Search results for

Everyone suddenly wants to learn Mandarin Chinese. The problem is that there are few credentialed teachers. Now the Chinese government is making plans to develop teaching partnerships with U.S. public school districts.

Nigeria's Senate kills a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed the country's president to run for a third term. Critics said the proposal would widen regional, ethnic and religious rifts. They hailed its failure as a victory for democracy.

In honor of Mother's Day, The Kitchen Sisters linger in the room in the house where families gather and children are fed, where all good parties begin and end. The room where the best stories are told.

A report in Thursday's USA Today reveals that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been secretly collecting records from AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth documenting phone calls within the United States. The agency reportedly wants to create a database of calls to help track terrorist activity. Madeleine Brand speaks with USA Today reporter Leslie Cauley, who broke the story.

Commentator Ruth Levy Guyer reflects on the power of wind -- to spark life by spreading seeds, to cause disease by spreading pathogens, and to disturb the psyche. Guyer teaches courses in bioethics and infectious diseases at Haverford College.

John McPhee has written at length about fish, geology, oranges, nuclear power, basketball... and the list goes on. At 75, the great reporter feels he has plenty of words, characters and subjects left to explore.

The Bush administration says its program to monitor international financial records has a number of safeguards that prevent violation of privacy rights. But critics note that those safeguards are voluntary because this particular type of data tracking isn't covered by U.S. laws against government intrusion into private financial records.

Revelations that a Brussels-based company has been collecting international financial records to aid the CIA's anti-terrorism efforts have led to many questions about the cooperative, called SWIFT.

The Sangam Trio melds the musical traditions of American jazz with East Indian influence. The group made its New York debut this past week. Two members of the trio — jazz saxophonist Charles Lloyd and Indian tabla master Zakir Hussain, join host Debbie Elliott for a performance.

Fans in France are left to ponder what might have been after a penalty-kick loss to Italy in the World Cup's championship game. The turning point may have been the ejection of the team's top player in overtime.