Search results for

Congress recently repealed a set of rules governing repetitive motion in the workplace -- rules put in place during the final days of the Clinton administration. Congress did that by invoking a 1996 law that allows the review of federal regulations within the first months after they are imposed by the executive branch. Now some members of Congress want to use the same power to review some of President Bush's rules changes, specifically as they apply to abortion. NPR's David Welna reports.

The Bush administration's decision to throw out new rules limiting arsenic in drinking water has angered environmentalists. Industries that emit arsenic and small water suppliers who would have had to rebuild purifying plants are relieved. As NPR's Larry Abramson reports, the new rules were proposed by the Clinton administration. Now the EPA says the present limit is good enough and that better health research is needed before a new standard can be written.

From member station KUOW in Seattle, Jason Paur reports on the bountiful harvest of Chinook salmon in the Columbia River this spring. Native Americans took advantage of the largest Chinook run in 70 years, and thousands of sports fishers had their first opportunity to fish for Chinook since 1977. The season ended yesterday.

A glance at the political news from New Jersey might lead onlookers to think there's a resurgence of corruption in the state. Investigators are looking into allegations against New Jersey's acting governor, Donald Di Francesco. And a list of lower officials -- the Bergen County sheriff, the mayor of Camden, a city engineer in Paterson -- have all made recent headlines with their own scandals. Robert Siegel talks to Daniel Barry, a reporter on the metropolitan desk of the New York Times.

NPR's Vicky O'Hara reports from Washington that the State Department is weighing the question of whether Yugoslavia has been cooperating with the war crimes tribunal in the Hague. Congress has demanded that the new authorities in Belgrade show cooperation by tomorrow, March 31, or forfeit further U.S. aid. Although the most wanted suspect, Slobodan Milosevic, was reportly arrested tonight in Belgrade, the administration is making no immediate announcement on certification.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports from the White House that German Chancellor Schroeder is expected to question President Bush today on his decision to back away from the global warming treaty. Germany and other U.S. allies in Europe support the Kyoto Treaty, which the United States hasn't ratified.

In two separate experiments, scientists have repaired injured rodent hearts by transplanting into them stem cells, cells that are capable of developing into many cell types. The stem cells stimulated the development of new blood vessels and muscle tissue in the hearts of mice and rats. While more research needs to be done before the procedure can be tried in humans, NPR's Richard Harris reports that scientists hope that it will someday help people who've had heart attacks.

NPR's Vicky O'Hara reports a team of American engineers is on its way to the island of Hainan where they will inspect the U.S. surveillance plane that was forced to land there after a midair collision with a Chinese jet fighter on April 1. The team will evaluate how best to move the plane and bring it back to the United States. U.S.-China cooperation on this matter is seen as a positive development in the often troubled relationship.

In the first piece of a two-part series, NPR's Robert Smith reports on a new survey conducted by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. The poll examines the sector of Americans who earn enough to put them above the federal poverty line, but still struggle to make ends meet. (7:23) Check out the NPR/Kaiser/Kennedy School Poll .

As the U.S. works to figure out how the collision between an American reconnaissance plane and a Chinese fighter jet took place, talks between the two nations are intensifying. China is still holding the 24 crew of the EP-3, which also remains in China's custody. The U.S. is trying to win their release and the plane's return. NPR's Tom Gjelten reports.