Search results for

NPR's Ivan Watson, who had a close call Sunday when his car was targeted by a bomb, says there has been an increase in violence in the Iraqi capital. He says in November alone, there were 108 bombings in the city with a civilian death toll of 148.

Black Friday was not as bad as many retailers had expected. One estimate shows American shoppers spent 3 percent more on the first day of the holiday shopping season than last year. To find out how some retailers did, we check in with a high-end mall in a St. Louis suburb, an outlet mall in San Marcos, Texas, and an online retailer in Boston.

As Democrats seek to block the appointment of Roland Burris to replace Barack Obama in the Senate, Charles Tiefer, a former counsel to the U.S Senate and House and now a professor at the University of Baltimore Law School, offers his insight.

Army Capt. Nate Rawlings has been sharing his experiences in Iraq with NPR over the last year. Madeleine Brand speaks with Rawlings about how he celebrated the new year in Baghdad and what 2009 may bring for United States soldiers in Iraq.

After a week of bombing strikes from the air, Israel sent ground troops into Gaza on Saturday. The operation penetrated the territory at several points and was designed to seize areas of north Gaza being used to launch rockets against Israel, Israeli military officials said.

Israeli warplanes have made more airstrikes into Gaza as key world powers pressure Israel and Hamas to call a truce. Hamas, meanwhile, is keeping up its rocket barrages into southern Israel. Israeli officials have turned down a call for a two-day truce in Gaza so medical, food and relief supplies could get in.

President-elect Obama said congressional inaction on his economic stimulus package could make a bad situation dramatically worse. In a speech at George Mason University, outside Washington, Obama blamed the economic crisis on "an era of profound irresponsibility."

Singer and actress Eartha Kitt has died of colon cancer. She was 81. Kitt, who was ostracized as a child in South Carolina because of her mixed-race heritage, got her start in show business as a dancer and vocalist, and earned early international notice as a featured singer in a Paris nightclub.

Despite overall decreases in violent crime in the U.S., a study finds a sharp increase in murders of and by black males, especially teenagers. The authors of the report say several factors could be to blame, including homeland security duties for police after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

When a U.S. Airways jetliner landed in the Hudson River yesterday, a plane full of passengers braced for the worst. But a calm-headed staff and an ace pilot prevented a disaster. Now some are saying the pilot, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, could run for mayor.