Search results for

The Social Security Administration has put out its list of the most popular baby names from last year. Topping the list for girls: Sophia. For boys, it's Jacob.

Comets, once considered portents of doom, have long puzzled us. They move rapidly against the starry background. They grow tails, which may explain why the ancient Greeks called them “hairy stars.” Their brightness and even their exact paths can be hard to predict. So, what are these mysterious visitors that sometimes appear in our sky?

Michelle Bachelet defeated her conservative rival Sunday with 62 percent of the vote. The center-left candidate was previously president from 2006-10. Although extremely popular when she left office, Bachelet was constitutionally barred from seeking a second consecutive term.

Hamas has endorsed a new proposal for a ceasefire deal with Israel in Gaza, as it faces pressure from Arab countries and seeks to ensure its own survival.

The Tops supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., where 10 people were killed in a racist mass shooting in May, reopened on Friday to mixed reactions in the community.

In Baghdad, top U.N. weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei say they see "the beginning of a change of heart on the part of Iraq." But they also express caution, and warn Iraq to take more steps to facilitate the inspection process. NPR's Anne Garrels reports from Baghdad.

After California Democrats voted for a plan to gerrymander congressional districts, a top Republican is proposing to split the state in two. NPR's Scott Simon talks to Assemblyman James Gallagher.

Jurors report they are split 6-6 in the murder trial of former Ku Klux Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen. The 80-year-old defendant is accused of organizing the killing of three voting rights volunteers in Philadelphia, Miss., in 1964. It was one of the civil rights era's most notorious crimes.

Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus resigned, accusing the paper's publisher of killing her piece on owner Jeff Bezos' overhaul of its opinion pages.