Search results for

In a lawsuit against the state, Alaska is being charged with providing substandard police protection to the rural - largely native Alaskan - villages. The plaintiffs conclude that this is a decades old pattern of discrimination that is racially and geographically based. For NPR News in Anchorage Anne Sutton reports.

French law had set a Sept. 15 deadline for the country's 2.7 million health care workers to get vaccinated. The ones who didn't get a jab were suspended, the country's health minister says.

One of several tax cuts passed by Congress this summer -- a repeal of the tax on estates -- was formally dispatched from Capitol Hill to the White House today -- but not by the usual means. The document made its way down Pennsylvania Avenue on board the tractor of Lynn Cornwell, a cattle rancher from Montana. President Clinton has said he will veto the repeal, and Congress is not expected to muster the votes to override him. But Congressional Republicans are determined to keep the issue in the public eye. NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

Jackie Northam of Chicago Public Radio reports that more than two weeks after Firestone began recalling millions of its tires, there's now a desperate scramble for replacements. Fingers of blame are pointing in many directions. Federal investigators say 62 people have died in car accidents that may have been caused by peeling tire treads.

Noah Adams speaks with John Powers, who covers the Olympics for the Boston Globe. Powers has been following the series of arbitration cases by American athletes who say they should not have been passed over for the US Olympic team. Major cases include athletes in wrestling, cycling, and softball. Powers says a lot of the cases involve the way in which athletes are chosen for the teams.

Jazz saxophonist James Carter. He has just released two new CDs Chasin' the Gypsy and Layin' in the Cut (Atlantic Records). The 31-year-old New York based musician was discovered at the age of 17 by Wynton Marsalis. He's played with Marsalis, the late Lester Bowie and Kathleen Battle. He has been praised by jazz musicians and critics alike; Richard Harrington of the Washington Post once wrote, "To hear saxophonist James Carter is to be blown away."

NPR's Michele Kelemen has a report from Podolsk on Russian sports hero Alexander Karelin. This giant of the Greco-Roman wrestling scene is going for his fourth Olympic gold in Sydney next month. But he's not just an athlete; he's also a member of the Russian Duma. President Putin's party recruited Karelin last year to boost its public image.

Nearly a third of the American workforce works a temporary or part-time job, or hires on as an independent contractor. For many workers, these arrangements provide the flexibility and freedom they never had in traditional jobs. But many "free agents" struggle to obtain benefits and professional stability. As David Molpus reports, a new study finds that organizations are emerging to help workers cope with the change, but there are still lots of bumps in the system.

Heavy fighting between Indian and Pakistani forces in the disputed border area of Kashmir broke a cease-fire today. Zaphar Abash, of the BBC, reported from Islamabad that both sides are accusing the other of starting the clash.

A team of four California rock climbers were taken hostage for six days this summer by Islamic rebels in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan before managing to escape. Noah talks to Beth Rodden, a 20-year-old world-class climber from Davis, California, who was a member of the team, about the harrowing adventure.