National

National

Obama Warns Of Dangerous Consequences If Debt Limit Isn't Raised

5:21pm January 14, 2013

by Ari Shapiro

President Obama gave the last news conference of his first term on Monday. The president said Congress must break the habit of negotiating its way through crisis over and over again.

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As religious as this country may be, many Americans are not religious at all. The group of religiously unaffiliated — dubbed "nones" -- has been growing.

Losing Our Religion: The Growth Of The 'Nones'

3:27pm January 14, 2013

by Heidi Glenn

As religious as this country may be, many Americans are not religious at all. The group of religiously unaffiliated – dubbed "nones"-- has been growing. One-fifth of Americans say they're nones, as are one in three under 30. They're socially liberal and aren't looking for an organized religion.

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Watch an interactive of the Supreme Court justice narrating her personal family photos. (Above: Sotomayor, 1959)

A Justice Deliberates: Sotomayor On Love, Health And Family

3:27pm January 14, 2013

by Nina Totenberg

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is open about how she benefited from affirmative action, how she came to terms with her diabetes and the "out-of-body experience" of being appointed to the high court. Sotomayor spoke with NPR just before the release of her new autobiography.

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Better Bring Your Own: University Of Vermont Bans Bottled Water

3:27pm January 14, 2013

by Kirk Carapezza

When students at the University of Vermont resume classes on the snow-covered Burlington campus Monday, something will be missing. UVM is the latest university to ban on-campus sales of bottled water.

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Lack Of Up-To-Date Research Complicates Gun Debate

3:27pm January 14, 2013

by Carrie Johnson

Vice President Joe Biden says his task force on reducing gun violence is facing an unexpected obstacle: slim or outdated research on weapons. Public health research dried up more than a decade ago after Congress restricted the use of some federal money to pay for those studies.

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In News Conference, Obama Calls For Raising Debt Ceiling

3:27pm January 14, 2013

On Monday, President Obama repeated his call to Congress to raise the U.S. Treasury's borrowing limit.

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Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, has retired. He'll start working with the Center for American Progress, a progressive research and policy organization, on issues of faith and gay rights.

Retired Bishop Gene Robinson On Being Gay And Loving God

2:25pm January 14, 2013

The first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church will start work with the Center for American Progress, focusing on issues of faith and gay rights. "Gay is not something we do," he says. "It's something we are." His book God Believes in Love: Straight Talk About Gay Marriage was published in September.

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A giant squid stars in this still image taken from the footage Edie Widder shot. It's the first-ever video of these giant squids, and it'll debut in a Discovery Channel documentary airing in late January.

The Kraken Is Real: Scientist Films First Footage Of A Giant Squid

7:25pm January 13, 2013

by NPR Staff

For thousands of years, sailors have told stories of giant squids. In myth and cinema, the kraken was the most terrible of sea monsters. Now, it's been captured — on a soon-to-be-seen video.

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National

Uncertainty Looms For Pentagon In Obama's Second Term

7:25pm January 13, 2013

Facing sequestration cuts, a troop drawdown in Afghanistan and what's expected to be a contentious fight over the next defense secretary, it's hard to avoid the conclusion that some of the biggest challenges for the Department of Defense come from inside U.S. borders. Still, the Pentagon's job is to anticipate future threats — and prepare.

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Obama To Pick New Pentagon, CIA Leaders

9:01am January 13, 2013

Counterterrorism adviser John Brennan is expected to be chosen as CIA director. And it's expected that Chuck Hagel will be announced to replace retiring Defense secretary Leon Panetta at the Pentagon.

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