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Strong Earthquake Shakes Iran, Deaths Reported The estimated 7.8 magnitude temblor was felt across the region. Buildings swayed in India's capital. |
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Venezuela's Presidential Election Remains Disputed The government declared Nicolas Maduro the winner Sunday night. He's the man picked by the late Hugo Chavez to become president. Opposition candidate Henrique Capriles is challenging his narrow defeat. |
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Is The United States A 'Dispensable Nation'? In his new book, The Dispensable Nation, former State Department adviser Vali Nasr explores the state of U.S. foreign policy in Afghanistan and beyond. Nasr says the U.S. "is happy ... to play a less important role, to no longer be the stabilizer." |
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Letters Of Heartbreak Find Some Love In Verona, Italy Each year, the town of Verona, Italy — home of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet — receives thousands of letters of unrequited love addressed to the play's star-crossed heroine. And each letter — more than 6,000 a year — is answered by hand by a team of secretaries at the Juliet Club. |
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Germany Braces For Terrorism Trial For years, authorities failed to see links in the killings of nine immigrants and a German policewoman. Now, a trial that will focus on right-wing extremists is about to begin. |
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March Was Cool, But Winter Was Warmer Than Average Even though temperatures were less than normal late in the season, winter 2012-13 was still on the warm side. |
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Venezuela Says Recount Likely After Chavez Heir's Close Win The initial vote count shows Nicolas Maduro with a scant edge over challenger Henrique Capriles. Maduro, who was Hugo Chavez's hand-picked successor, had been expected to win easily. |
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Retaliating Against U.S., Russia Bars 18 Americans The already-frayed relations between the U.S. and Russia have unraveled even more over the past several days. Russia has published a list of 18 Americans who will be barred from entering the country because of their alleged involvement in human rights violations. |
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Chavez Successor Wins Presidential Election In Venezuela, Hugo Chavez's hand-picked successor, Nicolas Maduro, won a razor-thin victory in Sunday's special presidential election. He edged out the opposition's leader by only about 300,000 votes, electoral officials announced. |
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As Arctic Ice Melts, It's A Free-For-All For Oil ... And Tusks The melting of ice in the northern latitudes is feeding new industries. Among them: speculating for petroleum products where vast amounts of undiscovered oil and natural gas are believed to be, and hunting for mammoth tusks unearthed in the softening tundra. |
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China Reports 13 Bird Flu Deaths; Cases Climb To 60 Health officials in China say they've confirmed 11 new bird flu diagnoses, bringing the number of H7N9 infections to 60, according to the official Xinhua news agency. The virus, which began in eastern China, has now sickened at least one person in Beijing, and two in the central province of Henan. |
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Jetliner Crashes Into Sea Near Runway In Bali; All Aboard Safe More than 100 passengers survived a crash into the sea, after the Boeing 737 they were traveling on from West Java to Bali, Indonesia, missed the runway at Denpasar International Airport. The plane came to rest in shallow waters, simplifying rescue efforts. Photographs showed the Lion Air jet in the water, its fuselage broken just behind its wings. |
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Now Endangered, Florida's Silver Springs Once Lured Tourists Countless movies were filmed there, including Tarzan and Creature From the Black Lagoon. With its wildlife and freshwater springs, Silver Springs in Central Florida was one of the state's most popular tourist destinations. Those waters have receded now as the delicate ecosystem suffers from problems that threaten the entire state. |
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Last month monarch butterflies began an annual northward journey from their overwintering habitat in Mexico. Monarch expert Lincoln Brower discusses the dwindling monarch populations, and explains how habitat loss in Mexico and a decline in milkweed plant numbers in the U.S. may be harming the familiar orange and black fliers. |
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Russia's Putin Announces $50 Billion In New Space Spending The Russian president says the part of the money will go to complete a new launch facility under construction in the country's far east. |
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Venezuela Oil Diplomacy: From Caracas To Cuba The late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez believed in sharing his country's oil wealth with his Latin American neighbors. But now, Venezuelans are electing a new leader, and there are questions about whether the new president will continue those policies. NPR's Tom Gjelten talks about the effects of Venezuela's oil diplomacy, from Cuba to Connecticut. |
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Kerry: U.S. Will Not Accept A Nuclear-Armed North Korea Secretary of State John Kerry is in Seoul, South Korea, at a time of escalating tension on the Korean peninsula. There are expectations that North Korea might soon launch a medium-range missile. |
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A Legal Twist In The Effort To Ban Cameras From Livestock Plants Legislation introduced in several states would require anyone who records evidence of animal abuse to turn it over to authorities within a set period of time. But animal rights activists aren't welcoming these measures: They see the bills as veiled attempts to stifle long-term undercover investigations that can prove a pattern of abuse. |
