In China, authorities are still counting the cost of heavy weekend floods in Beijing. City officials say three-dozen people died in the flooding, and more than 60,000 houses were damaged. Losses are estimated at nearly $2 billion. But the intangible damage is to the government's credibility.
Residents look at a submerged bus on a flooded street amid rainfall in the Tianjin on Thursday. A much expected downpour bypassed Beijing Wednesday but battered the neighboring city of Tianjin instead, flooding many downtown streets and submerging vehicles.
Credit China Daily / Reuters/Landov
Residents look at a submerged bus on a flooded street in the Chinese city of Tianjin on Thursday. Beijing and neighboring areas have experienced the worst rainstorms in six decades. At least 77 people were killed, Chinese authorities said Thursday.
Credit AFP / Getty Images
Residents stand by their home in Beijing on Thursday. Many people criticized the government's response to the storms.
Credit Reuters/Landov
Soldiers place sandbags to block a breaching dyke after heavy rainfalls hit the Fangshan district of Beijing on Wednesday.
Credit AFP / Getty Images
A bridge leading to the town of Laishui, north of Beijing, collapsed on Tuesday.
Credit Barcroft Media/Landov
A young boy walks through a camp set up for victims of the flood in Beijing.
Credit China Daily / Reuters/Landov
A rescue boat approaches a partially submerged car on a highway in the Fangshan District of Beijing.
Credit Ching Chin / EPA/Landov
Cars are submerged in floodwaters around a residential block in Beijing.
Outrage in China about the dozens of deaths last weekend when Beijing's drainage system couldn't cope with heavy rains and much of the city was flooded has been followed by more frustration and anger today.
The big question hanging over the International AIDS Conference this week is whether all 34 million people in the world with HIV can possibly get antiviral drug treatment.
Maria Cuervo, 41, poses at her home in Bogota March 5 with a photo of herself before a stranger threw acid at her face in 2004.
Credit Juan Forero for NPR
Consuelo Cordoba's partner threw acid at her a decade ago. The 51-year-old Colombian has undergone multiple surgeries and is unable to find work. This year, about 100 cases of acid attacks — mostly against women — have already been reported in Colombia.
A brutal crime more commonly associated with Pakistan or India is now on the rise in South America: Jealous husbands, spurned lovers and, in a few cases, even perfect strangers are dousing women with sulfuric or nitric acids, literally burning off their faces.
In Colombia, the horrific trend is terrorizing women and alarming officials.
Among those disfigured by such an attack is Consuelo Cordoba, 51, who was assaulted a decade ago by her former partner and lives a life of endless physical and psychological pain.
In this image provided by the Syrian opposition's Shaam News Network, a woman holds a child in front of their destroyed home in Tremseh, Syria, on July 14. The authenticity, content, location and date have not been independently verified.
Credit AP
This image provided by the Syrian opposition's Shaam News Network shows a destroyed minaret of a mosque in Tremseh, Syria, on July 12. The authenticity, content, location and date have not been independently verified.
At least 100 people were killed earlier this month in a Syrian village called Tremseh. Activists called the deaths a massacre of innocent civilians by government forces, but later reports suggested it was something different. After spending a week with rebel fighters in the country, I discovered some previously untold details about the killings.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued its first stop-sale order in 11 years, saying the magnetic toys called Buckyballs "pose a substantial risk of injury to the public," Reuters is reporting.
The CPSC has been trying to curb injuries with this toy since 2010, when it issued a recall of Buckyballs intended for those 14 years and younger. But those efforts haven't helped, the agency said when it announced that it has filed a complaint seeking to stop the company from selling the product.
Originally published on Thu July 26, 2012 12:31 pm
I've gotten a lot of email about my interview with Justice Antonin Scalia on Tuesday. People seem to have liked the story because they could see the justice as a human being — combative, funny, engaging and charming.
That's why I and so many other folks always enjoy spending time with him.
So, take this exchange from our interview. Only part of it was in my piece on air, or even the longer piece on the Web.
Gov. Jerry Brown waits for the start of a news conference to announce plans to build a giant twin tunnel system to move water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to farmland and cities.
Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown and U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced a new $23.7 billion proposal that would build a twin tunnel system to carry water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta over to the southern part of the state.
Water in Southern California has become an intractable problem. The frustration was evident at the press conference, when Brown dropped a four-letter expletive.
A campaign sticker for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is seen on a sign for Romney Street in London on Wednesday, as Romney arrived to meet with leaders, hold fundraisers and attend the opening of the Olympics.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is on a weeklong trip in which he's scheduled to meet with three prime ministers, give two speeches and attend the opening ceremonies of the London Olympics. On a more practical level, he'll also raise some campaign cash.
This trip is designed to highlight how Romney would fix the failings he sees in President Obama's foreign policy.
Romney opened his attack Tuesday while still in the U.S. In an address to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Reno, Nev., he lit into the Obama administration's relationship with Israel.
Among the reasons some governors say they're considering not expanding their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act is that Medicaid is, well, not a very good program.
Mariel Zagunis has been named the U.S. flagbearer for the London 2012 Opening Ceremony. Here, Zagunis celebrates a win in the individual sabre final at the Pan American Games last year.
Mariel Zagunis, the two-time gold medalist in sabre, has been named the U.S. flagbearer for Friday's Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics. Zagunis, who was chosen by her peers for the honor, will be the first fencer to carry the flag since 1968, when Janice Lee Romary led the U.S. team in Mexico City.
The Grateful Dead's eponymous live album started it all for Nicholas Meriwether.
It was 1985. He was studying history at Princeton and got hooked by psychedelic jams like "Wharf Rat." After his first concert, he knew: "I will spend the rest of my life thinking and studying this."
Brian Dwyer owns the world's largest collection of pizza-related items. He plans to display some of his memorabilia, including pizza-themed music records, in a new museum-restaurant in Philadelphia.
Credit Kimberly Paynter for NPR
Dwyer branded himself with a tattoo of himself holding a slice.
Many foods have their own dedicated museums — like burnt food and mustard — so why not pizza? That's what Brian Dwyer, the owner of the world's largest collection of pizza memorabilia, has wondered for a long time.
