Search results for

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Elizabeth Tsurkov of the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Foreign Policy about Russia's new top commander in Ukraine, Gen. Dvornikov, who is notoriously ruthless.

The Arctic Monkeys' CD, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, is the fastest-selling debut album in U.K. history. Their first two singles topped the British charts and their CD is being released in the United States.

The president defends his domestic surveillance program as a vital and necessary tool to fight terrorism. But Sen. Dick Durbin Dick Durbin (D-IL) echoed many in Congress, when he praised hearings looking into the administration's controversial policy.

The U.S. military is probing the alleged killings of unarmed Iraqi civilians by Marines in Haditha, Iraq. In an apparent response to the accusations, the top U.S. general in Iraq is ordering American commanders to conduct core-values training on moral and ethical standards on the battlefield.

The Senate returns to work after a week off. It has a lot on its plate, with judicial nominations and the choice of John Bolton as U.N. Ambassador topping the to-do list. Observers are also watching to see whether the body will start getting its business done, or continue squabbling.

The price of a barrel of oil briefly topped $67 Friday, setting an all-time record. Oil prices have been rising in the past two months due to strong demand, refining capacity shortages and concerns about stability in Saudi Arabia. High energy prices contributed to a jump in the U.S. trade deficit in June.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has prepared an ambitious agenda for the G8 summit in Scotland. The two top items are his calls for increasing the amount of aid to poor African countries and for limiting the emission of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is leading the U.S. delegation at the G-20 ministerial meeting. It could be the scene of some awkward diplomatic encounters involving Russia's war in Ukraine.

There's a book that can help you walk the walk and talk the talk of fictional spy hero James Bond. Steve Inskeep speaks with Author Christopher Hitchens about The Book of Bond by Sir Kingsley Amis, published in 1965 under the pen name William (Bill) Tanner.

The humorist, who made his name with personal essays and other nonfiction, tells Steve Inskeep that his return to fiction kept taking him to surprising places. But the unhappy endings? Those he could have predicted.