Search results for

For more than half a century, former King Norodom Sihanouk dominated his country's politics, from French colonial rule to independence. He is also known for his unsuccessful efforts to keep Cambodia out of the Vietnam War and his alliance with the Khmer Rouge. "The King Father," who thought of himself more as an artist than as a politician, died Monday at age 89.

In Who Could That Be at This Hour?, a prequel to A Series of Unfortunate Events, Daniel Handler satirizes pulp mysteries and uncovers the parallels between detective fiction and childhood. In both, he says, an outsider is trying to make his way in a mysteriously corrupt world.

Even if the Senate were to approve a compromise package and a majority of the House (Republicans and Democrats) were prepared to accept it, the deal likely won't even be brought to the House floor for debate and a vote. How can this be? Because of the de facto "majority of the majority" rule.

John Boehner's inability to get fellow Republicans to line up behind him not only increases doubts about his future as House speaker; it also raises a more immediate question for President Obama: Who can he negotiate with in the effort to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff?

As speculation begins about who will replace Steve Ballmer as CEO, NPR's Steve Henn has some advice for his successor: Take bigger risks — and more of them. Do more to encourage innovation and don't forget the PC just yet.

When dictionaries add trendy words like "twerk," they're prioritizing the fleeting language habits of the young, says Geoff Nunberg. And our fascination with novel words tends to eclipse subtle changes in the meanings of old ones — "which are often more consequential," he says.

Louisiana officials say they identified for the first time a dangerous form of amoeba in a municipal water supply. It was found after a 4-year-old boy died of a brain infection caused by the amoeba. They say this may make it easier to diagnose cases of encephalitis with unknown causes.

Two years ago Pakistan's Punjab province was hit with one of the world's worst dengue outbreaks. This year the number of recorded cases has plummeted. Many leaders credit a mobile phone app that tracks mosquito populations and city workers' efforts to contain them.

This week, a group of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, many with disabilities, marked Sept. 11 by climbing two peaks in Yosemite National Park. Climbing as a team, they say, gives them an opportunity to recapture what they miss about the military: a sense of camaraderie with a shared challenge.

If you demand democracy in China, you can quickly find yourself at odds with the government. So these days, reformers are trying to use the constitution to make the party accountable to the people. But that didn't keep a Shanghai professor from getting suspended.