Search results for

To mark the 100th anniversary of composer Aram Khachaturian's birth, NPR's Tom Huizenga profiles the man behind "Sabre Dance".

For decades, money and ambition have formed the central ethos of Hong Kong. But SARS was such a blow to the city that many people there are pausing to think about what really matters. NPR's Rob Gifford reports that volunteerism is up, at least for now, in a kinder, gentler Hong Kong.

Martha Stewart steps down as head of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, hours after a federal grand jury indicts the home-decorating icon and her stockbroker on nine counts of obstruction of justice, making false statements and perjury. Stewart is accused of using insider information to dump shares of ImClone stock. Hear NPR's Snigdha Prakash.

Melissa Block talks with Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, about plans for hearings on the intelligence presented by the Bush administration on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to the war.

Cincinnati is the North American birthplace of Reform Judaism, largely because of the 1875 founding of Hebrew Union College. But the school's dwindling enrollment is forcing a difficult decision.

An American soldier is killed and four others injured in an attack near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. The incident comes days after a similar attack in the western Iraqi town of Fallujah, where resentment and resistance toward U.S. forces increases. Hear NPR's Ivan Watson.

A former Florida prep school administrator was sentenced to four months in prison and a decorated water polo coach at the University of Southern California was swiftly convicted of fraud and bribery.

After afflicting more than 8,400 people and killing nearly 800 worldwide, the daily count of SARS deaths and cases is showing a decline. But another respiratory disease, tuberculosis, rages on. Tens of millions of people have TB and millions more are at risk. NPR's Richard Harris reports.

New York Times Executive Editor Howell Raines and Managing Editor Gerald Boyd step down in the wake of an ethics scandal involving former reporter Jayson Blair. Raines faces intense criticism for his handling of the Blair case. NPR's Juan Williams reports.

Chris Nickson reviews the CD Ghana Soundz: Afro-Beat, Funk and Fusion in 70s Ghana. The disc brings together rare and previously unreleased tunes influenced by American 1970's funk. It's the first of three volumes.

A new poll by the Pew Research Center shows that favorable opinions about the United States abroad are still much lower than they were a year ago, though positive feelings got a modest boost with the swift end of the war in Iraq. Hear Andy Kohut of the Pew Research Center.

A U.S. military official tells the Reuters news service that some fighters detained after recent clashes in Iraq may be tied to al Qaeda. But clear evidence of involvement by the terrorist cell has yet to emerge. At least 40 U.S. soldiers have died in sporadic attacks since May 1. Hear NPR's Ivan Watson and NPR's Steve Inskeep.

Blue-green algae blooms can impact human health and ecosystems, including fish and other aquatic animals. Many types of blue-green algae can produce toxins.

The New York Yankees announced her hiring as a minor league manager in January.

Slightly more than half of voters likely to participate in the 2004 presidential election think the country is headed in the right direction, and 66 percent approve of the job President Bush is doing, according to a new poll for NPR. And voters are focusing more on the U.S. economy now that the war with Iraq is over. NPR's Mara Liasson reports.

Mississippi is a much-changed place since civil rights pioneer Medgar Evers was murdered there 40 years ago this week. The civil rights leader refused to leave the state he loved. He believed conditions would improve. And now his state leads the nation in the number of black elected officials. NPR's Melanies Peoples reports from the county where Evers grew up.

NPR's Ivan Watson in Baghdad reports on American efforts to deal with the mound of trash that has accumulated in the Iraqi capital since the end of the war in April. An American from the U.S. Corps of Engineers is in charge of waste disposal now, and he's dubbed himself "Mr. Garbage."

A crew of four is on its way to the International Space Station after launching from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the first all-private space mission to the station.

Wisconsin health officials are investigating at least three possible cases of human-to-human infection of monkeypox. If confirmed, they would be the first cases of person-to-person spread of the disease in the United States. The U.S. outbreak of the disease has so far involved people who got infected from pets. NPR's Richard Knox reports.

Pink Martini's debut album, Sympathique, has been selling steadily, racking up a respectable 600,000 sales in the five years since its release. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports on the pressures on the band and its charismatic leader Thomas Lauderdale to avoid the sophomore curse of a second release that doesn't live up to the first.

Between October and the end of February, tens of thousands of Cubans arrived at the Mexico-U.S. border, according to the latest U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends smallpox vaccinations for people exposed to monkeypox, a similar disease transmitted from some animals to humans. And officials ban sales of prairie dogs and imports of six species of African rodents tied to the spread of the disease. Hear NPR's Richard Knox.

In the second of a four-part series on Wal-Mart, NPR's Wade Goodwyn reports on the lengths to which some vendors will go in order to maintain a relationship with the retail giant.

Some of the most powerful people in Washington, including senators and cabinet members, tested positive for COVID-19 this week. Meanwhile, federal funding for the pandemic response is running out.

Babies' babbling is the stuff of scientific study. Writing in the current issue of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers have discovered that babies change and improve their babbling sounds in rapid response to affectionate behaviors from their mothers. NPR's Michelle Trudeau reports.