Search results for

Washington, D.C.'s Earth Conservation Corps is a non-profit organization with a mission to recruit a few dozen young men and women in the community to clean up and restore their own neighborhood. But there's one hitch: It's one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the country. NPR's Daniel Zwerdling reports.

The White House released documents Tuesday it says confirm President Bush fulfilled his Air National Guard duties during the Vietnam War era. Democrats have recently revived charges that Bush abandoned his Guard post. But many say the new documents are incomplete, and some question why the White House can't produce anyone who remembers serving with Bush. Hear NPR's Don Gonyea.

President George Bush defends his record on job-creation and managing the U.S. economy during a speech in Missouri Monday as the White House sends its annual economic report to Congress. Bush's economic report predicts the economy will grow at 4 percent in 2004, with 2.6 million new jobs created. NPR's Don Gonyea reports.

His songs include "By The Time I Get to Phoenix," "Up Up and Away," "Wichita Lineman," "Macarthur Park," "Galveston," "Didn't We," "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" and "All I Know." His songs have been recorded by Glenn Campbell, Johnny Cash, Joe Cocker, Linda Ronstadt, Art Garfunkle and the Fifth Dimension. At one point in the 1960s, he had five Top 10 hits within a 20-month period. Webb has a lifetime achievement award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and he's been inducted into the Nashville Hall of Fame. There's a new album, One Life, by singer Michael Feinstein, that pays tribute to him.

Many states have no minimum age, but there's a push to raise it to a common international standard of 14. Experts say diversion programs should be provided without the criminalization of children.

NPR's Emily Harris in Baghdad reports on U.S. military plans to reduce the American troop presence in Baghdad. U.S. soldiers will be moving to bases on the outskirts of the capital, leaving security duties in the hands of Iraq's police force and the fledgling civil defense corps.

British forces capture an Iraqi general in the southern city of Basra. A spokesperson says the general is the highest-ranking Iraqi prisoner of war thus far. Meanwhile, U.S.-led warplanes strike facilities in Baghdad, including a presidential palace, a military intelligence complex and the barracks of a paramilitary training center. Hear NPR News.

Elements of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division moved closer to Baghdad today. They clashed with Republican Guard troops, who are better trained and equipped than Iraqi army regulars. Despite the strength of the Republican Guard, some American troops prefer fighting them over fighting the Fedayeen and other irregulars who attack from civilian areas. There's less moral ambiguity in battles pitting soldier against soldier. U.S. commanders estimate 200 Iraqi Republican Guard troops were killed today in a battle near the town of Hindiya. NPR's Eric Westervelt reports.

Troops aren't the only ones being deployed to the Persian Gulf. In southern Iraq and Bahrain, marine mammals are also on active duty. Dolphins are using their natural sonar to detect underwater mines, and sea lions are guarding boats and piers from potentially threatening swimmers. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Tom LaPuzza of the U.S. Navy's marine mammal program.

Mike Luckovich, the Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, got a behind-the-scenes look at the Pentagon this week. He was allowed to sit in on briefings with the defense secretary and top generals and came away with some surprising insights. Read his War Diary and see a sketch from his visit.