Search results for

Each summer, the rice farmers of Narita, Japan, gather to pray for bountiful harvests with dancing, music and elaborate festival carts. This year, some farmers feel their way of life is under threat from a major trade agreement.

Janice Lokelani Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele, who goes by Loke, complained to a Honolulu radio station that since her name was so long, it was always cut off on IDs. That led to issues with travel and police. Officials in Hawaii say the state is expanding the character limit of names on IDs.

The head of a Rhode Island school was named Providence Principal of the Year. Police say an employee, Christopher Michael Sheehan, gave his boss a present to celebrate. He allegedly handed the principal a half-ounce of marijuana. Sheehan was arrested.

U.N. weapons inspectors have issued their report on last month's chemical weapons attack in Syria. Anthony Cordesman, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, tells Steve Inskeep that the report bolsters U.S. and European charges that the Assad regime deployed the sarin gas.

Consumer prices rose just 0.1 percent in August and were up only 1.5 percent from a year earlier. The report seems to fit with the notion that the Federal Reserve has accomplished its objective: Give the economy enough of a lift to keep it moving, but not so much that inflation takes off.

Tens of thousands of sea creatures have been killed by this month's sticky spill in Honolulu Harbor. Matson Inc. says it will cover all the related costs and will not ship molasses any more unless it is confident such a spill won't happen again.

Elusive and iconic, author Thomas Pynchon may intimidate some readers, but he has a devoted following. Bleeding Edge, his new new novel, is about a spunky, Upper West Side mother and fraud investigator in the era between the dot-com boom and Sept. 11.

Steve Inskeep talks with Angela Kane, the United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, about the Syria Chemical Weapons report.

Many laid-off workers continue the insurance they got on the job by paying for it themselves through an expensive option known as COBRA. The health insurance exchanges that open in October are likely to be a cheaper source for health coverage.

Nicholson Baker's latest novel, Traveling Sprinkler, revolves around Paul Chowder, a lonely poet who's fascinated by drone warfare and Debussy. Chowder was the star of Baker's 2009 novel The Anthologist, and reviewer Heller McAlpin welcomes his reappearance — though not his political rants.