News

Economy

BP Argues Companies Are Unfairly Cashing In On 2010 Spill

12:56pm December 10, 2013

by Jeff Brady

BP is challenging hundreds of millions of dollars in claims that were filed after the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, saying some have no connection to the spill. But legal experts say the claims don't have to be spill-related and BP is relying on a friendly court to limit how much it will pay.

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Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, is one of the relatively few women to serve on major corporate boards.

Economy

Women Still Largely Absent From Corporate Boards

12:11pm December 10, 2013

by Wendy Kaufman

Women hold only about 17 percent of the seats on boards of directors of Fortune 500 companies, and they have an even smaller percentage of senior executive positions, according to a new study.

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Volcker Rule Aims To Rein In Banks' Risky Trades

12:11pm December 10, 2013

American bank regulators unveiled the final version of the so-called Volcker Rule, which prohibits banks from trading stocks, bonds and derivatives for their own accounts. For more, Steve Inskeep speaks to NPR's Jim Zarroli.

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PLANET MONEY MAKES A T-SHIRT: The world behind a simple shirt, in five chapters

The Afterlife Of American Clothes

10:45am December 10, 2013

by Gregory Warner

The U.S. exports a billion pounds of used clothes every year. Much of that winds up in used clothing markets in sub-Saharan Africa.

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Three high school students in Oakland, Calif., swap photos using Snapchat.

Teens Dig Digital Privacy, If Snapchat Is Any Indication

10:45am December 10, 2013

by Steve Henn

The track record of products designed for digital privacy has been abysmal — at least until recently. Snapchat, wildly popular among teens, is changing assumptions about young people's desire for digital privacy. But it's not clear whether the trend will stick.

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Joey Cappuccitti, who works at a Maximus call center, talks with a person looking for help with New York's insurance exchange.

New York's Insurance Exchange Readies For Holiday Rush

10:55am December 09, 2013

by Fred Mogul

As a Dec. 23 enrollment deadline for health insurance that starts Jan. 1 looms, New York state is staffing up its call center and smoothing out the rough spots on its application to meet growing demand. As time runs down, the state is trying to fix technical and design issues that came up when the site debuted in October.

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Holiday decorations are displayed in the State Dining Room of the White House during an event to preview the 2013 holiday decorations on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

National

White House Invites All To 'Gather Around' A Holiday Tradition

11:35pm December 07, 2013

by Ari Shapiro

Every year, on the day after Thanksgiving, almost 100 volunteer decorators show up at the White House. They spend the next five days stringing garlands and hanging ornaments, making the White House sparkle for the holidays. NPR has a related tradition, and it's about to end.

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Refugees warm their hands at a refugee camp in Harmanli, Bulgaria, on Nov. 27. More Syrians are turning up in Europe. Many are trying to get to northern Europe, believing that is the best place to start a new life.

World News

With The Help Of Smugglers, Syrian Refugees Sneak Into Europe

9:57pm December 07, 2013

by Deborah Amos

Many Syrians fled their country and took refuge just across the border, planning to wait out the war. But now, a growing number are working with smugglers to get to northern Europe. The Syrians say they see no end in sight to the civil war and want to start a new life.

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Chefs Andrew Taylor, left, and Mike Wiley, co-owners of two Portland, Maine, restaurants, say the moratorium is worth it if it helps sustain the shrimp population.

Fishery Closure Puts New England's Shrimp Season On Ice

9:56pm December 07, 2013

by Tom Porter

After several years of declining shrimp stocks, regulators have imposed a moratorium on shrimping in New England waters. The closure could hurt commercial fisherman and future demand for the Gulf of Maine shrimp, but scientists say the move may be the only way to prevent the population from collapsing.

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Sports

With Stellar Football Season, Duke Has New Team To Celebrate

1:50pm December 07, 2013

by Jessica Jones

Duke University is known for its basketball. But this year, Duke's fans are cheering for their football team, which has won the most games in its history. Lead by the national coach of the year, the Blue Devils are headed the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.

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