Search results for

Iran holds a runoff presidential election Friday. Voters will choose between Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president who is casting himself as a reformer, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the younger, hard-line mayor of Tehran.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin discusses racial tensions in the city post-Katrina after Latino workers flocked to the city for the cleanup and rebuilding process. He says he expects New Orleans to remain majority African-American, but that it will have to adjust to shifting racial demographics.

The Environmental Protection Agency announces a plan the Bush administration says will create the biggest reduction in air pollution since the 1990 Clean Air Act. The new rule will require coal-fired power plants in 28 states to reduce some emissions by 60 percent over the next 10 years.

The Base Closure and Realignment Commission adds two military facilities to its list of proposed base closings -- the Navy Broadway Complex in San Diego, Calif., and the Naval Air Station in Brunswick, Maine. Any final decisions on base closures will be made in August.

Researchers have figured out how to turn microscopic green algae into tiny beasts of burden capable of shouldering surprisingly big loads. The technique could lead to the harnessing of microorganisms for use in industry and biotech.

A U.S. federal judge has granted a request by lawyers for an Australian prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to postpone the resumption of his war-crimes trial this week so the U.S. Supreme Court can rule on the legality of such military tribunals.

In a memorandum, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, an influential Vatican official on Catholic doctrine, suggests that Catholic voters might be able to support an abortion rights candidate and still stay within the bounds of church teaching. Hear NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty.

Hurricane Jeanne sweeps through much of central Florida, killing six people and leaving millions without power. President Bush has declared the state major disaster area. FEMA is now coping with the largest relief effort in its history. Hear NPR's Anthony Brooks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin admits making mistakes in his policy on Chechnya, and suggests he'd be willing to give the breakaway republic much greater autonomy. But he rejects criticisms that he should have negotiated with rebels in last week's deadly school siege. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep and Fiona Hill of the Brookings Institution.

Gunmen release 26 women and small children held hostage at a school in southern Russia, but hundreds more remain inside. The militants have killed about a dozen people, mostly police officers, and rebuffed proposals to end the standoff. Hear NPR's Lawrence Sheets.