National

Los Angeles County's sheriff is under fire. A blue-ribbon commission issued a scathing report Friday accusing Sheriff Lee Baca of failing to address long-standing allegations of inmate abuse in his jails. The accusations include deputies beating inmates, cover-ups and a persistent culture of violence.

The sheriff has been able to weather many storms during his 14-year tenure, but this may be the toughest fight of his political career.

A long, controversial investigation of a polar bear scientist has ended with his government employer saying it does not look like he engaged in any scientific misconduct.

Charles Monnett is a wildlife researcher with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, part of the Department of the Interior. He and a colleague, Jeffrey Gleason, wrote an influential 2006 report describing apparently drowned polar bears floating in the Arctic, which they saw during a routine aerial survey of whales.

Talk of a Tomato War is simmering in agricultural circles, after the U.S. Commerce Department issued a report Thursday that recommends ending an agreement on how fresh tomatoes grown in Mexico are sold in the United States. The issue could create an expanding trade conflict; Mexican officials have said they would retaliate to defend the tomato growers.

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

According to Bloomberg, President Obama and Mitt Romney have aired nearly 30,000 TV spots addressing the issue of trade with China, and that's just in the past month. Many of those ads aired in Ohio where both candidates are spending a lot of time. NPR's Sonari Glinton explains the Ohio-China nexus.

SONARI GLINTON, BYLINE: If there's a boogeyman in the Ohio presidential sweepstakes, it's China.

(SOUNDBITE OF AD)

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

Going once, going twice. Stolen? So ends a fascinating art world mystery as reported in today's Washington Post. It begins two years ago when a woman bought a box of junk for $7 at a West Virginia flea market, only to find later that among the junk was a real painting by Renoir, worth an estimated 75 to $100,000.

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Apple's new mapping software for the iPhone has become an embarrassment for the company. It misplaced major landmarks and erased entire towns. So, today, Apple's CEO Tim Cook issued a public apology, saying the company was doing everything it could to make maps better.

NPR's Steve Henn reports.

In new ads from President Obama and challenger Mitt Romney, the candidates talk directly into the camera. Mr. Obama is also putting out longer TV spots. So why the change of style?