U.S.

Yuna Kim, of South Korea, won gold in Vancouver. She's leading the field after Wednesday's short program.

Female Figure Skaters Compete For Gold — And The Sport's Future

8:55pm February 19, 2014

by Sonari Glinton

The competition is fierce: the defending South Korean champion, a 15-year-old Russian phenom who has thrilled the figure skating world, and three Americans heading into Thursday in the top 10.

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Trade Issues Expected To Dominate Obama's Trip To Mexico

7:37am February 19, 2014

by Carrie Kahn

President Obama travels to Mexico on Wednesday to meet with his Mexican and Canadian counterparts. The three presidents are talking about the increased trade among their countries, 20 years since the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

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Once Neglected, Secretaries Of State Step Into The Spotlight

7:58pm February 18, 2014

by Peter Overby

There was a time when secretaries of state were seen as little more than functionaries. That view changed in 2000's Florida presidential election recount, which starred Katherine Harris. Now, secretaries of state are involved in implementing new state laws that have been making it either easier or harder for non-traditional voters to cast ballots — with decidedly partisan implications.

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National

Florida's 'Santa Claus' Of Speeding Tickets Gets Clipped

7:58pm February 18, 2014

The small town of Hampton, Fla., will soon be no more. Lawmakers plan to shut down the town after a disastrous audit, prompted by an excess of speeding tickets, revealed its scandal-ridden history. Robert Siegel speaks with Aaron Deslatte, the Tallahassee Bureau Chief of the Orlando Sentinel.

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National

Missouri Execution Stalled Over Lethal Drugs In Short Supply

7:58pm February 18, 2014

by Laura Sullivan

A pharmacy in Tulsa, Okla., has decided not to provide the Missouri Department of Corrections with the drugs needed to execute an inmate on death row. Securing access to necessary drugs has become a common problem in states trying to carry out the death penalty.

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National

Cold War Technology Sought By Spy Is In Your Pocket — Sort Of

7:59pm February 17, 2014

by Martin Kaste

Federal authorities have arrested a Chinese national who is accused of trying to buy accelerometers from a company in suburban Seattle. Certain kinds of accelerometers are subject to export controls, because they're used to guide missiles and spacecraft. The U.S. has been trying to keep accelerometer technology under wraps for half a century. Even as some accelerometers were used to guide Cold War missiles into space and around the world, today's technological descendents allow you to play racing games on your iPhone.

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National

Flood Of Gay Marriage Cases Releasing Stream Of Federal Rulings

10:48pm February 16, 2014

by Richard Gonzales

A federal judge in Virginia struck down the state's same-sex marriage ban this week. Similar rulings have come down in other conservative states, like Kentucky, Oklahoma and Utah, indicating the strategy for winning marriage equality in federal courts is moving faster than many expected.

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Tenn. Workers Vote To Reject Union At VW Plant

1:13pm February 15, 2014

Workers at the VW plant in Chattanooga have dealt a blow to organized labor in the South. NPR's Scott Simon speaks to reporter Blake Farmer about the close vote.

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Kelly Mottershead and Louie Okamoto held a beach party last October for their wedding ceremony in Carmel, Calif.

National

Walking Down The Widening Aisle Of Interracial Marriages

1:13pm February 15, 2014

by Hansi Lo Wang

One in 10 opposite-sex marriages in the U.S. are between spouses of different races or ethnicities. At more than 5.3 million, their numbers have increased 28 percent since 2000, according to the Census Bureau.

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U.S. Men's Hockey Team Triumphs Over Russia In Shootout Ending

1:13pm February 15, 2014

The American and Russian men's ice hockey teams faced off at the Winter Olympics on Sunday, and it wasn't pretty. From Sochi, correspondent Robert Smith tells NPR's Scott Simon about the game that went into overtime.

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