Topics

Even as Boston pays tribute to the victims of the marathon bombing, runners are preparing to run in the race next week. NPR is following the stories of eight of these participants, dubbed the "NPR 8."

After spending eight months on a Japanese space expedition, a cherry pit that's now four years old has mysteriously blossomed six years before it was due.

Audie Cornish and Melissa Block read letters from listeners about repetition in music and what to call Ukraine.

For the last 10 weeks, NPR has followed eight runners in their preparations for the Boston Marathon. Two members of the group, which is dubbed the NPR 8, offer snippets from their audio diaries.

A geopolitical language lesson: It's correct to say Ukraine — not the Ukraine. Those three letters make a big difference, and we explain why.

Melissa Block and Audie Cornish read letters from listeners about the demands made on students and student-athletes in college.

The video game ET is considered one of the worst games ever created. It's so bad that many of the unsold originals are rumored to be wasting away in a New Mexico landfill. Now, filmmakers are on a quest to recover those copies — despite resistance from an environmental agency.

Audie Cornish and Robert Siegel read letters from listeners about the Mexican War of Independence and responses to the claim that American parents are too overprotective.

The band Vulfpeck has a new album called Sleepify. The 10-song set is absolutely silent. The Michigan-based funk group is using Spotify's royalty-payment system to fund its upcoming tour.

Audie Cornish and Melissa Block read letters from listeners about Tea Party conservative Jim DeMint and a sneaky commentary on Kenny G.

In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin defended his position on Ukraine. In a news conference, Putin denied that Russian troops are in Crimea but reserved the right to use force in Ukraine.

Nick Preuher is no chef; he only plays one on TV. More accurately, he has pretended to be one, appearing on various local morning television shows as a prank.

Audie Cornish and Melissa Block read letters from listeners about genetic experiments and the tenuous hopes for voice-banking.

President Obama is launching a new initiative aimed at helping young black and Hispanic men. He'll sign an executive order that sets up a task force to help keep them in school and out of prisons.

The Obama administration is pushing new regulations that will make it harder for so-called "social welfare" tax-exempt groups to influence elections.

In the Philippines, thousands are feared dead after Super Typhoon Haiyan struck last week. The destruction from the typhoon, one of the most forceful to make landfall, is enormous.

The rules require most health insurance plans to provide the same coverage for mental health and substance abuse treatment as they do for other types of ailments. Coverage also has expanded under the Affordable Care Act, but not everyone benefits.

Twitter is expected to begin selling shares to the public on Thursday. The company raised its price range to $23 to $25 per share Monday amid strong interest in the IPO. In just a few years, Twitter has influenced politics, language and the media, but it has yet to turn a profit. The company's executives believe that will change as it grabs a significant share of mobile advertising revenue.

The NSA has apparently figured out a secret way to tap into the links between Internet users and Google and Yahoo data centers overseas. The companies say they didn't give the NSA permission, and they are angry. Because the data centers are located outside the United States, the NSA may not be bound by the same laws that govern domestic surveillance. The case shows how difficult it is for policymakers and legislators to oversee NSA surveillance activities.

A federal appeals court has put on hold a judge's ruling curtailing some aspects of the New York City police department's "stop and frisk" policy. The court also ruled that Judge Shira Scheindlin should be removed from the case because she "ran afoul" of the judicial code of conduct.