Militiaman from the Ansar Dine radical Islamic group ride on an armed vehicle between Gao and Kidal in northeastern Mali in June. Jihadists currently control the country's north.
Credit Habibou Kouyate / AFP/Getty Images
Mali's interim president, Dioncounda Traore, disembarks from a plane at Bamako airport last month. Traore returned to Bamako amid tight security following a two-month stay in Paris for medical treatment after being savagely beaten in the aftermath of the country's coup.
A rebellion in northern Mali, followed by a military coup in the south, has shattered the veneer of stability in a country that was hailed for 20 years as a model democracy in turbulent West Africa.
Now Mali is facing twin crises, prompting regional and international fears that the north — currently controlled by jihadists — is a terrorist safe haven. And the politicians who are meant to be fixing the problems are bickering.
The last couple of years have certainly felt unusually hot in many parts of the U.S., but are they really all that unusual?
Many people wonder whether a warming climate is turning up the temperature or whether it's all just part of the normal variation in the weather. Among scientists, there's a growing view that these latest heat waves are indeed a result of climate change.
Jan Ebeling rides Rafalca in the equestrian dressage competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics on Aug. 2. Rafalca is co-owned by Ann Romney, the wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Credit Markus Schreiber / AP
Rafalca's owners, Ann Romney (from left), Elisabeth Meyer and Amy Eberling, applaud after their horse's performance in the equestrian dressage competition at the Summer Olympics on Aug. 2.
Credit Julie Rovner / NPR
College student Celia Rozanski rides Jasper at a horse show sponsored by the Potomac Valley Dressage Association.
In July, the financial fortunes of the presidential candidates continued along their new trajectories, with Republican Mitt Romney's money-raising efforts outpacing President Obama once again.
Indeed, groups supporting Romney raised one-third more than Obama's re-election effort for the month.
Romney, the all-but-official Republican nominee, actually collected less in July than he had in June, but only slightly. His campaign announced Monday that its overall take for July was $101.3 million.
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi (shown here July 2) has said that he'll restore the country's security within his first 100 days in office.
Credit Uriel Sinai / Getty Images
Militants drove two armored vehicles through a security fence into Israel from Egypt on Sunday, leaving 16 Egyptian soldiers dead and destroying two armored vehicles. An Israeli soldier inspects the wreckage of one of the Egyptian military trucks at a base in Kerem Shalom, Israel.
The bodies of 16 slain Egyptian soldiers are being prepared for burial, a day after 35 gunmen ambushed their border post in the Sinai Peninsula. The incident in northern Sinai is proving to be the biggest challenge for Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi since he assumed office about a month ago.
Dairy cows feed at Heins Family Farm near Higginsville, Mo. Fans and misters keep the barns cool during this summer's record temperatures.
Credit Courtesy of the University of Missouri
The new smartphone app Thermal Aid can help farmers detect the threat of heat stress in cows.
Credit Scott Pham for NPR
Herd manager Chris Heins greets a calf at his dairy farm near Higginsville, Mo. It will be about two years before a calf like this one is ready to be milked, so keeping them comfortable and healthy is a top concern.
When it's hot and humid, you probably don't want to move much and aren't very hungry. The same goes for cows; but when they don't eat, farmers lose money.
Researchers at the University of Missouri think they can help avoid those losses. They've produced a new mobile app that can detect the threat of heat stress in cows using nothing more than a smartphone.
Joe Palca describes the mood of NASA Mars scientists in the wake of the landing overnight, what the latest pictures and data are from the surface of the red planet and what mission scientists are going to do next with Curiosity.
U.S. boxer Claressa Shields is declared the winner on points over Anna Laurell of Sweden in the women's middleweight boxing quarterfinals at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
U.S. Olympic boxer Claressa Shields, the teenager whose dream of being in the first crop of Olympic women boxers led her to tell her story on All Things Considered back in February, will fight for a medal in London.
Antique trucks, including a 1937 Plymouth, on display at the weekly Cruisin' on the Square car show in Milan, Ohio. Classic car owners and enthusiasts gather each Tuesday evening through the summer to show off their cars or even find one to buy.
Credit Courtesy of MilanArea.com
Local residents say the show's setting in Milan's historic town square is what really sets it apart.
At the heart of the small town of Milan, Ohio, there's a graceful and tree-lined town square. It makes a good gathering spot for the classic cars and trucks of decades past.
A 1923 T-Bucket Ford, a '77 Chevy El Camino, a '68 AMC AMX, a '46 Dodge truck, a '59 Ford Galaxie — they all keep arriving after 5 o'clock every Tuesday evening. As the owner-drivers park around the square, engine hoods go up, lawn chairs come out — and the admiration begins.
