Now Playing

Loading streams...

Podcasts & RSS Feeds

News From NPRRSS
All ContentRSS
View all podcasts & RSS feeds

News From NPR

Pages

Business
5:11 am
Sun December 30, 2012

Retail Workers Bear Brunt Of Sluggish Holiday Sales

Credit Frank Franklin II / AP
Pedestrians pass the Dow Jones display ticker in Times Square on Wednesday in New York. U.S. shoppers spent cautiously this holiday season, a disappointment for retailers that slashed prices to lure people into stores and now must hope for a post-Christmas burst of spending.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By editor

Originally published on Sun December 30, 2012 4:51 pm

Several large retailers took a leap of faith on what they thought would be a gangbuster holiday season, hiring more seasonal workers this year than last.

Sales during the two months before Christmas weren't all that stunning, however, and that's meant fewer opportunities for seasonal workers.

Read more
It's All Politics
5:11 am
Sun December 30, 2012

Massachusetts Freshman Brings Kennedys Back To Capitol Hill

Credit Bizuayehu Tesfaye / AP
Joseph Kennedy III, son of former Rep. Joseph Kennedy II and grandson of the late Robert F. Kennedy, delivers his victory speech on Nov. 6 in Newton, Mass.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By

Originally published on Sun December 30, 2012 4:39 pm

Last year marked the first time in more than six decades that there was no Kennedy in elected office in the nation's capital.

But that gap ends this week with the inauguration of Rep.-elect Joseph Kennedy III of Massachusetts. The son of former Rep. Joe Kennedy and the grandson of the late Robert F. Kennedy was elected by a 2-1 margin in his first run for office.

There's little denying that Kennedy's election was about more than just him.

Read more
World
5:10 am
Sun December 30, 2012

Street Signs Intended To Give Pakistani City New Direction

Credit Dina Temple-Raston
Street signs in the city of Lahore, Pakistan, are rare. The few that exist are in disrepair, like the one above. Two entrepreneurs are looking to change that and improve navigation in the city.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By

Originally published on Wed March 20, 2013 10:31 am

Landlords built Lahore in a haphazard way over centuries. They didn't concern themselves with city grids or sensible mapping. As a result, Lahore is renowned in Pakistan for being almost impossible to navigate.

And that's where Asim Fayaz and Khurram Siddiqi come in.

Read more
It's All Politics
5:10 am
Sun December 30, 2012

Conservatives Invoke NAACP Case In Fight For Secret Donors

Credit David Goldman / AP
Republican strategist Karl Rove, shown at the Republican National Convention in August, is arguing for continued secrecy for the new class of million-dollar political donors.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By

Originally published on Sun December 30, 2012 9:27 pm

Here's a question: What do Republican strategist Karl Rove and civil rights icon Rosa Parks have in common?

Read more
Europe
5:09 am
Sun December 30, 2012

The Mysterious Disappearance Of The Russian Crown Jewels

Next imagePrevious image
Credit www.usgs.gov
This necklace appears in the 1922 album at the USGS library, but not in the 1925 book on the Russian crown jewels.
Credit www.usgs.gov
After the 1917 revolution, Russia's new rulers debated what to do with the crown jewels. This 1925 photo shows the collection. However, a 1922 album at the U.S. Geological Survey includes photos of four items that are not described in the official 1925 inventory.
Credit www.usgs.gov
This brooch is one of four jewels that appears in a 1922 volume called The Russian Diamond Fund, recently uncovered in the rare-book room of the U.S. Geological Survey Library in Reston, Va. The four pieces are no longer part of the Russian collection.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By

Originally published on Wed January 2, 2013 2:49 am

The story of the missing Russian crown jewels begins, as so many great adventures do, in a library.

In this case, it was the U.S. Geological Survey Library in Reston, Va.

Richard Huffine, the director, was looking through the library's rare-book collection when he came upon an oversized volume.

"And there's no markings on the outside, there's no spine label or anything like that," he says. "This one caught our eye, and we pulled it aside to take a further look at it."

Researcher Jenna Nolt was one of those who took a look.

Read more

Pages