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The city of Chicago has one more thing to boast about: Its hometown orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, has been named America's top orchestra in a new critics' poll published in the venerable British magazine Gramophone.
Mike Kilgore's grandmother played a large role in his life. From helping Kilgore stay out of trouble with his father to teaching him how to approach life's problems, her lessons have stayed with him long after her death.
Morning Edition's movie critic is not, and never has been, a 13-year-old girl. But Catherine Hardwicke's dead-on screen take on Stephenie Meyer's vampire books makes him wish he could be — if only to get the full effect.
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U.S.-Russia relations are at a low point, following Russia's invasion of Georgia in August. Some analysts, however, say the Kremlin is hoping things will improve when President-elect Barack Obama moves into the White House in January.
The International Atomic Energy Agency reports that Iran has produced close to 1,400 pounds of low-enriched uranium. If that material were to be enriched further, experts say it would probably be enough to make a single atomic bomb.
Thousands of Iraqis gathered Friday at a central square in Baghdad to demonstrate against a security agreement that would keep U.S. forces in Iraq for another three years. The protesters are supporters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who opposes the accord. Iraqi lawmakers are scheduled to vote on the agreement Monday.
A federal judge in Washington has ordered the Bush administration to release five detainees from the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The men have been held there for seven years on evidence the judge finds insufficient. The ruling is the first by a trial judge since the Supreme Court declared in June that the Guantanamo prisoners have the right to challenge their detentions in U.S. courts.
A rush to build electric cars could also mean a rush to get minerals that are produced in unstable parts of the world. Lithium-ion batteries require large amounts of cobalt, which comes primarily from the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, Tibet and Siberia. Easing dependence on foreign oil could mean increasing dependence on foreign minerals — from even less reliable trading partners than the Persian Gulf states.
One of the buzzwords at the Los Angeles Auto Show is "electrification." It's a future where cars run solely on battery power. Paul Eisenstein of The Detroit Bureau, an independent auto news service, says that future is still a ways off. He tells Steve Inskeep that for electric cars to succeed, they'll need a battery that lasts for more than 100 miles before a recharge.
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The G-20 last weekend committed to exercising strong oversight of credit rating agencies. Many of the financial instruments that are at the heart of the financial crisis had been given AAA ratings, meaning they were supposed to be of the highest quality. That turned out to be wrong. Will the G-20 declaration change anything?
Stock prices are at six-year lows. Over the past two days, the Dow Jones industrial average has lost more than 6 percent of its value. The $700 billion bailout was supposed to stabilize the financial industry and get banks lending again. But that hasn't happened yet.
Oil prices dipped below $50 a barrel Thursday. That's a nearly two-thirds drop from the record high of more than $147 in July. While that may sound like pleasant news, the low price is actually a symptom of a weak economy. Since many expect the economy to drag for a year or more, oil prices likely will stay low.
The financial crisis is closing in on Citigroup. The banking colossus has more than 200 million customers around the world. But investors are increasingly worried about Citigroup's financial condition. Its share price tumbled more than 25 percent Thursday. CEO Vikram Pandit is weighing his options, including selling off parts of the company or selling the whole company. Citigroup lost half its value this week and is trading at levels not seen since the mid-1990s.
Some would-be investors may be too scared to dip their toe into the investment world of stocks and bonds. Now they don't have to worry, and can take the plunge in fantasy investing. It works similarly to fantasy sports leagues. Faux investors are using virtual investing games like "Wall Street Survivor" to learn the real deal.
Top U.S. intelligence analysts have released a report on what they think the world could look like in 2025, if current trends continue. They predict that the U.S. probably won't be the dominant world power. Countries will be fighting over food, water, energy and other scarce resources. But there's some good news: Terrorism may wane.
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Lawmakers considering a $25 billion aid package for the auto industry made getting a plan from carmakers a condition for getting the money. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid say if there's a viable plan, Congress might return to work in early next month for a vote.
Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, says he's frustrated with how banks are using funds provided by the government. He also thinks the Treasury Department has been too slow in addressing the mortgage crisis. Dodd tells Steve Inskeep that Congress may have to reconsider some parts of the rescue plan it approved.
More feature-length films are available on the Internet. Critics have come up with a list of top ten movies that should never be watched online. The list includes "Lawrence of Arabia" and "The Last of the Mohicans."
Italy's Finance Minister says Pope Benedict predicted the current financial crisis more than 20 years ago when he was Cardinal Ratzinger. It was in a paper presented at a conference in 1985 called "Market Economy and Ethics." The future pope said a decline in ethics "can actually cause the laws of the market to collapse."
Think about that phrase in the Constitution - about how the President must be a natural-born American. If similar laws apply to the nations of central Asia, we may have to ask if a newborn baby will be entitled to run for president of Kazakhstan. A Swedish woman was on a flight over the Asian country when she gave birth. Two doctors and two nurses were on board the 11-hour flight. The baby's fine, born at 35,000 feet.
Obama is not a house Negro. Yes he will be living in the big house, but he is not a house slave. He runs the place. He answers to no one. He is massa.