3:09pm

Fri March 23, 2012
Music Interviews

Julia Nunes: Homesick Anthems Spawn An Internet Star

Credit Shervin Lainez

3:09pm

Fri March 23, 2012
U.S.

Global Health Expert Chosen As World Bank Nominee

Credit Jim Cole / AP

Jim Yong Kim, President Obama's nominee to be the leader of the World Bank, is an unconventional choice. As a global health expert, he's a medical doctor who helped start an international health organization. He currently serves as president of Dartmouth College.

"Despite its name, the World Bank is more than just a bank," Obama told reporters during the White House announcement Friday morning. "It's time for a development professional to lead the world's largest development agency."

Read more

2:44pm

Fri March 23, 2012
Religion

Thousands Rally For Religious Freedom Nationwide

Credit Alex Brandon / AP

Across the country, thousands of people skipped lunch Friday to protest what they see as a threat to religious liberties in the United States.

The protesters' specific complaint was the birth control mandate in the new health care law, but the discontent runs far deeper.

It didn't take much for the Rev. Pat Mahoney, an evangelical minister, to warm up the crowd in Washington. He gazed out at hundreds of people who filled the plaza in front of Kathleen Sebelius' office at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Read more

2:19pm

Fri March 23, 2012
Election 2012

How Would A President Romney Handle Afghanistan?

Originally published on Fri March 23, 2012 3:17 pm

An Army staff sergeant's alleged massacre of Afghan civilians has brought new calls for the United States to leave Afghanistan even before the timetable set by President Obama, who has announced that the U.S. combat mission will be over by the end of 2014.

Some Republican presidential candidates are among those publicly asking if now is the time for the U.S. to leave Afghanistan.

But not Mitt Romney.

Read more

2:18pm

Fri March 23, 2012
The Two-Way

Calif. Exec Pleads Guilty In Huge Tomato Price-Fixing Scheme

Originally published on Fri March 23, 2012 2:21 pm

Frederick Scott Salyer, 56, has pleaded guilty in a massive tomato price fixing scheme that investigators say affected almost every American home.

Salyer, the former chief executive officer of SK Foods LP, said he bribed purchasers and fixed prices for the sale of his tomato products to McCain Foods USA Inc., ConAgra Foods Inc. and Kraft Foods Inc.

The AP reports:

Read more

1:55pm

Fri March 23, 2012
The Two-Way

Report: Mine Safety Agency 'Could Have Prevented' Deadly Disaster

Originally published on Fri March 23, 2012 3:40 pm

An independent review of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration's (MSHA) enforcement at the Upper Big Branch (UBB) coal mine in West Virginia says the agency failed to spot "a number of enforcement deficiencies" at the mine which were major factors in the April 2010 explosion that took 29 lives.

Read more

1:53pm

Fri March 23, 2012
The Salt

Europe's Mixed Record On Animal Antibiotics

Credit Robin Utrecht / AFP/Getty Images

If Danish pigs can live with fewer antibiotics, why can't their American cousins?

It's a hot topic, especially today. Yesterday, a federal judge ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to proceed with a 1977 plan to outlaw the use of certain antibiotics as growth promotion drugs.

Read more

1:53pm

Fri March 23, 2012
Shots - Health Blog

Why Getting Grimy As A Child Can Make For A Healthier Life

Credit iStockphoto.com

We've known for a while that people who grow up on farms are less likely to have ailments related to the immune system than people who grow up in cities. Those include asthma, allergies, inflammatory bowel disease and multiple sclerosis.

Read more

1:43pm

Fri March 23, 2012
The Two-Way

U.S. Census Show Asians Are Fastest Growing Racial Group

Credit NPR / Using Census Data

Asians are the fastest growing racial group according to a recent report released by the U.S. Census Bureau analyzing 2000 and 2010 census figures.

For those following the nation's changing demographics that may sound surprising because we've also been hearing that Hispanics are the "fastest growing minority group."

Read more

1:34pm

Fri March 23, 2012
Asia

Along Korea's DMZ, No Sign That Tensions Are Easing

Cold winds blow through pine trees and across nearby mountains. On the horizon are guard posts and cameras. There's little movement, except for wildlife.

U.S. Lt. Col. Ed Taylor, lives and works on the Korean armistice line that has divided North and South for almost six decades. He even sleeps in a bed right next to North Korea.

"I cannot compare it to anything I've ever done. And I say that with 23 years in the Army and two deployments to Iraq," Taylor says.

Read more

Pages