Afghanistan
12:01 am
Tue March 13, 2012

Killings A Blow To U.S. Strategy In Afghanistan

Credit Allauddin Khan / AP
A U.S. soldier, part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, stands outside a military base in Panjwai, Kandahar province, south of Kabul, on Sunday.

The killings of some 16 civilians in Afghanistan on Sunday allegedly by a U.S. soldier are raising new questions about U.S. military strategy: whether the surge of American troops worked, and whether the U.S. troops have won over the Afghan people or alienated them.

The place where the killings happened was a "no-go zone" for American and even Afghan troops as recently as two years ago — it was Taliban country.

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Money & Politics
12:01 am
Tue March 13, 2012

Low-Profile SuperPAC Targets Powerful Incumbents

Credit YouTube
The superPAC Campaign for Primary Accountability is taking aim at Alabama Republican Rep. Spencer Bachus and other congressional incumbents.
Shots - Health Blog
12:01 am
Tue March 13, 2012

As Cholera Season Bears Down On Haiti, Vaccination Program Stalls

Credit John Poole / NPR
Thousands of doses of cholera vaccine sit in a refrigerated trailer in a United Nations compound in Saint-Marc, Haiti. Vaccination was supposed to begin last week, but bureaucratic problems have delayed the start. April is the beginning of Haiti's rainy season, which will likely intensify Haiti's cholera outbreak.

Originally published on Wed March 14, 2012 2:07 pm

The vaccine — $417,000 worth of it — is stacked high in refrigerated containers to protect it from the Haitian heat.

Hundreds of health workers are trained and ready to give the vaccine. They're armed with programmed smartphones and tablet computers to keep track of who has been vaccinated and who needs a second dose.

And 100,000 eager Haitians, from the teeming slums of Port-au-Prince to tiny hamlets in Haiti's rice bowl, have signed up to get the vaccine.

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Looking Up: Pockets of Economic Strength
12:01 am
Tue March 13, 2012

Record-High Food Prices Boost Farmers' Bottom Lines

Part of a series

Thanks to high commodity prices and surging productivity, U.S. farmers earned a net income of nearly $98 billion last year — a record, according to the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute.

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Election 2012
6:10 pm
Mon March 12, 2012

Even For Romney, Delegate Math Still A Problem

Credit Win McNamee / Getty Images
Mitt Romney waits to speak while being introduced Monday during a campaign stop in Mobile, Ala.

For many following the Republican presidential contest, the big question is who's winning.

That's not easily answered if you go only by who has won each state's primary or caucus. But if you measure who's won the most pledged convention delegates, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is clearly in the lead.

So much so, in fact, that Romney's campaign insists there's no way his rivals can catch up or keep him from getting the 1,144 delegates needed for securing the nomination in Tampa this summer during the Republican National Convention.

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Middle East
6:04 pm
Mon March 12, 2012

Israel: Rocket Shield Is Deflecting Gaza Attacks

In the Gaza Strip on Monday, Palestinian families mourned their dead.

Those killed included a 65-year-old farmer who was watering his tomatoes and checking on his greenhouses, his 35-year-old daughter, and a 15-year-old boy.

Israel says Palestinian militants were hiding among the local population and firing rockets from northern Gaza into southern Israel. Palestinians in one Gaza community told NPR that militants had been operating in the area but said the civilians were innocent.

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The Two-Way
5:55 pm
Mon March 12, 2012

Journalist Marie Colvin Laid To Rest In New York

Credit Stan Honda / AFP/Getty Images
Rosemarie Colvin, mother of slain Times of London correspondent Marie Colvin, walks behind the casket of her daughter after a funeral at St. Dominic's Catholic Church on Monday in Oyster Bay, New York.

The American journalist killed while on assignment in Syria was laid to rest in New York today.

At a ceremony in Oyster Bay, New York, Marie Colvin, who worked for the British paper The Sunday Times, was remembered as an "outstanding reporter" who took risks because she thought what she did was important.

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The Two-Way
5:21 pm
Mon March 12, 2012

The Talk Of SXSW: The Mobile Location App 'Highlight'

Credit Jack Plunkett / AP
Jessica Weaver, center, hands out trinkets advertising the new mobile app "Highlight" to passers-by outside the SXSW Interactive Festival and Conference in Austin, Texas on Saturday.
Shots - Health Blog
5:13 pm
Mon March 12, 2012

Romney Says No Thanks To Medicare

Credit Win McNamee / Getty Images
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney greets supporters at the Whistle Stop cafe in Mobile, Ala., on Monday, his birthday.

So Mitt Romney is turning 65. And on his landmark birthday, he's doing the exact opposite of what roughly 99 percent of Americans do at that age: He's not signing up for Medicare.

The news was broken by the blog Buzzfeed, and quickly confirmed by the Romney campaign.

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Looking Up: Pockets of Economic Strength
4:35 pm
Mon March 12, 2012

On Utah's 'Silicon Slopes,' Tech Jobs Get A Lift

Last year, Utah created jobs at a faster pace than any other state in the country — with the single exception of North Dakota. While the boom in North Dakota is being driven by oil and gas, the hot job market in Utah is being powered by technology companies.

Computer-system-design jobs in Utah shot up nearly 12 percent in 2011. Scientific and technical jobs jumped 9.7 percent. With job opportunities expanding, the state is having little trouble attracting new residents.

For Jill Layfield, the decision to move here from Silicon Valley was not a tough call.

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