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Nominee To Lead EPA Grilled Over Past Work At Agency It's hard to think of a hotter seat on President Obama's cabinet than the head of the Environmental Protection Agency. Republicans are increasingly attacking the EPA and its regulations as job killers. On Thursday, Republicans grilled the president's pick for that job, Gina McCarthy. Some of the toughest questions at her Senate confirmation hearing had to do with coal and climate change. |
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Climate Change Could Bump Up Instances Of Turbulence A new study predicts increasingly bumpy skies for future air travelers. It finds that over the next 50 years, planes will experience between 10-40 percent more turbulence. Melissa Block talks to researcher Paul Williams about the findings. |
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Cities Turn Sewage Into 'Black Gold' For Local Farms Cities are finding beneficial and lucrative ways to dispose of solid waste, while also helping farmers. But a lot of sewage still ends up in landfills or being processed at big, industrial incinerators. |
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A Battle Over Antibiotics In Organic Apple And Pear Farming Both fruits are vulnerable to a nasty disease called fire blight that can devastate orchards. So organic labeling standards allow for antibiotics to be used on apple and pear trees. That exemption is set to end in 2014 — but growers say they need a little more time. |
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A Real-Life Fight For Freedom In 'Nine Days' Fred Hiatt's new young-adult novel, Nine Days, is based on the real-life story of a Chinese dissident's daughter trying to solve the mystery of her father's disappearance. Ti-Anna Wang, the real-life woman who inspired the tale, says her father had been kidnapped by Chinese agents during a trip to Vietnam. |
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Energy Secretary Nominee Dodges Question On Gas Exports A U.S. Senate committee held a confirmation hearing for Ernest Moniz on Tuesday, who has been nominated to be the U.S. Energy Secretary. Moniz says he will retire from MIT, where he's a professor of physics and energy systems. He would advocate for the Obama administration's "all of the above" energy strategy, which calls for continued fossil fuels development and supports nuclear energy, wind and solar. |
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Keystone XL Pipeline Could Be Huge Boon For Canada Audie Cornish talks to Alberta Premier Alison Redford about the controversial Keystone XL pipeline proposed from the oil sands of her Canadian province through the United States. |
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Bees Emerging After A Hard Winter After a winter that many beekeepers have described as particularly hard on their hives, Eric Mussen, extension apiculturist at the University of California, discusses the plight of the modern honeybee and the threats the tiny pollinators face from disease and pesticides. |
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This Scientist Aims High To Save The World's Coral Reefs Ken Caldeira is trying to come up with a big solution to the problem of increasingly acid oceans: antacids for coral reefs. That might keep the reefs from being destroyed by humans' use of fossil fuels. And that's not his only big idea. But even Caldeira admits that his audacious plan could fail. |
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Colorado Farmers Scramble To Find Irrigation Water Cities have gobbled up water rights for decades, leaving farmers to rent the water back to irrigate crops and raise cattle. During a drought, cities are reluctant to give up any of their reserves. With little irrigation water, farmers must plant less, hire fewer people and bank on crop insurance. |
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Arkansas Oil Spill Sheds Light On Aging Pipeline System More than half of the nation's pipelines were built before 1970. In fact, ExxonMobil's Pegasus pipeline, which burst Friday in Mayflower, Ark., is 65 years old. According to federal statistics, pipelines have on average 280 significant spills a year. Most aren't big enough to make headlines. |
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How We Use Energy: Then And Now We've become more energy efficient in the last five decades, but what does that mean for total energy use? The answer, in two graphics. |
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Why Farmers Plan To Plant So Much Corn This Year U.S. farmers anticipate planting the most corn since 1936, a total of 97.3 million acres. Farmers are hoping to rebuild their corn supplies after last year's drought. Chad Hart, economics professor at Iowa State University, explains why farmers intend to plant high amount of corn this season. |
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China's Air Pollution Linked To Millions Of Early Deaths About 1.2 million people die prematurely every year in China from exposure to outdoor air pollution. Smog has dogged the country as it grows at an explosive rate and burns huge quantities of fossil fuels. But there are signs that the government is beginning to take the issue more seriously. |
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Could Wind Turbines Be Toxic To The Ear? Critics argue that wind turbine syndrome is a fictional malady perpetuated by people angered by the wind turbines in their communities. Now ear, nose and throat experts are finally weighing in on whether it could be real. |
