NPR News

It marks the first time the whole country has been under Afghan control since the coalition invaded to oust the Taliban in 2001.

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Obama told PBS' Charlie Rose that he rejected comparisons to the Bush-Cheney administration, saying he had added safeguards to protect the privacy of Americans.

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Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced at a ceremony on Tuesday that his country's armed forces are taking over the lead for security nationwide from the U.S.-led NATO coalition. The handover of responsibility marks a turning point for American and NATO military forces, which will move entirely into a supporting role.

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An enterprising carpenter and a creative puppeteer teamed up on a do-it-yourself project to build a mechanical hand for a little boy. They created an inexpensive prosthetic and published their designs on the Internet. So far, over 100 children have been outfitted.

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An enterprising carpenter and a creative puppeteer teamed up on a do-it-yourself project to build a mechanical hand for a little boy. They created an inexpensive prosthetic and published their designs on the Internet. So far, over 100 children have been outfitted.

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China sees Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked details of the agency's surveillance programs, as the gift that keeps on giving. The country's state-run media has hailed him as a hero for exposing what it calls American hypocrisy.

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President Obama says federal judges have been "overseeing" the recently exposed government surveillance programs. But few, if any, experts in the Bush or Obama administrations believe that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has the enforcement teeth it once had.

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The Arab Spring countries are still in the process of remaking themselves. Consider Libya, where militia fighters continue to roam the streets, yet a new private radio station does not hesitate to criticize the armed groups.

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A fresh study looks at what happens after people change their meat-eating habits. Those who upped their intake — about 3.5 servings more per week — saw their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes during four years of follow-up increase by almost 50 percent.

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Big names in business, entertainment and philanthropy pitched in to help buy a Utah ski mountain for a reported $40 million. They want to turn it into the next cool hub for culture and new ideas. "We look to build the coolest little mountain town in the world," says one of the buyers.

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The first-ever study of more than 1,100 schools of education released Tuesday by the National Council on Teacher Quality shows that teacher preparation is in disarray. The study warns that 163 programs provide only "minimal, substandard training."

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The first-ever study of more than 1,100 schools of education released Tuesday by the National Council on Teacher Quality shows that teacher preparation is in disarray. The study warns that 163 programs provide only "minimal, substandard training."

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The Boston Bruins have beaten the Chicago Blackhawks 2-0 to take a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup finals. Game 4 of the best-of-seven series is Wednesday night in Boston with the series shifting to Chicago on Saturday night.

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Police reportedly questioned former advertising executive Charles Saatchi for five hours Monday, after pictures emerged of him with hands around the throat of his wife, TV personality Nigella Lawson.

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The case dates from April of 2012, when a female midshipman reported that she had been sexually assaulted by three men after she went to a party in Annapolis. The men have not been identified publicly.

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The Obama administration says the bill "makes unacceptable deep cuts" to federal food aid programs and extends, rather than cuts, crop insurance payments to farmers.

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The Supreme Court struck down an Arizona law that required proof of citizenship to register to vote. But while celebrating a victory, voting-rights organizations are still waiting for the superstar voting case of the current term: a challenge to the Voting Rights Act.

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Paula Cooper admitted to killing a Bible studies teacher as part of a robbery in 1985. Back then, Cooper was 15 — and she was 16 when she was sentenced to die.

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A civil lawsuit that shifted into U.S. district court in Idaho last week alleges that the United Potato Growers of America has become a veritable OPEC of spuds. The group is accused of using high-tech, strong-arm tactics to inflate potato prices.

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Scientists and parents have long been baffled by the fact that children with autism often don't pay attention to human voices. Researchers say that may be because speech doesn't activate a reward system in the brain for those children the way it does for typical children.

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