National News

The five men facing trial in the Sept. 11 attacks will plead not guilty so that they can air their criticisms of U.S. foreign policy, the lawyer for one of the defendants said Sunday.

We're headed into the year's biggest travel week, and there's not much bigger than what's sitting in the port of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., right now. It's called the Oasis of the Seas, and it's the largest cruise ship ever built — five times the size of the Titanic, with a price tag of $1.5 billion.

Highway fatality rates were highest in Montana and Louisiana in 2007 — more than 2 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. The lowest state rates were found in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Nationally, the fatality rate fell to a historic low of 1.27 in 2008.

The shimmering, white glove Michael Jackson wore when he premiered his trademark moonwalk dance in 1983 was auctioned off for $350,000 — plus tax — on Saturday.

We're headed into the year's biggest travel week, and there's not much bigger than what's sitting in the port of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., right now. It's called the Oasis of the Seas, and it's the largest cruise ship ever built — five times the size of the Titanic, with a price tag of $1.5 billion.

- The Obama Administration has launched the Financial Fraud Task Force to investigate issues related to the economic crisis. The Department of Justice will lead the task force's efforts to combat fraud in such areas as mortgage lending, stimulus spending and the government's bailout of the financial sector. Host Liane Hansen talks with Department of Justice Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli, who will be one of the leaders of the task force.

Billionaire investor Raj Rajaratnam was arrested last month and charged with running the biggest insider trading scheme involving a hedge fund. Twenty people from across corporate America have now been charged or arrested in connection with the case, and the scandal now involves some of the country's best-known companies. Host Liane Hansen speaks with Joanna Chung, U.S. financial correspondent for the Financial Times.

In recent years, budgets for permanent foreign staffs have been slashed in all but a handful of newsrooms. GlobalPost, an upstart online news outlet that relies on a network of more than 70 part-time contributors in 50 countries, is making the case for a new for-profit model for covering the world.

One of the things that makes being multiracial unique is the question, "What are you?" That conversation can slip fast from race to nationality, and NPR's Melisa Goh says it's a question every American should answer.

NPR's Ari Shapiro spent time in Eastern Long Island reporting on a story about hate crimes against Hispanics. While he was there, he discovered that the line distinguishing a perpetrator from a victim can be hazy.

Every 1,900 screenings for women in their 40s produces just one case in which cancer is discovered. But what if you're the one?

Bon Jovi is at the top of the album charts this week, riding an unprecedented publicity push. His record label struck a deal with the conglomerate NBC Universal for an exclusive presence on their many TV networks, including appearances on Today, Inside the Actors Studio and The Tonight Show.

Some moderates threatened Sunday to scuttle legislation if their demands aren't met, while more liberal members warned their party leaders not to bend.

- The Obama Administration has launched the Financial Fraud Task Force to investigate issues related to the economic crisis. The Department of Justice will lead the task force's efforts to combat fraud in such areas as mortgage lending, stimulus spending and the government's bailout of the financial sector. Host Liane Hansen talks with Department of Justice Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli, who will be one of the leaders of the task force.

Nine people were killed in a Metro train crash in Washington, D.C., this summer. The growing number of commuter rail collisions is one of the reasons the Obama administration proposed this week that the federal government take over safety regulation of the country's subway and light rail systems. Host Liane Hansen speaks with Deborah Hersman, Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Saturday night, while you might have been out to dinner, or at the movies, Senate Democrats were sweating out whether they had enough votes to clear their health overhaul bill over its first hurdle on the Senate floor. NPR's Julie Rovner spent her evening with them, and filed this report.