Search results for

France accuses the United States of impatience in its push for war against Iraq and says it is not prepared to support any U.N. Security Council resolution that would authorize military action. Russia and China, which like France have veto power, support the French position. Hear NPR's Nick Spicer.

NPR's David Molpus reports on the job of figuring the financial cost of a U.S. strike on Iraq. Estimates run from a billion a week -- even without any fighting -- to $25 billion a year for a post-war occupation of Iraq. The Congressional Budget Office's estimate ranges from $40 billion to $200 billion. Some say the U.S. needs the war to lower oil prices and revive the stock market. Others say the consideration should be how effective a strike would be on the war on terrorism.

Last week, the White House asked the Supreme Court to declare the University of Michigan's affirmative action admissions policies unconstitutional. Host Bob Edwards talks with Jacques Steinberg, New York Times education reporter, about the administration's decision and how it will affect schools that are trying to ensure racial diversity through admission.

As the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade approaches, debate over abortion continues. Abortion rights opponents stress abstinence-only education and point to Uganda, where emphasis on abstinence has lowered a 30-percent HIV rate to 5 percent in a decade. NPR's Brenda Wilson reports.

In New Orleans, opening arguments begin in a class-action lawsuit aimed at making the tobacco industry help smokers quit. About 3 million smokers -- some of whom are not ill -- are seeking funding for medical monitoring, but the industry says it should not be held responsible for those who ignore warning labels. NPR's Debbie Elliott reports.

Commentator Herbert "Crazylegs" Seward played trumpet in Alabama State's marching band, and he says the music and moves portrayed in the film Drumline are no match for the performances of the real bands of historically Black Colleges and Universities. One band's routines are so precise they form the score of the game at halftime; another has a style called "The Rattler" that resembles the slither of a snake.

The United States lost nearly one million manufacturing jobs in 2002, but the foreign-car industry continues to grow. The boom of foreign automakers in the South has brought prosperity to the region and introduced a new workplace culture. NPR's Adam Hochberg reports.

Host Bob Edwards describes a recent International Trade Court ruling over whether the X-Men -- a group of mutant superheroes -- are human.

Host Bob Edwards talks with cartoonist, writer and playwright Jules Feiffer about the late Al Hirschfeld. Hirschfeld was famous for his "Nina" caricatures of celebrities and Broadway shows. He died in his sleep yesterday at age 99.

Trombone star Fred Wesley, Jr. is best known for his work as a sideman with James Brown in the 1960s and 70s, but Wesley is also a legendary R&B, soul and funk veteran, whose musical career spans five decades. NPR's Steve Inskeep talks with Wesley about the twists and turns of a long and storied career, which he explores in an autobiography called Hit Me, Fred, and subtitled "Recollections of a Sideman."