Search results for

NPR's Kate Seelye in Riyadh reports on Saudi Arabia's response to allegations that the country has supported terrorism. Saudi authorities say they have cracked down on charitable groups that had been funding terrorist organizations, and they say they've taken other measures to halt backing for terrorists. But Saudi analysts say the country is being treated like a scapegoat by pro-Israel groups in the West.

NPR's Lawrence Sheets reports from Moscow that the cast of the Russian musical Nord-Ost performed this past weekend for the first time since last month's attack on their theater by Chechen gunmen. They staged a special benefit concert including songs from the musical. The mood was somber, but defiant, as performers honored 17 cast members who died, along with more than 100 other hostages -- the vast majority from the effects of gas Russian security forces pumped into the theater.

The Department of Defense is testing a new technology for funerals. It's a digital bugle, to play "Taps." There are far more funerals a day than there are military buglers, so the Defense Department has to compensate somehow. Commentator Joellen Easton has played "Taps" at military funerals, and she hopes the Defense Department's experiment isn't too successful. (3:30)

Commentator Ralph Schoenstein reflects on what he learned during his time in the Army at Fort Dix, N.J.

Christina Nance had been missing since Sept. 25, her family says. Video footage from that day shows her entering the van, which was in a police parking lot. Her body was found 12 days later.

More than 20 states and many major cities have mandated vaccines for public employees, but police unions are pushing back, warning of staffing shortages amid a nationwide uptick in violent crime.

The nation's first Black secretary of state notably broke from the Republican Party to endorse Barack Obama in 2008. He also gave a forthright condemnation of Islamophobia.

In one of his frequent NPR essays, Walter Cronkite remembers the day President Kennedy was assassinated, 39 years ago today. National Archive recordings of ground-to-air communications with Kennedy's cabinet and Air Force One shed new light on the crisis. Listen to the recordings, and samples of broadcasts Cronkite made on Nov. 22, 1963.

Lynn Neary talks with reporter Melanie Peeples, who is in Carbon Hill, Ala., about the destruction there from last night's tornadoes. As many as three twisters hit the area, killing seven people, felling trees and power lines, and damaging homes.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says he's "confident" in international inspectors who have begun looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. In an interview with NPR's Michele Kelemen, Powell says the Bush administration hopes for a peaceful resolution to the Iraq issue but warns that if war does come, the United States and other nations will be ready to "accomplish the mission of disarmament." NPR Online has the complete interview.

Robert Siegel interviews Scott Silliman, the executive director of the Center for Law, Ethics, and National Security at Duke University, about whether the trial of Zaccarias Moussaoui could be moved to a military tribunal. Moussaoui is facing charges in federal court in Alexandria, Va. He's accused of conspiring with the Sept. 11 hijackers. But the case has been slow in getting to trial.

The Bush administration prepares to make a change in the way it helps the sick and impoverished around the world. The new Millennium Challenge Account fund would double U.S. aid for development over the next three years, but critics fear some nations will be left out. NPR's Richard Harris reports.

Tornadoes kill more than 30 people in several states, including Alabama, Tennessee and Ohio, authorities say. At least 10 people are dead in Alabama and 15 in Tennessee. Thousands are without power. Steve Chiotakis with member station WBHM reports.

A new study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition calls into question the U.S. government's official dietary rules and suggests the well-known food pyramid is obsolete. Hear NPR's Richard Knox and Marion Nestle of New York University.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops meets in Washington, D.C., to discuss Vatican-inspired revisions to the bishops' proposed new policy for dealing with sexually abusive priests. The Vatican seeks revisions to items it says conflict with church law. Hear NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty.

On Friday, the 16th Party Congress of the Chinese Communist Party -- used by political leaders to lay out their policies for the next five years -- opens with great fanfare, and heavy security. NPR's Rob Gifford reports on the major changes to be considered, and the behind-the-scenes wrangling for power. Read profiles of the outgoing leaders, and the contenders to lead the world's most populous nation.

Attorney General Ashcroft praises a new registration system requiring fingerprints and photos of citizens from Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya and Syria as they arrive on U.S. soil. Several Arab countries denounce the program as racial profiling. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports.

In Colombia, a judge orders the release of Gilberto Rodriguez, imprisoned as one of the country's top drug lords. Investigators scramble to find evidence to bring fresh charges -- and possibly to support Rodriguez's extradition to the United States. Steven Dudley reports.

Robert Siegel and John Ydstie read some of this week's listener letters.

The former president threatens that GOP leaders must match their priorities to his or face a mass defection by the party's most reliable voters. It's without precedent, but there is a parallel.