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Verizon and AT&T are launching programs allowing customers to receive rewards based on information their smartphones share with the carriers. Not surprisingly, privacy advocates are alarmed.

As the White House and Congress continue to wrangle over a deal to avoid the "fiscal cliff" and its billions in automatic spending cuts and tax increases, a look at who is spending big to influence the debate behind the scenes.

Justices on the nation's highest court announce they will take up cases involving California's Proposition 8, which bans gay marriage, and a provision of the Defense of Marriage Act. Analysts say the court might confine itself to determining jurisdiction, not the merits of the cases' claims.

Khaled Mashaal, the long-exiled leader of Hamas, made his first visit to the Gaza Strip on Friday.

When we go to the movies, we want our heroes big and our villains bigger. But Hollywood actors are only slightly taller, on average, than their fans. NPR critic Bob Mondello takes a look at actors' heights: who's commandingly short, or diminutively tall.

Arizona Lottery officials tell the AP that the ticket is held by a family, and that the winners will be identified sometime next week. The Nov. 28 drawing, for a Powerball-record $587.5 million, produced two winning tickets: one in Arizona, and one in Missouri.

Rebels recently took control of the Syrian border village of Khirbet al-Joz. Since then, the villagers have selected a town leadership. They also have a police force chosen by the town rather than the regime. They hope their model will be widely emulated.

Former IMF leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was accused of sexual assault by a hotel maid, has all but vanished from the public sphere in France, but he remains a subject of fascination. A play imagining what could have transpired in that hotel suite in May 2011 has just opened in Paris.

Over the weekend, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi rescinded most of a temporary order that elevated his powers above judicial review. But he did not concede on demands to postpone a vote on a new constitution.

In an effort to be more precise, accurate and neutral, the Associated Press decided to remove several words, including "Islamophobia" and "homophobia", from the 2013 edition of the AP Stylebook. Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page calls the move "a linguistic blow for blandness."

A U.N. report says North Korea has more food than in previous years. But North Koreans who spoke to NPR say conditions are still dire. Food has become too expensive for many North Koreans, and people are dying of hunger, they say.

Latkes? Check. Chanukah gifts? Check.Brandy-soaked sugar cubes to set afire…What’s that? You’ve never taken part in a Flaming Tea Ceremony for…

The extraordinarily wide-ranging pianist, scholar and essayist died at age 85 Sunday after a multifaceted life in the arts and academia. His broad repertoire and keen insight as a writer helped shape decades of thought on classical and contemporary music. Hear him play and discuss the piano.

Cash registers may be on the wane in some stores as more retailers help customers complete purchases using mobile devices. It's convenient for shoppers, and retailers benefit by leaving customers less time to change their mind about a purchase.

The barbs on porcupine quills help them pierce the skin. If the bumpy needles work so well for the big rodents, couldn't they they also help doctors and nurses giving injections? Designers of medical devices are looking to try the porcupine approach.

The state advisory council which monitors charter schools has decided to give Kennedy Charter in south Charlotte another chance, despite the school’s low…

The singer died in an airplane that crashed in the early hours of Sunday morning in Toluca, Mexico. She was a household name and feminist presence in the Latin music scene.

The deal settles allegations that HSBC ignored red flags of massive money laundering by Mexican drug cartels and allowed transfers of billions of dollars from sanctioned nations like Iran.

Sen. Jim DeMint says the conservative Heritage Foundation inspired him to run for Congress. Once there, he helped to bolster its allies on Capitol Hill. Now, as he leaves Congress to run the think tank, the building blocks are there to create a powerful operation with political clout.

The U.S. Treasury Department said it will launch an underwritten public offering to sell its remaining 234.2 million common stock shares in insurer American International Group Inc., better known as AIG.