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In Missouri, Days Of Drought Send Caretakers To One 'Big Tree' Before the American Revolution, a huge tree has been standing in central Missouri, growing to 90 feet tall. The beloved bur oak, which everybody calls "The Big Tree," has survived all kinds of punishments during 350 years on the prairie. But last year's record drought was rough on the tree, causing it to wilt and alarming two locals who nursed it back to health. |
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James Hansen, NASA Scientist Who Raised Climate Change Alarm, Is Retiring But the man who issued one of the earliest warnings about the potential for global warming isn't going away. He plans to concentrate on his environmental activism efforts. |
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The Buzz On Bees: Why Many Colonies Are Collapsing Bees have been dying off in increasing numbers over the past few years. Experts say that habitat loss and disease are the biggest culprits, and some believe that pesticides are to blame. NPR science correspondent Dan Charles explains the possible causes and what is being done to stop this trend. |
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From Pets To Plates: Why More People Are Eating Guinea Pigs Guinea pigs are popular pets in the U.S., but in parts of South America, they're a delicacy. Some environmental and humanitarian groups are making a real push to encourage guinea pig farming as an eco-friendly alternative to beef. And the animals are also showing up in more U.S. restaurants. |
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German Prince Plans To Put Bison Back In The Wild The prince's dream of reintroducing European bison, or wisent, into Germany's most densely populated state will soon be reality. It will be the first time in nearly 300 years that these creatures will roam Western Europe. But not everyone is as excited as the prince. |
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EPA's Push For More Ethanol Could Be Too Little, Too Late The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could soon issue a final ruling that aims to force oil companies to replace E10, gasoline mixed with 10 percent ethanol, with E15. This move could come just as widespread support for ethanol, which is made from corn, appears to be eroding. |
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State Gives Example Of New Federal Gas Standards The Environment Protection Agency has proposed new rules that will require cars to run on cleaner gas. The rules are intended to lower sulfur emission and reduce smog, and they'd go into effect in 2017. NPR's Sonari Glinton reports they're similar to standards in place in California. |
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The Secret Life Of the Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert, which spans some 100,000 square miles in southwestern North America, is one of the most diverse desert ecosystems in the world. Host Ira Flatow and guests discuss some lesser known desert creatures, and explore the secret life of that American southwest icon, the saguaro cactus. |
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U.S. Navy Funding Development Of Giant Jellyfish Robot "Cyro," under development at Virginia Tech, looks and moves like a jellyfish. Researchers say it could be used for studying the oceans and cleaning up oil spills. |
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EPA Proposes New Rule To Clean Up Gasoline And Reduce Smog The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed on Friday a rule to clean up gasoline. The new lower sulfur gas is already what California uses to reduce air pollution, and the EPA wants it to be used nationwide. The agency estimates that it would save lives while adding a penny a gallon to the cost of gas. The oil industry fears it will cost more. |
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From The Stone Age To The Digital Age In One Big Leap   Deep in the Amazon, an isolated Brazilian tribe almost vanished when it first had contact with the modern world. Now the Surui tribe is working with Google to do things like report on illegal logging in the forest. |
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Federal Budget Cuts Hamper Waste Cleanup At Washington Nuclear Reservation The Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southeast Washington state is set to lose $182 million due to federal budget cuts known as the sequester. The cuts come just after news that six tanks full of radioactive waste are leaking. Those tanks are filled with millions of gallons of the most toxic nuclear waste on Earth and are not far from the Northwest's iconic Columbia River. |
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Mapping The Microbes That Flourish On Fruits And Veggies Salad is not just a food; it's home to a flourishing community of mostly benign microbes. A new inventory finds surprising differences in the bacteria growing on popular fruits and vegetables. |
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Cheap Natural Gas Pumping New Life Into U.S. Factories Many economists say Americans are witnessing a "manufacturing renaissance," thanks to abundant and reliable energy sources. |
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Is The Sky The Limit For Wind Power? Building huge turbine farms too close together might significantly reduce their power, some atmospheric scientists say. The problem is "wind shadow" — the turbulence created by one big cluster of turbines that steals wind from another cluster down the road. |
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Long After Its Fall, Berlin Wall Is Focus Of New Protests A developer wants to knock down a remnant of the Berlin Wall to make way for luxury apartments. Some Berlin protesters — and actor David Hasselhoff — have been trying to stop it. |
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With Cyprus On The Ropes, Which Country Will Become The Next Tax Shelter? Robert Siegel talks to Joseph Cotterill, writer for the Financial Times, about what may happen if the European Union's bailout plan for Cyprus succeeds and which country may be poised to take on the role as the next Cayman Islands of Eastern Europe. |
