Flu cases rise again, while COVID takes a back seat
It's an unusual winter for respiratory illnesses. The flu is peaking twice: once in early January and again in February. Meanwhile, it's the mildest COVID winter since the pandemic began.
For P.D. James, A Good Mystery Celebrated Human Intelligence
The British author of best-selling detective stories has died at age 94. "In a sense, the detective story is a small celebration of reason and order in our very disorderly world," she told NPR.
Passengers Push Plane In Below Freezing Weather
Amateur video captured the passengers giving it their all in arctic Russia this week. Though a tractor-trailer is also visible — likely doing the real work.
Unknowingly, British Farmer Uses Priceless Dagger As Doorstop
A farmer in Rudham, England, has $65,000 to put toward a new doorstop because his current one was bought by a museum. It turns out the metal object he found was a 3,500-year-old dagger.
Shakespeare Folio Found In Small-Town French Library
Copies of Shakespeare's first folio are some of the rarest books in the world — only about 230 copies survive. Surprisingly, another copy has been rediscovered in a public library in northern France.
Astronauts Will Enjoy Thanksgiving Dinner In Space
Two NASA astronauts are aboard the International Space Station. Turkey is on the menu but not pumpkin pie. NASA can't make pumpkin pie in space because the crust doesn't come out right.
Energy Boom Helps Texas Commuter School Launch Football Program
The University of Texas Permian Basin is in Odessa, home to the football team featured in the movie Friday Night Lights. It's hoped that football will bring more students and more alumni dollars.
Why Fed Officials Are Concerned About Too Little Inflation
The U.S., Europe and Japan are seeing prices and wages rise more slowly than the 2 percent target that their central banks have set. Renee Montagne talks to David Wessel of the Brookings Institution.
Plan For Grand Jury Verdict Lacked Follow-Through, Critics Say
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon called in more member of the National Guard on Tuesday, after some protests in Ferguson turned violent Monday. A plan for after the verdict had been in the works for months.
