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Scott Hanley
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John Wooley
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NPR National News

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Africa
3:20 pm
Wed December 14, 2011

South Sudan: Will Oil Lead It Out of Poverty?

Credit Pete Muller / AP
South Sudanese security forces stand outside the control room of the Petrodar oil facility in Paloich, South Sudan. Sudan was once sub-Saharan Africa's third-largest oil producer, but much of that oil came from what is now South Sudan.
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Originally published on Wed December 14, 2011 6:12 pm

South Sudan, the world's newest nation, is still trying to find its feet, and private companies, international aid experts and diplomats have gathered in Washington this week to see if they can help.

The 5-month-old country is one of the most underdeveloped places in the world, and it still has many lingering disputes with its former rulers in Sudan — disputes that could scare off potential investors.

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Middle East
3:14 pm
Wed December 14, 2011

Mysterious Events Leave Tehran Feeling Under Siege

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Credit AFP/Getty Images
A picture released by the official website of Iran's Revolutionary Guard on Dec. 8 shows Iranian Revolutionary Guard Brig. Gen. Amir-Ali Hajizadeh (right) looking at a U.S. spy drone that crashed in Iran on Dec. 4.
Credit GeoEye via Google Earth/Digitalglobe/Reuters (top) / ISIS (bottom)/Landov
A combination of photos released by Institute for Science and International Security on Dec. 2 shows satellite images of a military base outside Tehran, Iran, on Sept. 9 (top), and the same base with extensively damaged buildings on Nov. 22 — 10 days after a mysterious explosion occurred at the missile base.
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Originally published on Wed December 14, 2011 6:12 pm

It's never easy trying to figure out just what is going on in Iran.

But it has been especially difficult of late — after an explosion that reduced a missile base to rubble, another blast that was heard but not seen, and the mysterious case of the downed American stealth drone.

These events have left a slew of questions and very few answers.

The huge explosion at the missile base outside Tehran on Nov. 12 was heard in the capital, about 30 miles away, and, satellite pictures show, it devastated the base.

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It's All Politics
2:56 pm
Wed December 14, 2011

Not So Fast Newt: Gingrich As Polling Phenomenon

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Poll after poll shows Newt Gingrich with a commanding lead for the Republican nomination for president.

The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll is the gaudiest yet, giving the former speaker of the House 40 percent among Republicans across the country, nearly double the number for erstwhile front-runner Mitt Romney.

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Iraq
2:39 pm
Wed December 14, 2011

How Much Influence Will Iran Have In Iraq?

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Credit STR / AFP/Getty Images
Iraq's Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, left, shakes hands with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during an official meeting in Tehran on Oct. 18, 2010.
Credit Mario Tama / Getty Images
Shiite worshipers march after cutting their scalps in a ritual display of mourning during an Ashura ceremony outside Kadhimiya shrine in Baghdad, Iraq, on Dec. 6. Shiite festivals such as this were prohibited under dictator Saddam Hussein, a Sunni. Shiite Iran is seeking greater influence in Iraq, and Iraq's Sunni neighbors are doing the same.
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Earlier this month, a ceremony took place in Baghdad that was unthinkable under Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein: Ashura, the annual Shiite ritual marking the slaying of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the prophet Mohammad and one of the most revered figures in Shiite Islam.

As the trumpets sounded in Baghdad's notorious Shiite slum of Sadr City, boys and men wearing white shrouds brought swords down onto their shaven heads. Thick red blood gushed onto their faces. Hussein sacrificed for us, the belief goes, and devoted followers are ready to sacrifice for him.

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The Two-Way
2:35 pm
Wed December 14, 2011

Christmas Stamps Are OK; Christmas Carols? Not At The Post Office

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There's been some consternation on the Web about what happened this weekend at a post office in Silver Spring, Md., when three Christmas carolers — all decked out in shawls, bonnets and a top hat (for the guy) — popped in and started singing.

It seems that one of the USPS managers on duty jumped into action, telling the trio that they couldn't do that because they were on government property.

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Shots - Health Blog
2:15 pm
Wed December 14, 2011

Hospitals Torn On Reducing Repeat Admissions

Credit Fred Mogul / WNYC
Joseuly Claudio, 53, gets weekly checkups from nurse practitioner Mary McDonagh at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York.
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By Fred Mogul, WNYC

Originally published on Wed December 14, 2011 4:01 pm

What doesn't kill you, only makes you a repeat customer.

So says Prescott Pharmaceuticals, fictional and macabre sponsor of The Colbert Report.

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Latin America
2:04 pm
Wed December 14, 2011

In Cuba, Dial-Up Internet Is A Luxury

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By Nick Miroff

Cuba is one of the least-connected countries in the world, a time-warped place where millions of young people have never been online and a dial-up Internet account is the stuff of dreams.

An undersea fiber-optic cable linking the island to Venezuela was supposed to change that this year. But six months after its completion, frustrated Cubans are still starved for web access.

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NPR Story
2:00 pm
Wed December 14, 2011

Amid Bickering, Risk Of Government Shutdown Looms

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After weeks of assurances that there wouldn't be a government shutdown in this round of bickering, now there are threats of a government shutdown.

The Two-Way
1:59 pm
Wed December 14, 2011

Putin Loyalist Resigns As Russia's Speaker Of Parliament

Credit Dmitry Chistoprudov / AFP/Getty Images
Tens of thousands of protesters turned out in Moscow and other major cities across Russia in open defiance to strongman Vladimir Putin's 12-year rule.
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By Eyder Peralta

The protests that have spread across Russia took a big political toll today, when the speaker of parliament announced his resignation. As the AP reports, the move appears to be tailored by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as an attempt to "stem public anger."

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Economy
1:47 pm
Wed December 14, 2011

Michigan Town Grapples With Shrinking Public Sector

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Credit Sarah Hulett / for NPR
Inkster, Mich., resident Darrel Osborne says he's noticed the reduced police presence in the city.
Credit Sarah Hulett / for NPR
This month, the city of Inkster, Mich., laid off 14 police officers, or 20 percent of its police department.
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Tammi Warren has lived on the same winding street in the Detroit suburb of Inkster, Mich., all her life. But as she drives down the block in her Ford pickup, Warren points to several houses on her street that stand vacant, casualties of the housing market collapse.

Vacant houses mean less tax revenue for the city, and less revenue makes it harder for Inkster to provide basic city services.

"[The] city of Inkster has eliminated 38 positions," says City Treasurer Mark Stuhldreher. "It's about 25 percent, roughly, of the workforce."

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