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Afghan President Hamid Karzai says his government is involved in direct talks with the Taliban and the U.S., but the Taliban denies it. Is the Taliban really willing to engage in reconciliation? Host Rachel Martin speaks with NPR's Quil Lawrence in Kabul.

A federal judge in Florida has blocked the state from enforcing tough restrictions on groups that conduct voter registration drives. Because of the restrictions, the League of Women Voters and Rock the Vote had stopped registering voters in the state. The groups challenged the new law in court.

Vladimir Putin was sworn in Monday for a six-year term as president of Russia. In his inauguration speech, Putin said he was committed to democracy. But anti-Putin activists are not convinced and staged protests on the streets of Moscow.

Less than a year after the repeal of "Don't Ask Don't Tell," the Pentagon holds an LGBT pride month. Advocacy groups say the transition from institutionalized homophobia to equal treatment is going well, but a bureaucracy of regulations still place gay service members and their partners at a disadvantage.

A glandular condition gave Dick Beals his small stature and youthful voice. That voice was used in more than 3,000 commercials. Beals played a wide range of roles: babies, teenagers and chipmunks. Perhaps most notably was the Speedy Alka-Seltzer character.

Defense lawyers in the Sept. 11 military commissions trial at Guantanamo Bay will be allowed to see the secret section of the prison — known as Camp 7 — where the Sept. 11 defendants are held.

Head of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi says the financial crisis has exposed the inadequacy of the euro monetary union. The head of the European Central Bank says flaws in the system need to be fixed.

Poland's official Oscar entry for Best Foreign Language Film is director Agnieszka Holland's third film set during the Holocaust. Holland discusses characters with contradictions and why this story compelled her to revisit a subject she had decided not to return to.

A new Alzheimer's drug isn't reaching many patients. Doctors say reasons include its high cost, and lingering questions about its effectiveness.

Federal officials say executives from the now-defunct Peanut Corp. of America knowingly distributed peanut products that were contaminated with salmonella. The charges stem from a 2009 salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 700 people.