is looking to find common ground on reproductive health issues.
Categories: NPR News
Feds To Drop Charges Against Blackwater Guard
The Justice Department intends to drop manslaughter and weapons charges against one of the Blackwater Worldwide security guards involved in a deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting, prosecutors said in court documents Friday.
Categories: NPR News
Leader Of Sears Tower Plot Sentenced To 13 Years
Narseal Batiste, who faced a maximum of 70 years in prison, was convicted in May of conspiracy to provide material support to al-Qaida, plotting to blow up buildings and conspiracy to wage war against the U.S. Officials acknowledged the plot never got past the discussion stage and the group never acquired the means to carry it out.
Categories: NPR News
Museum: Galileo's Fingers, Tooth Found
Two fingers and a tooth removed from Galileo Galilei's corpse in a Florentine basilica in the 18th century and given up for lost have been found again, a Florence museum said Friday.
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Categories: NPR News
Marines Reflect On Duty, Death In Afghanistan
When the Marines of "America's Battalion" first arrived in Afghanistan, they were eager to get into the fight against the Taliban. Now, as they wrap up their seven-month deployment — and after the loss of a dozen comrades — they see warfare in a different light.
Categories: NPR News
Evidence-Based Medicine: Hard For Some To Swallow
This week two panels of medical experts recommended fewer screening tests for breast and cervical cancer. The idea of evidence-based medicine is that the decisions made between doctors and patients should be based on studies that sometimes conflict with previous wisdom on treatment options.
Categories: NPR News
Obscured By War, Water Crisis Looms In Yemen
News from Yemen has been dominated recently by an escalating rebellion along the border with Saudi Arabia. But the country has been making news for decades because of its severe overuse of a rapidly disappearing water supply, the result of natural and political causes.
Categories: NPR News
'Botax' In Senate Health Bill Upsets Plastic Surgeons
Levies on liposuction, breast augmentation and other cosmetic procedures would generate billions of dollars to help cover the uninsured.
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Categories: NPR News
Record Rainfall Wreaks Havoc In Britain, Ireland
Raging floods engulfed northern England's Lake District on Friday, killing a police officer and trapping dozens in their swamped homes. In Ireland, more than 3 feet of water shut down the center of the country's second-largest city, Cork, and more than a dozen other towns and villages.
Categories: NPR News
Peruvian Police Say Gang Killed People For Their Fat
Police arrested three members of a gang in the Peruvian jungle that allegedly has been killing people and draining fat from the corpses to sell on the black market for use in cosmetics. Medical experts expressed doubt about an international black market for human fat, though it does have cosmetic applications.
Categories: NPR News
In Massillon, High School Football 'Is Who We Are'
The Ohio school has a 20,000-seat stadium, a $3 million indoor practice facility and a live tiger for a mascot. Massillon teams have won 22 state championships and they're in the running for another one. It's football "sunup to sundown," the head coach says.
Categories: NPR News
Book Recounts Challenges Of Eradicating Smallpox
In Smallpox: The Death of a Disease, Dr. D.A. Henderson recounts the history of the deadly virus, from the development of the first vaccine in the late 18th century to his involvement in the successful global eradication campaign in the 1960s and 70s.
Categories: NPR Books
Senate Ethics Committee: No Punishment For Burris
The Senate Ethics Committee on Friday admonished Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., for making "inconsistent, misleading or incomplete" statements about the circumstances surrounding his appointment to the seat once held by Barack Obama. The committee didn't recommend any punishment.
Categories: NPR News
Senate Health Bill Faces Saturday Showdown
Democrats will need to vote in lockstep to overcome GOP opposition in a key procedural vote to move the $848 billion measure to full debate. But it's not yet clear whether Majority Leader Harry Reid can round up enough support.
Categories: NPR News
Price Fight: Coke Isn't It At Costco
If you're a member of Costco, the nation's largest wholesale club, you may be surprised to learn that Coca-Cola's products are no longer on the shelves. The two companies are locked in a rare public dispute over the price consumers pay for beverages.
Categories: NPR News
Students Rail Against University Of California Fees
UC regents, meeting at UCLA, approved fees that will bring the average annual cost to about $10,300 — a threefold increase in a decade. In protest, University of California Berkeley students barricaded themselves in part of a campus building on Friday.
Categories: NPR News
Suicide Motorcycle Bomber Kills 16 In Afghanistan
Two children and a policeman were among those killed in the blast, which wounded at least 23 others when the motorcyclist detonated the explosives in a busy city square in western Afghanistan, officials said.
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'The Onion': Mocking All Who Deserve It Since 1988
America's Finest News Source has released a book celebrating its 21 years of satire (with a wink). Onion editors Joe Randazzo and Joe Garden talk with Renee Montagne about the serious business of being funny. Also: See the fun The Onion has had at NPR's expense.
Categories: NPR Books
New Guidelines Issued On Cervical Cancer Screening
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has issued new guidelines for cervical cancer screening — delaying the start of Pap smears for young women and cutting back on the frequency of the tests. The guidelines were announced just days after a different group caused a furor by recommending that most women wait until they're 50 to start getting mammograms.
Categories: NPR News
