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Helen Simpson once said that when it comes to short stories, "Something's got to happen, but not too much." Her latest short story collection, In-Flight Entertainment, may seem bleak and mundane — with subjects like mortality, infidelity and climate change — but it's also bursting with British wit.

A deadline set by Palestinian militants for Israel to begin releasing Palestinian prisoners passes. Militants say they will provide no more information about the condition of a captive Israeli soldier. Israel won't negotiate publicly, but international efforts at diplomacy continue behind the scenes.

The British musician Devonte Hynes says he's inspired by the diverse orchestrations of old solo pop auteurs: Todd Rundgren, Serge Gainsbourg, Marvin Gaye and so forth. He speaks on his new album as Lightspeed Champion, filled with plenty of his own textures.

Robin D.G. Kelley's new book, Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original, focuses on the career of the eccentric jazz pianist and composer. It reveals new details about Monk's life, music and mental health problems, and provides a glimpse into the New York jazz scene of the mid-twentieth century.

Militants aligned with Hamas fire homemade rockets at Israel, ending a truce agreed to 16 months ago. Seven Palestinian civilians died Friday when an Israeli artillery round hit a Gaza beach. Israel says the shell went astray, and is investigating.

Mystery writer P.D. James, now 91, has written a suspenseful sequel to Jane Austen's classic. Death Comes to Pemberley picks up six years after Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy have wed. Maureen Corrigan says the story is "a glorious plum pudding of a whodunit."

Despite the chanting and the plastic tents, Tahrir Square now is a different place than it was when protestors overthrew the Mubarak regime. This latest phase of Egypt's revolution has been much more violent — and much of that violence has targeted women.

Newsprint is both the medium and the message in the "Shock of the News" exhibit currently on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The show examines a century's worth of interaction between artists and the journals of their day.

Before the recession, Idaho had one of the fastest growing economies in the country. But last year, its jobless rate peaked at nearly 10 percent. That number has begun to creep down – but many workers in the state are still struggling to replace the jobs they've lost.

Justice Antonin Scalia served on the Supreme Court for decades. Rachel Martin talks with two of his former legal clerks — one from his early years on the Court and one from the middle of his career.

The release of more than 1000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is being trumpeted as a major victory by the Islamist Hamas faction that has held Shalit for five years. The boost for Hamas has sidelined the Palestinian Authority and President Mahmoud Abbas, who was just recently feted for his efforts to win Palestinian statehood recognition from the UN. The political shift leaves Palestinian supporters of a two-state solution feeling isolated. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

Proposals for chemical plants to use "inherently safer" design practices have been blocked by industry executives and their allies in Congress, despite deadly accidents and the risk of a potential terrorist attack that could harm an entire community or city.