U.S. Audio/Video - NPR

In Paris, Sen. Barack Obama and French President Nicholas Sarkozy stressed areas of commonality. Obama declined to directly criticize President Bush while he is abroad and emphasized that Iran should promptly agree to a deal on its nuclear program.

Though "staycation" is one of the hottest buzzwords, many people have been taking home-based vacations for years. Some people go to luxurious, exotic locations for vacations that they sometimes don't enjoy. Ultimately, vacations are what you make them.

Ever since the Securities and Exchange Commission decided to ban temporarily a practice called naked short-selling last week, the stock market has been rising. Some observers say it underscores how big a menace naked short-selling has become.

This was has been the first of Salim Hamdan's trial at Guantanamo Bay. The prosecution has presented Osama bin Laden's driver as an insider in the al-Qaida leader's inner circle. The defense, however, has portrayed Hamdan as a poorly paid employee.

It's a good time for U.S. companies that have an international reach. McDonald's, 3M and Amazon – all of which sell products overseas – are doing well this year in spite of the troubled economic situation at home, thanks in part to the depreciated dollar.

Congress is expected to vote this week on legislation to address the home foreclosure crisis, and shore up mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Here, a look at what the bill would do.

Sen. John McCain recently floated the idea of instituting a "Yankee" version of the prime minister's questions period in Britain. During these sessions, the prime minister is bombarded by questions on a range of subjects from members of Parliament. Does the presidential hopeful realize what he might be getting into?

Home foreclosure filings more than doubled in the second quarter of 2008 from a year ago, according to real estate data released Friday by RealtyTrac Inc. Nationwide, 739,714 households — one in every 171 — received at least one foreclosure-related notice from April to June.

In the latest political podcast, NPR Senior Washington Editor Rob Elving and Political Editor Ken Rudin discuss Obama's trip overseas and McCain's focus on domestic issues.

Naked ladies, rabbits, basketballs and a big, shiny blue heart are all on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art, courtesy of the American painter, sculptor and artist-provocateur. The exhibit leaves most visitors smiling, laughing or just plain puzzled.

Democratic and Republican bloggers have joined forces to punish members of Congress who voted for a revised government surveillance bill backed by the White House. One independent online group raised roughly $350,000 to spend on anti-FISA TV and radio ads.

Utah's Crandall Canyon mine — site of a deadly August 2007 collapse — was "destined to fail," federal investigators say. The Mine Health and Safety Administration says major engineering deficiencies led to the disaster — and that regulators were not told the mine was unstable.

A group of convicted felons is suing Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, demanding prompt action on pardon requests. Critics say the state takes too long to give applicants a yes or no decision.

Sen. John McCain has campaigned across the U.S. this week, stressing economic concerns and other domestic topics. As Sen. Barack Obama traveled abroad, McCain sought to empathize with American voters who are hurting.

Pressure to send more troops into Afghanistan presents military planners with a logistical challenge. Factor in training and recovery time — and a "surge" in Afghanistan isn't likely until the spring of 2009.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama's speech in Berlin Thursday dealt with road foreign policy issues. But the address was more to convince American voters of his foreign policy credentials than to impress foreign leaders.

Grappling with a shaky economy, baby boomers are looking for new ways to make money. A new survey estimates that a chunk of these Americans are launching "encore careers" — positions that combine income and personal meaning with social impact.

Retail-based health clinics are expanding rapidly across the country. Most are located near the prescription counter inside large groceries. There are reports that two large Massachusetts health insurance companies will soon be paying for visits to these clinics.

A new study in the journal Science shows that girls no longer lag behind boys in math. Average standardized tests scores reveals no gender differences in grades two through 11.

The head of a cancer research center in Pittsburgh is urging his faculty and staff to limit their use of cell phones. Another scientist, Daniel Wartenberg, a professor at the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, says it may be better to be safe than sorry.

In East Texas, a divorced mother can't pay the higher rent her landlord wants, so she's moving out. Scores of gardeners from across the state are helping her move her lush garden of shrubs, trees and beloved day lilies to her new home, one plant at a time.

