News

E.T.A. Hoffmann's original story, "Nutcracker and Mouse King," is darker and spookier than the ballet version most people know.

No Sugar Plums Here: The Dark, Romantic Roots Of 'The Nutcracker'

4:20pm December 25, 2012

by NPR Staff

Few people today remember E.T.A. Hoffmann, but most everyone is familiar with his most famous creation: The Nutcracker. NPR's Robert Siegel traces the history of everyone's favorite Christmas ballet all the way back to its much darker original version.

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David Daniel, an east Texas landowner, was so determined to block the Keystone XL pipeline from coming through his forest that he built an elaborate network of treehouses eight stories above the ground.

Texas Man Takes Last Stand Against Keystone XL Pipeline

4:20pm December 25, 2012

by Elizabeth Shogren

The Keystone pipeline is supposed to carry tar sands oil from Canada to Texas — a route that runs right through David Daniel's land. To try to save his woods from bulldozers, Daniel built tree houses 80 feet in the air and protesters climbed up into them.

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Study: Red Noses Help Reindeers Cope With Polar Air

4:20pm December 25, 2012

by Sabri Ben-Achour

It turns out Rudolph wasn't the only reindeer with a bright red nose. All reindeer have red noses, and a new study in the British Medical Journal explains why. Their noses are packed with lots of blood vessels to warm cold air on the way in and soak up heat from their breath as they breathe out.

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A lone employee oversees Hewlett-Packard workstations being assembled at a plant on Jan. 1, 1993. Huge improvements in computer technology propelled the economy during that decade.

Back To The Economy Of The '90s? Not So Fast

9:42am December 25, 2012

by Uri Berliner

As the parties wrangle over taxes and the "fiscal cliff," there's been a lot of talk about the golden days of the 1990s — and each party's role in creating it. Yet economists say a lot was happening outside Washington as well.

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Sofia Campos, 23, is the head of the United We Dream campaign — a national network of youth-led immigrant organizations. Campos was born in Peru, but grew up in California, entirely unaware of her undocumented status until she tried applying for college

In Pursuit of Recognition: An Undocumented Immigrant's Resilient Fight

9:42am December 25, 2012

by Mandalit del Barco

Undocumented students have played a crucial role in calls for immigration reform. Now, as lawmakers from both parties resume talks of legislation, student leaders have expanded their fight. Sofia Campos, who's at the forefront of the movement, shares her story of unyielding activism.

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Sherman Silber, a surgeon at the Infertility Center of St. Louis, offers women a procedure that he claims will put their biological clocks on ice.

Health & Safety

Chance To Pause Biological Clock With Ovarian Transplant Stirs Debate

9:34pm December 24, 2012

by Rob Stein

The only women who have gotten pregnant with an ovarian transplant are cancer patients at great risk of losing their fertility. But a handful of doctors are now doing the procedure for patients trying to beat their biological clocks.

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In March 2011, at the beginning of the Syrian uprising, protester Ibrahim Abazid made a massive white flag out of a sugar sack. This picture of him waving the flag in his hometown of Dera'a became a hugely popular image. Now Abazid hopes to serve on a cit

World News

As Syrian War Grinds On, A Rebel Keeps Reinventing Himself

6:51pm December 24, 2012

by Kelly McEvers

Since the uprising began, Ibrahim Abazid has been a protester, a rebel fighter and an aid worker. Now he is looking to form a city council that could run his hometown in southern Syria.

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Ronan at 2 years old. "I know Ronan's purpose in life was to shed light on this disease," says his mother, Maya Thompson. "This is why I will continue to fight for childhood cancer for the rest of my life."

Finding New Meaning In The Loss Of A Son

6:00pm December 24, 2012

by Barbara Bradley Hagerty

Maya Thompson's son Ronan died of cancer three days before his fourth birthday. During his illness, she began a raw and sometimes angry blog that drew millions of readers. Thompson has since started a foundation and is funding clinical trials to find a cure for childhood cancer.

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Kenyan Susan Oguya created an app to help farmers in her homeland. Shown here in the office of her company, M-Farm, she also belongs to the group Akirachix, which seeks to bring more Kenyan women into the tech world.

World News

Kenyan Women Create Their Own 'Geek Culture'

5:18pm December 24, 2012

by Gregory Warner

Say the words "high-tech startup" and chances are you picture a world that's mostly white, male and set in Silicon Valley. Now, a group in Nairobi, Kenya, is working to get more female entrepreneurs into the male-dominated world of tech.

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In Newtown, Conn., makeshift memorials have been set up outside the town hall, which is holding thousands of toys and stuffed animals for residents as the holidays approach.

National

Toy Donations Pour Into Newtown For The Holidays

1:48pm December 24, 2012

by Diane Orson

Since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, gifts have come into the grief-stricken Connecticut community by the truckload. Parents say they're not sure how to celebrate, but some hope the traditions will bring back some sense of normalcy.

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