NPR News

Fewer than three weeks after they were severely injured in the Boston Marathon bombings, Celeste Corcoran and her 18-year-old daughter, Sydney, are entering a new phase of recovery and rehabilitation. Part of their healing is emotional, not physical.

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On Thursday, the City Council will debate proposals including raising the minimum age for buying cigarettes to 21. Also on the table is a ban on tobacco displays behind retail registers. Critics are pushing back, arguing that the changes won't have the intended effect.

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On Thursday, the City Council will debate proposals including raising the minimum age for buying cigarettes to 21. Also on the table is a ban on tobacco displays behind retail registers. Critics are pushing back, arguing that the changes won't have the intended effect.

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Linguists used to think the human brain had a specific region devoted to understanding language. But brain scans now indicate that regions controlling vision, movement, taste, smell and touch are all called into action when we think of a word, too.

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A young woman in Nigeria says God spoke to her in her dreams, guiding her to become a car mechanic. Despite initial resistance from her family, she fulfilled her vocation and has gone on to train other young women to do what one trainee calls "the best job in the world."

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Stephen Schwarzman, co-founder of Blackstone Group, is launching a $300 million scholarship program in Beijing. He says his goal is to help to improve the understanding of China and ease Western fears about its growing economic power. "There'll be complete freedom of expression [and] discussion," he says.

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The administration's decision came a day after the FDA lowered the age for which the emergency contraceptive pill can be purchased without a prescription from 17 to 15. A U.S. district court ruling had ordered it to end all age restrictions on Plan B.

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Activists said the poll challenges the perception that blacks believe they compete with immigrants for jobs and wages.

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News reports say that workers at the factories housed in the building that collapsed last week were paid about $50 a month. More than 400 people were killed in the collapse, and some of those who couldn't be identified were given a mass funeral on Wednesday.

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The FBI released photographs of three individuals who were on the grounds of the U.S. mission in Benghazi on the day of the attack, which killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya.

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He accused the organization of undermining his leftist government. In 2008, Morales expelled the Drug Enforcement Administration from Bolivia.

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The winter of 1609-1610 has been called the "starving time" for the hundreds of men and women who settled the English colony of Jamestown, Va. They ate their horses, their pets — and, apparently, at least one person. Scientists say human bones recovered from the site provide the first hard evidence that the colonists may have resorted to cannibalism.

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Corn and soybean farmers not only survived last year's epic drought — thanks to crop insurance, they made bigger profits than they would have in a normal year, a new analysis finds. And a big chunk of those profits were provided through taxpayer subsidies.

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After deadly disasters in clothing factories, labor activists are trying to persuade at least two more retailers to agree to improve working conditions in Bangladesh. Two retail giants have already signed onto a proposal that would mandate that fire and safety inspections be made public and require retailers to pay for needed factory repairs.

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At Harvey Mudd College in California, about 40 percent of the computer science majors are women. That's far more than at any other co-ed school. And it's thanks in large part to the school's president, Maria Klawe. She has worked hard to keep women interested in computer science and empower them to succeed in the field.

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An influential study of Medicaid in Oregon found that recipients used more health care, spent less money and reported improved health. But the results of a follow-up study are less positive about whether people with coverage were healthier.

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Nelson Mandela had a bewildered look and was largely unresponsive when President Jacob Zuma stopped by earlier this week. After the visit was televised, some South Africans began criticizing the president, saying the images were disrespectful to the iconic figure.

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Disruptions of sleep are well known as migraine triggers, but now researchers have found a genetic link between the two. In studying families with lots of migraines, they also found a mutation on a gene that helps control circadian rhythms.

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Disruptions of sleep are well-known as migraine triggers, but now researchers have found a genetic link between the two. In studying families with lots of migraines, they also found a mutation on a gene that helps control circadian rhythms.

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The Department of Justice's inspector general says the programs are "poorly run and lack clear standards."

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