A river barge collided with an oil tanker, sending more than 400,000 gallons of fuel oil into the Mississippi River and halting some river traffic. Mark Schleifstein, of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, says the spill is costing the Port of New Orleans $100,000 per day.

Gas prices have spiked over the past year and the rise is really hammering NASCAR. Not only is attendance at stock-car races starting to decline, but the teams are being squeezed, too. And even NASCAR's sponsors are feeling the pinch.

The Environmental Protection Agency wants more time to decide whether to grant Texas a waiver from the federal mandate for ethanol in gasoline. Margaret Kriz, an energy and environmental correspondent for National Journal, says the debate could be a political hot potato.

The presidential hopeful addressed an expansive crowd Thursday near the site where the Berlin Wall once stood, calling on the U.S. and Europe to build new bridges of partnership. "The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand," Obama said, alluding to often strained relations between Europe and the U.S. under President Bush.

After posting an $8.7 billion loss for the second quarter on Thursday, Ford announces plans to switch manufacturing operations at three North American plants from trucks to small cars. The auto industry has seen a dramatic decline in truck and SUV sales in recent months as consumers react to high gas prices.

Barack Obama is in Germany, where he will meet German leader Angela Merkel. The likely Democratic presidential nominee will also give the only public speech of his weeklong foreign tour, at a Berlin park. On Friday, he'll visit France. Journalists Stefan Kornelius in Germany and Jean Lesieur in France talk about Obama's expected reception in Europe.

Even in the midst of the worst housing slump in decades, some people are out there getting mortgages and buying homes. But they're paying more for mortgages these days, and borrowers with shaky credit won't find it easy to get a loan.

Congress has put the far-reaching housing bill on a fast track to the president. The House passed the measure Wednesday, and it goes to the Senate this week. It would help homeowners facing foreclosure, and put in place a rescue plan for troubled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

A legendary French winery is purchasing a famous winemaker in California. The deal comes decades after the same California winery beat French wines in a blind taste test. Vic Motto, a wine industry investment banker, says it's "a very important merger of two great wine estates."

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has joined forces with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to fight tobacco use in developing countries. Gates donated $125 million to a tobacco-control initiative that Bloomberg launched in 2002.

The first Guantanamo Bay war crimes trial has started. A military jury viewed a video of the defendant Salim Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's former driver, kneeling before a masked U.S. soldier, denying that he worked for al-Qaida. The videotape was recorded in Afghanistan shortly after Hamdan's capture in November 2001.

The Bush administration is now talking to governments it once shunned. The secretary of state met with the North Korean foreign minister this week; the undersecretary participated in talks with Iran's nuclear negotiator last weekend. The new approach has angered critics, but it doesn't extend to all "problem countries."

After 15 years, Congress is reconsidering its "don't ask, don't tell" policy for gays in the military. Figures show about 12,000 service members have been discharged because of their sexual orientation. And recent polls show 75 percent of Americans think people who are openly gay should be allowed to serve.

For years, the chief punishment for immigrants caught working illegally in the United States was deportation. Now they can face criminal charges such as identity theft, which can bring a hefty prison sentence. Immigrant rights groups and some members of Congress are challenging the practice.

The Origins of Sunni Islam. Lebanese Hezbollah. Arabic Language. Sound like college courses? They're topics in an FBI training program conducted by West Point's Combating Terrorism Center geared to help agents better understand the enemy in the war on terror.

Where do you look among federal agencies for smart thinking about renewable energy and alternative fuels? The U.S. Postal Service. Every 1-cent increase in the price of gasoline costs it an extra $8 million. That brings a keen motivation to innovate.

When the owner of a consulting company in Montana heard an NPR story about Bahjat, an Iraqi refugee struggling to find work in Florida, he offered Bahjat a job. Bahjat decided he had nothing to lose, so he accepted. But first, he had to figure out where Montana was.

Army medic Joseph Dwyer was famously photographed risking his life to rescue an Iraqi child in 2003. But he spent years battling the psychological scars of war. Dwyer died June 28 in North Carolina.