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Vice President Joe Biden arrives in Beijing tonight from Tokyo, part of an Asian tour that has been dominated by tensions in the East China Sea. Both Japan and the U.S. have deplored China's new air defense identification zone, which covers an area that includes disputed islands under Japanese control.

Matching long johns. Kick lines in skis. Peeing on Santa's lap. Every family has these cringe-worthy moments, immortalized on film, that embody the particularly joyous brand of awkward that the holidays bring. And thanks to Mike Bender, co-author of Awkward Family Holiday Photos, the rest of us can rubberneck.

In the debate over whether to cut the food stamp program, members of Congress are looking at two pretty arcane provisions in the law.

The Obama administration is renewing its sales push for the president's signature health care law. On Wednesday, officials host a "youth summit" at the White House, where young people will be encouraged to sign up for insurance coverage. Their participation is crucial to help balance out the cost of insuring older, sicker people.

The recent deal between Iran and six world powers grabbed the headlines. But Iran is also working with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which will be carrying out a long-delayed inspection on an Iranian nuclear reactor in the coming days.

Darth Vader has posted on Instagram a photo of his face — more precisely his iconic black helmet. The photo launched the Star Wars Instagram account — a marketing effort by Disney which has a new release out this month.

The mass stranding has occurred in a remote area of Florida's Everglades that's only accessible by boat or helicopter. Wildlife officials are working to redirect them back out to deep water.

The icon who became South Africa's first black president died after a prolonged lung infection.

Inside Llewyn Davis, The latest film from Joel and Ethan Coen, focuses on a self-destructive folk singer just scraping by in Greenwich Village in the 1960s. Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake and John Goodman star. (Recommended)

The film is one of several fall and winter offerings from Fox Searchlight — including 1 2 Years a Slave, Black Nativity and Baggage Claim — featuring African-American casts and themes.

Twitter and other social media outlets see an outpouring of comments on the life and death of Nelson Mandela.

On Feb. 11, 1990, upon his release from prison, Nelson Mandela stood on the steps of City Hall in Cape Town, South Africa. He told the gather crowd of more than 100,000 people to seize what he called "a decisive moment." In the audio above, you can listen to a segment of that speech.

NPR's former South Africa correspondent John Matisonn worked for Nelson Mandela, helping the leader improve his media savvy after he was released from prison on Robben Island. Matisonn remembers Mandela's keen intelligence and resilience. Matisonn tells Robert Siegel the Nobel Peace Prize recipient emphasized that he was an ordinary man, and insisted he was no saint.

Workers rallied in 100 cities on Thursday to raise awareness for increasing pressure to raise wages. The push comes as 19 cities and states already raised minimum wages. A report from Berkeley economists finds the low-wage fast food jobs are costing taxpayer billions of dollars in public assistance — everything from food stamps to Medicaid.

In April 1994, the world watched as millions of South Africans, most of them jubilant but many wary, cast their ballots in that nation's first multiracial election. Ten years later, NPR broadcast "Mandela: An Audio History," by producers Joe Richman and Sue Johnson of Radio Diaries. The radio documentary tells the story of Nobel Peace Prize-winner Nelson Mandela through the leader's own words, the voices those who fought with him, as well as those who fought against him. You can listen to a segment of the documentary by clicking play on the audio above, or you can listen to the full hour-long documentary, and read a timeline of his life, here.

Florida State Quarterback Jameis Winston will not be charged in connection with an alleged sexual assault. That decision was announced Thursday in Talahassee.

In practically every image of Nelson Mandela after he became president in 1994, he is wearing a silk, long-sleeved, button-up shirt covered with bright, colorful patterns. Those shirts were custom made by a white South African fashion designer.

Tributes to Nelson Mandela have been pouring in from all over the world. South Africans are mourning the loss of the symbolic anti-apartheid leader. His leadership and legacy affected the entire African continent.

South Africa's last white-minority president was F.W. De Klerk. He and Nelson Mandela shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize for engineering the peaceful transition of South Africa out of white minority rule.

When Nelson Mandela was sent to prison 35 years ago, as a prisoner of apartheid, seven others were convicted with him. Renee Montagne talks to Ahmed Kathrada, who was just 34 when he stepped onto Robben Island with Mandela.