NPR News

Senator Rand Paul has ended his filibuster blocking Senate confirmation of the president's CIA nominee John Brennan. The filibuster lasted 12 hours and 54 minutes.

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The U.N. Security Council demanded the immediate release of the 21 peacekeepers who were seized in the Golan Heights area between Syria and Israel. A Syrian rebel group called the Martyrs of Yarmouk claimed responsibility.

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When President Obama signs an updated version of the Violence Against Women Act on Thursday afternoon, the law will include new requirements for how colleges and universities handle allegations of sexual assault.

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When President Obama signs an updated version of the Violence Against Women Act on Thursday afternoon, the law will include new requirements for how colleges and universities handle allegations of sexual assault.

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Iraqi and U.S. officials interviewed for the report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction said the $60 billion the U.S. spent on reconstruction efforts in Iraq "should have accomplished more." The findings could portend what lies ahead for the U.S. in Afghanistan where it is also engaged in reconstruction.

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The House has approved a bill to fund the federal government through the end of September. The continuing resolution introduced by Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY), who heads the Appropriations Committee, would avoid a potential government shutdown on March 27.

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The stock market's long climb has some people concerned it may be a bubble about to burst — a bubble artificially pumped up by the Federal Reserve's easy-money policy. That's led to calls — even from within the Fed — for an end to the central bank's extraordinary efforts to keep interest rates low.

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The High Arctic was a warmer place 3.5 million years ago. The surprising find can tell us a lot about our future and global warming.

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The High Arctic was a warmer place 3.5 million years ago. The surprising find can tell us a lot about our future and global warming.

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Love that bacon, but realize that porking up on processed meat ups the risk of cancer and heart disease. That's the word from a big new study that tracked the eating habits of almost a half-million Europeans over 20 years.

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The Venezuelan leader had many critics, but he managed to stay in power for 14 years with his theatrical style and the loyal backing of the country's poor.

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President Obama recently acknowledged that he doesn't have the supernatural powers necessary to do a mind meld, Jedi or otherwise, with Republicans in Congress. But as a dinner invitation shows, he can at least still get meetings with them.

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By adding artificial sweeteners to flavored milk, the dairy industry hopes to boost flagging consumption in schools. But if the industry gets its way, the front-of-the-package labels wouldn't note that it's "diet milk."

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Arkansas has approved a law banning most abortions after 12 weeks of gestation, as both houses of the state's legislature vote to override a veto by Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe. The Republican-backed Human Heartbeat Protection Act will become the nation's most restrictive abortion law.

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Scientists are beginning to understand how people focus on a single voice in a crowded, noisy room. This ability, known as the "cocktail party effect," appears to rely on areas of the brain that have completely filtered out unwanted sounds.

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The next pope will be the spiritual leader of the world's Catholics. He will also be leading a multibillion-dollar empire that faces some challenges.

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The Republican from Kentucky said he would speak until he could speak no more to sound the alarm on the Obama administration's targeted killing program.

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The Soviet soldier, missing since 1980, was nursed back to health by locals after being wounded in battle. He later converted to Islam and married an Afghan woman.

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Fidel Castro treated Hugo Chavez like a son, and the Venezuelan leader in turn provided large dollops of assistance to prop up the Cuban economy. Cubans are now worried that the oil shipments and subsidies could decrease or even end.

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As the year began there was at least some growth in most parts of the country, the central bank says.

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