Search results for

NPR has confirmed that Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the Army soldier suspected of going on a shooting rampage in Afghanistan, will be charged with 17 counts of murder. On Thursday, the Pentagon increased the death toll from the March 11 incident to 17 from 16.

Some schools, looking to cut costs, are intrigued by so-called robo-readers, computer programs that grade students' writing and offer feedback. Some teachers find the programs helpful in the classroom, but skeptics say they're not always the best judge of writing ability.

A law meant to outlaw lying about military honors was struck down 6-3 by the Supreme Court. The court says the law, known as the Stolen Valor Act, was written so broadly that it infringes on free speech. Some of the justices suggested that the law could be rewritten to focus only on those who lie about military awards in order to gain benefit.

One of the highest-profile political matchups of the season is playing out in Virginia, where former governors with powerful friends and big-money backing are battling for an open U.S. Senate seat. The dead-heat matchup pits Democrat Tim Kaine, 54, against Republican George Allen, 60.

The Pentagon and its growing budget is on the supercommittee's radar as it looks to reduce the federal deficit by $1.2 trillion. At half the federal government's budget, it's not hard to see why, so which cuts might bleed the least?

The central bank also says it likely won't be switching gears and nudging interest rates higher until at least 2014. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke concedes its longer-term forecasts are "a best guess."

At a meeting of 6,000 mathematicians in Boston, a reporter finds people dancing, crocheting, knitting and using theater to explore and celebrate their discipline.

Unlike GOP presidential primary seasons of the past, the one that begins in Iowa Tuesday was actually designed to slow down the emergence of a winner by stretching out the calendar and altering the delegate allocation rules. It will take until March 24 to allocate a bare majority of the delegates.

Even now, there is more we don't know about Steve Jobs' health struggle than we know. From a rare type of cancer to a liver transplant performed under great secrecy, details about the Apple CEO's illnesses and treatments remained hidden.

Weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz checks-in with Three-Minute Fiction judge Luis Alberto Urrea to hear how the reading process is going and to hear some of his favorite stories thus far.