News

In Budapest, Hungary, a man takes a photo with people dressed as their favorite Star Wars stormtroopers.

May The Fourth Be With You: 'Star Wars' Fans Celebrate A Faraway Galaxy

1:54pm May 04, 2015

by Bill Chappell

Yoda, Chewbacca and a phalanx of stormtroopers are all over the Internet today, as fans celebrate Star Wars Day — drawn from a pun on May 4. We've collected some of our favorite postings.

Callery pear trees in Pittsburgh. The smell of the invasive trees has been compared to rotting fish and other stinky things.

What's That Smell? The Beautiful Tree That's Causing Quite A Stink

1:03pm May 04, 2015

by Liz Reid

Once embraced by cities for its beautiful white flowers, disease resistance and ability to grow just about anywhere, the Callery pear is now considered a nuisance due to its smell and invasive nature.

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Every spring, local residents have staged a play based on To Kill a Mockingbird in this courthouse in Monroeville, Ala.

A Town Divided Over The Next Chapter Of An Iconic Harper Lee Book

12:13pm May 04, 2015

by Debbie Elliott

There's plenty of speculation about whether the octogenarian author really intended to release the manuscript, discovered by her lawyer last year.

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Fallowed tomato fields, Corcoran, Calif.

A Landscape Of Abundance Becomes A Landscape Of Scarcity

11:44am May 04, 2015

by NPR Staff

Photographer Matt Black spends his days capturing images that illustrate the impact of the drought on people living in California's Central Valley.

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A patch that's the size of a nickel could one day administer the measles vaccine.

Why Your Future Vaccination Might Not Be A Shot

11:43am May 04, 2015

by Poncie Rutsch

Step aside, injections! The next flu vaccine you see might look more like a bandage — a patch covered in 100 microscopic needles that dissolve in the skin in just a few minutes.

Amar Baramu carried his 70-year-old mother on his back for five hours, then rode with her on a bus for 12 more, to get her to a hospital for the head wound she suffered during the earthquake.

He Carried His Mom On His Back For 5 Hours En Route To Medical Care

11:42am May 04, 2015

by Julie McCarthy

The epicenter of the quake that struck Nepal was in the district of Gorkha, a few hours' drive from the capital of Kathmandu. We're just beginning to see the extent of the damage in villages there.

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Health worker Jackie Carnegie delivers a rubella vaccine in Colorado in 1972.

Western Hemisphere Wipes Out Its Third Virus

11:39am May 04, 2015

by Michaeleen Doucleff

It took 15 years and 250 million vaccines, but this week, health authorities officially declared North America and South America free of rubella — a virus that can cause severe birth defects.

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Prince William and his wife, Catherine, who is the duchess of Cambridge show their newly-born daughter to the media outside the Lindo Wing at St. Mary's Hospital in central London on Saturday.

World News

Kate Middleton, Wife Of Prince William, Has A Baby Girl

11:14am May 04, 2015

by L. Carol Ritchie

Just hours after she checked into the hospital in early labor, the Duchess of Cambridge delivered her second baby.

Carly Fiorina speaks in Des Moines, Iowa, in January. So far, Fiorina is the lone notable Republican woman eyeing the White House.

Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina Announces She's Running For President

11:02am May 04, 2015

by Eyder Peralta

Fiorina joins a crowded field of Republicans seeking the nomination. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson announced his campaign on Sunday.

In this handout photo from Singapore's Raffles Hospital, Dr. Keith Goh and Carson operate on 29-year-old conjoined twins Ladan and Laleh Bijani in 2003.

5 Things You Should Know About Ben Carson

10:48am May 04, 2015

by Brakkton Booker

The pediatric neurosurgeon, who entered the presidential race Sunday night, performed pioneering operations on conjoined twins and hasn't held public office before. Here's what you might not know.