Leo Duran

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney is leading the pack of GOP hopefuls, but that doesn't mean he's escaped criticism for not being able to unify the Republican party: some say he's not conservative enough, or that he's not likable. Of course, the perceived inability to unify the party isn't unique to Romney.

From the aftermath of the attack in Kandahar which resulted in 16 civilian deaths, the BBC's David Loyn reports that Afghan citizens appear fed up with a decade of war. The worsening ...

Police believe they have cornered the gunman in the shooting at a Jewish school earlier this week. Identified as 24-year-old Muhammed Merah, the suspect opened fire when the police tried to raid his home overnight, wounding two officers. The standoff ends one of the largest manhunts in recent French history.

Former Goldman Sachs employee Greg Smith has cost the company more than $2 billion in stock value since his op-ed piece ran in the New York Times yesterday. Smith's very public jump from the company at the top of the Wall Street food chain has raised some questions about Goldman's internal culture, it's capacity to learn lessons from past mistakes and it's ability to control its own brand.

The ability to erase specific memories might soon be real. Dr. Todd Sacktor explained that this could eventually be used to treat disorders like PTSD.

As Libyan rebels continue their hunt for Moammar Gadhafi, the military commander of the anti-Gaddafi forces in Tripoli says he wants and apology from the United States and the United Kingdom. The commander, Abdel Hakijm Belhaj, says he was tortured after being arrested in Bangkok in 2004 as a terrorism suspect, then transferred by the CIA and British intelligence agencies to a prison in Libya. A CIA document recently uncovered in Gadhafi's Tripoli compound shows "that the British and Libyans worked together to arrange for a terrorism suspect to be removed from Hong Kong to Tripoli – along with his wife and children – despite the risk that they would be tortured," according to The Guardian.

Formula One racing attracts fans all over the world, and back in the '80s and '90s there was one man who everybody wanted to see race: Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna. Known for being a charismatic risk taker on and off the track, Senna's legions of fans were shocked when he was killed in a crash during the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994. A new documentary called "Senna" tells the story of his life. The film won the World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary at this year's Sundance Festival.

The Obama administration is is releasing 30 million barrels of oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroluem Reserve as part of a broader international effort to increase the amount of oil—to 60 million barrels—into the world market over the next month, in the hopes of replacing some of the oil production lost due to the conflict in Libya and reducing energy prices for businesses and consumers. 

We continue our conversation on President Obama's announcement tonight on his plan for withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan, including how many troops will be returning home and when, and whether or not this will signal the end of the Afghanistan War. The BBC's Paul Wood is in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, and has been speaking with Afghans about their opinions on possible U.S. and NATO troop withdrawals. 

Some of the U.S.'s largest corporations—including Apple, Google and Microsoft—have a lot of their profits saved in low-tax countries overseas. Some of these companies are lobbying Congress and the Obama administration for a tax break. In a move these companies say would function as a stimulus to the economy, they are proposing a repatriation holiday, in which their profits could be returned home with a much smaller tax penalty than they would normally incur. David Kocieniewski, tax reporter for our partner The New York Times, speaks with us about which companies are lobbying, and how measures like this have fared in past years.

NATO defense ministers have a lot to discuss as they meet today in Brussels, following 60 air strikes in Tripoli, their most concentrated attack on the Libyan capital since air strikes began in March. Jonathan Marcus, BBC Defense and Diplomatic correspondent, joins us from the NATO meeting.

 

 

In the world of modern-day superstar sex symbols, there are those who simply look beautiful, and then there are those like Eva Mendes. Willing to play roles that range from the brilliant to the ridiculous, she’s famously starred in both Oscar-nominated fare like “Training Day” and loony comedies like “The Other Guys.”  Her newest film, which opens today, is called “Last Night.” The movie follows a husband and wife, played by Sam Worthington and Keira Knightley, who are each faced with the temptation stray from their marriage. Eva Mendes plays the woman who catches the eye of Sam Worthington’s character.

Reports say 194 people across the southern United States are dead after tornadoes and storms ripped across the region—and that number is expected to climb. An estimated mile-wide tornado struck the town of Tuscaloosa, where there's a University of Alabama campus. Katelyn Ingram is a sophomore there; she talks with us about her experience with the storm. Harold Brooks, research meteorologist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma, also weighs in.

The largest wave of tornadoes in nearly 40 years has killed nearly 200 people. One tornado in the city of Tuscaloosa measured as an F-5 level twister, with winds of almost 200 miles per hour. John Deblock, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Birmingham, Ala., speaks with us about the storms. 

At least 194 people across the southern United States are dead after tornadoes and storms ripped across the region. An estimated mile-wide tornado struck the town of Tuscaloosa, Ala. At least 128 people were reported killed by storms in Alabama alone, with 32 in Mississippi, 11 in Georgia and 1 in Tennessee and Virginia. Katelyn Ingram, a sophomore at the University of Alabama, tells us about her experience with the storm. Harold Brooks, research meteorologist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory shares his expertise, and Takeaway news writer David Ingram, a Birmingham native, weighs in.

With recent news that Sony's Playstation network has been hacked, the video gaming system's 77 million users are now worrying that their personal information—including credit card details—may have been stolen.

And the alarm goes right round the world - we hear from concerned gamer Perry Davis in Buffalo, New York and technology journalist and expert, Adrian Mars.

Would you want to know whether or not you'll have Alzheimer's if you had the opportunity? The National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association released new guidelines on the disease, in order to diagnose it earlier in its nascent stages as well as encourage more drug development. Readers and Takeaway listeners shared their own stories about the disease, worrying about the problems associated with early diagnosis. I don't think I would want to know. I sure as hell wouldn't want the insurance companies to know. Early screening and diagnosis sounds like a great way for insurance companies to expand the field of 'pre-existing conditions,'" writes Takeaway listener, Miriam, from Westwood, NJ.

The National Institute on Aging is releasing new national guidelines to help catch signs of Alzheimer's. Dr. Creighton Phelps, director of the Alzheimer's Disese Centers Program at the National Institute of Aging explains what this means for patients and their doctors. There are changes that occur in the brain that can be seen with imaging and measuring spinal fluid that are like those in people with Alzheimer's and could potentially help the clinicians know the best way to proceed. This also raises the question: Would you want to know if you were likely to get Alzheimer's?

Alzheimer's disease affects millions of people worldwide; it's often a disease that is undetectable until it's too late. However, a new set of national guidelines are being released that will help catch signs of the disease earlier. David Shenk, author of "The Forgetting: Alzheimer's, Portrait of an Epidemic," explains the latest guidelines.

A new study has traced the origins of language to ancient South Africa, implying that there's one starting place for modern language. So what were the first words? Likely simple verbs and nouns that reflected the immediate needs of the population, says Mark Pagel, professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Reading in England. He's a former professor and advisor to the author of the study, Quentin Atkinson.