News

Ruth Coker Burks with her friend Paul Wineland. Wineland's partner was one of many AIDS patients Coker Burks has cared for over the past three decades.

Caring For AIDS Patients, 'When No One Else Would'

1:07pm December 05, 2014

by NPR Staff

Ruth Coker Burks has no medical training but has spent decades caring for people with AIDS. "I've buried over 40 people in my family's cemetery," she says, "because their families didn't want them."

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Leza One paints a mural on a wall of Jose de Diego Middle School in Miami's Wynwood neighborhood. It's a project that coincides with the citywide Art Basel fair.

A Miami School Goes From Blank Canvas To Mural-Covered

1:07pm December 05, 2014

by Greg Allen

Jose de Diego Middle School has large expanses of facade that are almost begging for decoration. To raise funds for arts education at the school, artists are helping transform its walls with paint.

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The Orion spacecraft awaits its launch in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Orion Spacecraft Splashes Down After High-Orbit Test

1:00pm December 05, 2014

by Eyder Peralta

The unmanned spaceship, which could one day take astronauts to the Red Planet, circled Earth twice in a test mission of its basic systems that lasted just under 4 1/2 hours.

President Obama announced Friday that Ashton Carter is his nominee to succeed Chuck Hagel as defense secretary.

Politics & Government

Obama Taps Ashton Carter As Defense Secretary Nominee

11:21am December 05, 2014

by Krishnadev Calamur

Carter, a former No. 2 at the Pentagon, would succeed Chuck Hagel. If confirmed, he will be President Obama's fourth defense secretary.

Rotten, fermented fruit has some nutritional value, and may have looked pretty good to our hungry ancient ancestors. Evolving the ability to metabolize the alcohol in fermented fruit may have helped us adapt to a changing climate 10 million years ago, res

Science

Our Ability To Digest Alcohol May Have Been Key To Our Survival

10:51am December 05, 2014

by Eliza Barclay

Our primate ancestors could consume alcohol 10 million years ago in the form of fermented fruit, researchers have discovered. The finding suggests that our relationship with alcohol is ancient.

Samples of carrots cooked three ways are placed on a table for the kids at Walker-Jones Educational Campus, in Washington, D.C., to sample after they have finished lunch. The crowd favorite will later end up on the school lunch menu.

Of Carrots And Kids: Healthy School Lunches That Don't Get Tossed

10:50am December 05, 2014

by Dan Charles

You can lead children to vegetables, but can you make them eat? In one school lunch program, kids will tell you upfront what they think of your veggies — and what you should do with them.

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A Monopoly-style card illustrates the voucher that can be redeemed with the Food and Drug Administration for priority review.

Health & Safety

Gilead Buys Shortcut For FDA Drug Review For $125 Million

10:38am December 05, 2014

by Scott Hensley

The Food and Drug Administration priority review voucher comes from a Canadian company that got it by developing a drug for leishmaniasis, a disease long neglected by pharmaceutical companies.

The number of jobs added each month, dating back to 2004.

Economy

Economy Adds 321,000 Jobs In November, Unemployment Holds Steady

10:14am December 05, 2014

by Eyder Peralta

The U.S. economy continued to chug along at a moderate pace last month. The number of unemployed Americans remained at around 9 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

New Jersey Legislature Clears Gov. Chris Christie In Bridge Scheme

8:33am December 05, 2014

by Eyder Peralta

The report, however, found that two former aides acted with "perceived impunity" when they ordered the shutdown of some lanes of the George Washington Bridge last year.

'New Republic', In Major Change, Cuts Publishing Schedule; Top Editor Out

8:10am December 05, 2014

by Krishnadev Calamur

Editor Franklin Foer and longtime literary editor Leon Wieseltier are both leaving. The magazine will drop from 20 issues a year from 10 and move its headquarters from Washington, D.C., to New York.