Accessibility links
U.S. News and National Top Stories NPR coverage of national news, U.S. politics, elections, business, arts, culture, health and science, and technology. Subscribe to the NPR Nation RSS feed.

National

Wednesday

Politics

Obama to Attend Selma March Anniversary

Sen. Barack Obama will speak this weekend on the anniversary of the day in 1965 when civil rights marchers were beaten in Selma, Ala. He talks about the trip and his experiences as a black presidential hopeful.

Obama to Attend Selma March Anniversary

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7630250/7630260" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

City Manager Fired for Sex-Change Plan

The city manager of Largo, Fla., has been fired, following the revelation that he was preparing to undergo a sex-change. Michele Norris talks with Steve Stanton, who has been undergoing hormone therapy before an operation to change from a man to a woman. Stanton had been planning to announce the operation in a couple months, but the news leaked last week.

City Manager Fired for Sex-Change Plan

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7648733/7648734" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Politics

Democrats Seek Consensus on War Funding

Most, if not all, of the Democrats in the Senate want the war in Iraq to be over. Some want U.S. troops to be withdrawn immediately, if not yesterday. Yet, when pressed, many of them also plan to vote to continue funding the war. That makes a consensus — and a strategy — hard to find.

Democrats Seek Consensus on War Funding

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7648714/7648715" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Church Hosts Conference on 'Ex-Gay' Therapy

The controversial idea that counseling and therapy can overcome homosexual tendencies is at the heart of what's called the "ex-gay movement." Proponents of ways that gays and lesbians can be "cured" recently held a conference in Phoenix.

Church Hosts Conference on 'Ex-Gay' Therapy

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7648730/7648731" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Economy

Stocks Bounce Back after Tuesday's Steep Fall

Wall Street leapt out to early gains the morning after a 416-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and held on for a rally that eased fears of a deeper slump. Investors had been anxious following a sell-off in China.

Stocks Bounce Back after Tuesday's Steep Fall

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7648688/7648689" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Somalian Refugee Finds Connections in Seattle

Koshin Mohamed, a Somali refugee, works as a shopkeeper in southern Seattle. He says he has been tapped by the new transitional government in Somalia to be the new Somalian Ambassador to the United States. But the 28-year-old has found some powerful allies in the world of conservative U.S. politics.

Somalian Refugee Finds Connections in Seattle

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7648705/7648706" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Arkansans Quibble Over the Possessive 'S'

Melissa Block talks with Rep. Steve Harrelson, a Democrat in the Arkansas legislature. On Tuesday, Harrelson introduced a resolution to declare the correct way to write the possessive form of the state's name. That would be, he says, "Arkansas's." Not everyone agrees, however, including the largest newspaper in Little Rock.

Arkansans Quibble Over the Possessive 'S'

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7648711/7648712" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Religion

Jesuit College Fights for Public Money in Missouri

A fight over using public money for a Catholic university is now before the Missouri Supreme Court. The case involves Saint Louis University, which wants $8 million in public money for a basketball arena.

Jesuit College Fights for Public Money in Missouri

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7648736/7648737" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Katrina & Beyond

Health Care Scarce for Many in New Orleans

Volunteer groups recently held the Greater New Orleans Medical Recovery Week. Volunteer physicians, nurses and technicians saw 500 to 600 patients a day during the event. Many who received care waited in line overnight because they had no other place to turn for help.

Health Care Scarce for Many in New Orleans

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7647069/7647494" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Law

High Court Weighs Faith-Based Initiatives

The Supreme Court hears arguments about whether people can sue the government for funding faith-based social programs. Opponents say the Bush administration's policy unconstitutionally promotes religion.

High Court Weighs Faith-Based Initiatives

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7641943/7641946" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Health

West Virginia Tackles Obesity Problem

West Virginia's residents are consistently ranked among the most overweight in the country, and the state budget is feeling the pinch. Now, Medicaid recipients in West Virginia have a new treatment option: Weight Watchers.

West Virginia Tackles Obesity Problem

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7641948/7641949" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Law

Boston Crime Lab Probed for Incorrect DNA Results

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been asked to examine a state crime lab administrator in Boston. The administrator is accused of mishandling DNA results in 25 sexual-assault cases.

Boston Crime Lab Probed for Incorrect DNA Results

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7641966/7641969" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Mexican Town Hosts Annual Congress of Witches

The Mexican town of Catemaco is hosting an unusual event this Friday: the annual International Congress of Witches. Politicians and businessmen come for power spells, and the lovelorn come for spells to entice a mate.

Mexican Town Hosts Annual Congress of Witches

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7641977/7641978" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

HUD Secretary on Making Homes More Affordable

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson talks about the government's plan to expand home ownership among African Americans. He also discusses the Bush administration's proposal to demolish four of New Orleans' largest public-housing projects closed after Katrina.

HUD Secretary on Making Homes More Affordable

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7641566/7641567" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Bob Woodruff and Wife Pen Recovery Memoir

Shortly after Bob Woodruff was tapped as lead anchor on ABC's World News Tonight, he and his cameraman were gravely injured by a bomb while reporting in Iraq. Now, he and his wife have written a book about his recovery.

Bob Woodruff and Wife Pen Recovery Memoir

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/7618702/7630224" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript