It's been a tumultuous week for the White House. Between Hurricane Katrina and controversy over Bush's domestic spying program, Vice President Cheney also has a hunting mishap.

NPR political editor Ken Rudin takes a look at events in Washington are shaping political campaigns in this year's midterm elections.

Ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are melting more than twice as quickly as scientists previously predicted, causing dire forecast of weather change and environmental devastation in years to come.

Brook Larmer's book, "Operation Yao Ming," details how East met West in the star basketball player Yao Ming.

Mardi Gras in New Orleans might be scaled down this year, but Carnaval, a glitzy bacchanalia of hedonism celebrated in Brazil, is sure to be as decadent as ever — in the United States.