* NPR begins series visiting First and Main intersections in political-battleground states. * Porn stars' presidential endorsements. * Profile of transition within a Japanese firm that switched all communication to English. * Kremlin critic live-tweets discovering that his office is bugged. * Madonna defends punk band for staging anti-Putin stunt in
* The space race is long over, but America still lags behind the Soviets in number of planets visited. * Where Russia meets Kazakhstan, space junk is prevalent—as are health problems associated with toxic rocket fuel. * Inside the mind of last week's Tennessee Democratic Senate primary winner. * Romney'
* Syria's prime minister defects; Iran pokes U.S. over hostages in a bus. * The entire case that Romney is putting before undecided voters is something he does not believe himself. * Panama Canal to soon accommodate mega-ships, causing highways and shipyards elsewhere to evolve. * Man deposits junk-mail
* Designer of the Curiosity lander became a rocket scientist when the rock 'n' roll thing didn't work out. * Global food prices are spiking upwards because of widespread drought in the U.S., the breadbasket of the world. * New York restaurants' secret language. * English-language TV
* NASA's rover Curiosity successfully lands on Mars via sky crane and supersonic parachute. * Curiosity's first transmitted images. * Photo should anyone doubt that people gathered in Times Square to watch a robot land on Mars. * Earth leading Mars in total medals won during Olympics. * Terrific video graphic
* This week, "a rogue algorithm" bought and sold million of shares on the stock market. * The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Fort Knox-like security measures for keeping the monthly jobs report under wraps until its release. * Obama signs secret order to support Syrian rebel forces. * If NYC&
* Syrian army is unprepared for civil war; attack helicopters are faltering, tanks are being commandeered. * Seeking to avoid repeat of Iraq failures, U.S. focuses on Syrian day-after strategy, future leaders. * War is not all trauma, but it's near-impossible to encourage soldiers to tease out fond
* Few can tell if a product is produced by slave labor—with 21 million slave workers worldwide, it's quite common. * Inequality began with horse ownership, which first separated the haves from the have-nots. * After underscoring his Palestinian view in the National Review, Romney is confusing "culture&
* U.S. scrambles to assuage Israel from moving first on Iran—officials say Israel is less confrontational in private. * Despite reforms, Burmese government waging campaign of violence against Rohingya minority. * Street children in India run their own banking co-op, acquiring life skills and a stake in their own future.
* Law providing American women with access to preventive health services goes into effect today. * Arizona's new abortion law could force mothers to birth stillborns and babies with fatal defects. * Late-term abortion legislation fails in DC. * Obama's newest campaign slogan attacked for an alleged punctuation error.
