National Public Radio

Cluster Bombs Made In America And Sold To Saudi Arabia Are Being Dropped On Yemen

Cluster bombs have been banned by 116 countries. Yet one cluster weapon, made in America, is being used on the battlefield in Yemen, dangerously close to civilians.

National Public Radio
By National Public Radio

Listen to the Story: A Yemeni man described the chaos that accompanied an air strike near his village on a Monday morning in April, the day of the weekly market. "Hundreds of people from the surrounding villages were in al-Amar when the bombs were dropped," he told Human Rights Watch. "When people saw the parachutes they fled, leaving all

Read Full Article

Obama Commutes Sentences Of 46 Non-Violent Drug Offenders

“I believe these folks deserve their second chance.”

National Public Radio
By National Public Radio

President Obama has commuted the sentences of 46 mostly nonviolent drug offenders, nearly all of whom, the White House says, would have already served their time if they were convicted of the same crime today. "I am granting your application because you have demonstrated the potential to turn your life around," Obama said in a letter to each of

Read Full Article

Heroin Now An Epidemic In America, Especially Among Women And Whites

All told, more than half a million Americans used heroin in 2013, according to the report. That represents a nearly 150 percent increase since 2007.

National Public Radio
By National Public Radio
freshly dumped hypodermic syringes and a needle litter an abandoned cemetery

Health officials, confronted with a shocking increase in heroin abuse, are developing a clearer picture of who is becoming addicted to this drug and why. The results may surprise you. The biggest surge is among groups that have historically lower rates of heroin abuse: women and white (non-Hispanic) Americans. They tend to be 18-25 years old,

Read Full Article

Texas Governor Deploys State Guard To Stave Off Obama Takeover

“It is important that Texans know their safety, constitutional rights, private property rights and civil liberties will not be infringed upon.”

National Public Radio
By National Public Radio
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Texas State Guard to monitor a joint U.S. Special Forces training taking place in Texas, prompting outrage from some in his own party. (AP Photo)

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Texas State Guard to monitor a joint U.S. Special Forces training taking place in Texas, prompting outrage from some in his own party. (AP Photo) Since Gen. Sam Houston executed his famous retreat to glory to defeat the superior forces of Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, Texas has been ground

Read Full Article

More African-Americans Support Carrying Legal Guns For Self-Defense

According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, 54 percent of blacks now see gun ownership as a good thing, something more likely to protect than harm. That’s up from 29 percent just two years ago.

National Public Radio
By National Public Radio
Hank Johnson

When James Craig was a young man in the 1970s, he says law-abiding people wouldn't dream of carrying guns. But then he left town to pursue a career in policing. In the years he was gone, Michigan liberalized its gun laws, making it easier for people to get concealed-carry permits. When he came back to become Detroit's police chief in 2013, he

Read Full Article

(Audio) Historic Drought In Brazil Sparks Fear Of Civil Unrest

“Water restrictions are pretty arbitrary at the moment, but the state government is considering emergency rationing in the coming weeks: The most draconian plan could see residents without any water for five days a week”.

National Public Radio
By National Public Radio

Last Sunday, hundreds of Paulistanos, as the residents of Sao Paulo are known, dressed up and danced on the streets at one of the dozens of block parties that happen in advance of the annual celebration known as Carnival. Except this year – among the pirates and Viking bumblebees — some costumes had a more serious, if still not entirely sober,

Read Full Article