As Risks Rise, Aid Agencies Struggle To Adapt
()In places such as Afghanistan, Somalia and Sudan, international relief workers say they are being much more actively targeted by a murky assortment of insurgents and criminal gangs. Some 260 aid workers were killed, kidnapped or seriously injured in 2008, the highest annual toll in 12 years. This year is on track to be similarly bad.
U.S., China Pledge To Address Economic Imbalances
In the run-up to the financial crisis, the U.S. and China reinforced each other's bad habits.
()Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's Isolated U.S. College Days
A professor and a classmate recall the professed Sept. 11 mastermind's years in North Carolina.
()The Shootings At Fort Hood
Wide Probe Planned Following Fort Hood Shootings()
November 17, 2009 Worried that the Army may have missed red flags about the alleged shooter in the Nov. 5 massacre, the Pentagon will likely launch an inquiry into how all the military services keep watch on volatile soldiers hidden in their ranks, officials said Tuesday. It was undecided how far-reaching the inquiry would be or who would lead it.
Economy
Watchdog Says Fed Paid Too Much In AIG Bailout()
![AIG logo AIG logo](https://swap.stanford.edu/was/20151211033644im_/http://media.npr.org/assets/news/2009/11/17/aig/aig.jpg?t=1258487579&s=1)
November 17, 2009 The Federal Reserve could have paid less to banks that made risky deals with insurance giant AIG, a government watchdog reports. Treasury officials say the Fed was acting to avert a crisis and that it needs better financial regulatory tools.
Around the Nation
Judge Halts Texas Execution With Hours To Spare()
November 17, 2009 A condemned killer who prosecutors said had been faking mental illness to avoid execution won a reprieve from a federal judge less than two hours before he could have been taken to the Texas death chamber Tuesday evening.
Economy
In New England, Hard Cider Stages A Comeback()
![Fitz Campbell holds the apples that they use at Farnum Hill specifically for the cider that's made t Fitz Campbell holds the apples that they use at Farnum Hill specifically for the cider that's made t](https://swap.stanford.edu/was/20151211033644im_/http://media.npr.org/assets/news/2009/11/04/apples03.jpg?t=1257377009&s=1)
November 17, 2009 Apple growers in New England are looking to hard cider as a way to beat dropping prices and foreign competition. The fermented cider was the drink of choice for the nation's founding fathers. One New Hampshire orchard is out to turn the region into the Napa Valley of hard cider.
Watching Washington
Palin Week: Forget The Political; It's Personal()
![Sarah Palin, seen in July delivering her farewell speech as Alaska's governor. Sarah Palin, seen in July delivering her farewell speech as Alaska's governor.](https://swap.stanford.edu/was/20151211033644im_/http://media.npr.org/assets/news/2009/11/17/palin03.jpg?t=1258492773&s=1)
November 17, 2009 Sarah Palin is back in the full media glare, plugging her freshly released memoirs with appearances on Oprah Winfrey's show, ABC and Fox, as well as a book tour. But senior Washington editor Ron Elving says in an analysis that it's far from clear whether her goal is to help the GOP get back in the game or to rebuild her own image.
U.S.
Broader Strategy Urged To Combat Hunger In U.S.()
![A volunteer at D.C. Central Kitchen loads a van with groceries for distribution to hungry families. A volunteer at D.C. Central Kitchen loads a van with groceries for distribution to hungry families.](https://swap.stanford.edu/was/20151211033644im_/http://media.npr.org/assets/news/2009/11/17/unloadingfood.jpg?t=1258489630&s=1)
November 17, 2009 Just one day after a federal report revealed that 1 in 7 U.S. families struggled to get enough to eat last year, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urges lawmakers to reauthorize school nutrition programs that help feed the nation's schoolchildren.
Arts & Life
Dictionary Picks 'Unfriend' As Word Of The Year()
November 17, 2009 The New Oxford American Dictionary's 2009 Word of the Year can trace its origins back to the 17th century. The word: "unfriend." Christine Lindberg, senior lexicographer at Oxford University Press, says the Oxford English Dictionary provides a citation for "unfriend" from 1659.
Middle East
5 Arrested After Iran Election Sentenced To Death()
November 17, 2009 Iran began a mass trial in August of more than 100 prominent opposition figures and activists, accusing them of a range of charges from rioting to spying and plotting what Iran's clerical rulers have depicted as a foreign-backed plot to oust them from power.