NPR News

U.S.-Cuba PAC Money May Have Changed Votes

NPR Top Stories - November 19, 2009 - 3:00am

A group of Cuban Americans has had unusual success getting House members to change their positions and vote against closer ties with Cuba. New analysis shows some political contributions from the U.S.-Cuba Democracy Pac reached lawmakers within days of them switching their vote.

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Reid Introduces Senate Health Care Plan

NPR Top Stories - November 19, 2009 - 3:00am

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has unveiled the Democrat's bill overhauling health care. It costs less than the health care bill the House passed earlier this month, and its expansion of insurance coverage is somewhat more limited.

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McCann, Stiles Win National Book Awards

NPR Top Stories - November 19, 2009 - 3:00am

The 60th annual National Book Awards were handed out Wednesday night in New York. Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin, a novel about daring, luck and mortality in 1970s New York, won the fiction prize. T.J. Stiles' biography of Cornelius Vanderbilt, The First Tycoon, was the nonfiction winner and Keith Waldrop's Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy won for poetry.

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Ruling May Spur More Katrina Flood Lawsuits

NPR Top Stories - November 19, 2009 - 2:38am

Five residents and a business have won a lawsuit against the Army Corps of Engineers over flood damages from Hurricane Katrina. A federal judge in New Orleans ruled Wednesday that the Army Corps' shoddy oversight of a navigation channel contributed to massive flooding of New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward and neighboring St. Bernard Parish. The case has been watched closely by other Katrina victims seeking compensation from the government.

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Newly-Inaugurated Karzai Vows To Fight Corruption

NPR Top Stories - November 19, 2009 - 12:55am

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai promised Thursday to prosecute corrupt government officials and end a culture of impunity, speaking during an inauguration closely watched by the international community for signs that his administration is moving beyond the cronyism and graft of the past five years.

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'Let The Great World Spin' Wins Book Award

NPR Top Stories - November 18, 2009 - 11:09pm

Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin, a novel about daring, luck and mortality in 1970s New York, won the fiction prize Wednesday night at the 60th annual National Book Awards. T.J. Stiles' biography of Cornelius Vanderbilt, The First Tycoon, was the nonfiction winner.

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Black Males Hit Extra Hard By Unemployment

NPR Top Stories - November 18, 2009 - 9:01pm

The country's spiraling unemployment rate continues to take a particular toll on men. The "he-cession," as it's sometimes called, has hit African-American men especially hard, increasing their unemployment rate to more than 17 percent last month.

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Judge: Corps' Negligence Caused Katrina Flooding

NPR Top Stories - November 18, 2009 - 6:00pm

Flood victims argued the widening of a navigation channel maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers and subsequent loss of protective wetlands turned the channel into a speedway for the hurricane's storm surge. A federal judge in New Orleans agreed and awarded damages of about $720,000 to four people and a business.

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S.C. Panel Finds Governor Should Face Ethics Charges

NPR Top Stories - November 18, 2009 - 4:28pm

The State Ethics Commission said probable cause exists on several allegations tied to a three-month investigation into Mark Sanford's travel and campaign finances. Details of the charges — which should include whether the accusations involve civil or criminal allegations — were expected to be released next week.

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Hershey, Ferrero Weighing Rival Bid For Cadbury

NPR Top Stories - November 18, 2009 - 2:59pm

Hershey, hoping to expand its overseas presence, has lined up a potential partner, Italian candymaker Ferrero International SA, in a possible bidding war for British candy maker Cadbury PLC. The combination could have the financial firepower to top a $16.4 billion hostile bid by Kraft Foods Inc.

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Trying Sept. 11 Suspects In U.S. A Political Gamble

NPR Top Stories - November 18, 2009 - 1:30pm

Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to try the alleged Sept. 11 conspirators in federal courts has elicited sharply divided responses from Capitol Hill, the American public and victims' families. Holder says his decision is driven by evidence, not politics.

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Sen. Reid Unveils $849 Billion Health Care Bill

NPR Top Stories - November 18, 2009 - 1:21pm

Setting up a historic year-end debate, the Senate Democratic leader introduced long-awaited legislation to reshape the nation's health care system. The measure aims to cover 31 million uninsured Americans over 10 years.

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Holder: No Failure In 9/11 Prosecution

NPR Top Stories - November 18, 2009 - 1:04pm

Attorney General Eric Holder told senators Wednesday "failure is not an option" in the prosecution of Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Holder explained his rationale to bring Mohammed and four other terrorism suspects to the U.S. for a civilian trial.

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Reef Conservation Strategy Backfires

NPR Top Stories - November 18, 2009 - 1:01pm

Conservationists worried about overfishing on the Pacific island of Kiribati persuaded fishermen to pick coconuts instead. The strategy backfired: Coconut oil production increased, but so did fishing. It turns out, fishermen who earned more money in coconut agriculture had more leisure time — which they spent fishing.

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Olympic Medalist Stripped Of Gold

NPR Top Stories - November 18, 2009 - 1:00pm

The International Olympic Committee has stripped Bahrain's Rashid Ramzi of his gold medal from the Beijing Games. In taking his medal for the 1,500 meters, the IOC said Ramzi committed anti-doping violations. Four other athletes were also sanctioned for doping.

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Senate Democrats May Unveil New Health Bill

NPR Top Stories - November 18, 2009 - 1:00pm

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is expected to outline a new health care bill soon designed to meet President Obama's goal of expanding coverage without adding to the deficit. Reid wants to bring the measure to the Senate floor in the next few days.

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Study: Repression Continues In Raul's Cuba

NPR Top Stories - November 18, 2009 - 1:00pm

Cuban leader Raul Castro has maintained an abusive system that his brother put in place to repress dissent, according to Human Rights Watch. The report also calls for a change in U.S. policy, lifting the longtime trade embargo in favor of more targeted sanctions.

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Camera That Saved Hubble Now On Display

NPR Top Stories - November 18, 2009 - 12:30pm

Two instruments from the Hubble Space Telescope, including the camera that corrected an early flaw in the telescope, are now on exhibit at the Smithsonian. The camera, about the size of a baby grand piano, is responsible for some of Hubble's most astounding photos.

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New Perils In Mexico For U.S.-Bound Migrants

NPR Top Stories - November 18, 2009 - 11:32am

The U.S. economic downturn and tighter border security has not deterred migrants from Central America seeking to enter the United States. But they are being abused in new and alarming ways. Tens of thousands of them are robbed, kidnapped and even killed attempting to cross Mexico.

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Iraqi Election Plans In Limbo After Veto Of Key Law

NPR Top Stories - November 18, 2009 - 10:32am

A top Iraqi official vetoed the country's election law Wednesday, throwing plans to hold parliamentary elections in January into disarray. The move could unravel hard-won compromises, and it could complicate U.S. efforts to withdraw U.S. combat troops next year.

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