Search results for

Charles Samuels is the first African American to run the U.S.l Bureau of Prisons that supervises more than 200,000 inmates nationwide. Samuels faces multiple challenges — from overcrowding in prisons to budget pressure in Congress.

London saw the worst violence and disorder in decades Monday night. It was the third night of unrest in that city. Trouble is also spreading to other parts of Britain – to Birmingham, Liverpool and Bristol. Prime Minister David Cameron has cut short his vacation in Italy to try to deal with the crisis.

Rivka Galchen's new story collection mashes up Heidegger and Will Ferrell in an off-kilter marriage that critic Alan Cheuse says practically defines the notion of eccentricity — but delightfully so.

Friday at 6:30 PM, come hear a singular world premiere at Make Music New York. A collaboration commissioned by NPR Music with artist Eli Keszler and drumming dynamos So Percussion uses the Manhattan Bridge itself as part of the music-making.

Only 120,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy in March, far fewer than expected. Still, the unemployment rate fell to 8.2 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Host Michel Martin speaks with NPR Senior Business Editor Marilyn Geewax, and they hear from NPR Facebook fans sharing stories about finding work in a tough economy.

Pope Benedict XVI gives the keynote address of his state visit to Britain on Friday, after meeting the head of the world's Anglican Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in London. Relations between their two churches are said to have been strained ever since the Vatican unveiled plans to make it easier for dissident Anglicans to become Catholics. Friday's meeting will be seen as a gesture of reconciliation, as will the pope's appearance at Westminster Abbey, Britain's Anglican Cathedral.

British magazine The New Statesman has published a previously unseen poem by Ted Hughes. Called "Last Letter," the poem deals with the three days leading up to the suicide of his first wife, fellow poet Sylvia Plath.

The reconciliation agreement between Palestinian rivals Fatah and Hamas is already having an impact in the beleaguered Gaza Strip. After a childhood dominated by misery and war, Yusef Ali is finally daring to hope. The winds of change that came with the Arab spring have swept into the benighted pocket of coastal desert in which he's been trapped for his whole life. Ali's only 27, yet he's spent the last four years living like a pensioner. He's been paid — but he's banned from working, because he's a soldier in the Palestinian Presidential Guard. That security unit is part of the Palestinian Authority; he lives on land ruled by the Palestinian Authority's erstwhile rival Hamas. So he's spent his days getting depressed — and watching TV. Now the factions are reconciled, he hopes to be back in uniform soon. Residents of Gaza are delighted with the reconciliation agreement, believing it deepens Israel's isolation and strengthens their hand — particularly because of Egypt support. Yet, there's also a recognition too in this war-wearing place that setting up a government of national unity will not be at all easy after all the years of division and bloodshed.

McDonald's deal to block others from selling fries at the Olympics is giving some people heartburn. Hear more tonight on All Things Considered, and check out our Storify of what we're reading now.

Indonesia has the largest share of the world's mangroves — coastal forests that have adapted to saltwater environments. They play important environmental and ecological roles. The challenge is convincing locals that they benefit more from protecting the trees rather than cutting them down.