Search results for

The eurozone crisis has led to sharp spending cuts and, with an economy based on public sector wages, Sicily is being called Italy's Greece. The central government fears Sicily's debt of more than $6 billion could further endanger Italy's financial stability.

By now you know that California is preparing to vote Nov. 6 on a ballot initiative to require labels on genetically modified food. While polls show people evenly split on the issue, scientists says such labeling is misleading and may scare consumers.

German Catholics are facing a stark choice: Pay a church tax or forget about receiving the sacraments, including baptisms, weddings and funerals. Germany taxes registered Catholics, Protestants and Jews. In 2011, the tax raised $6.5 billion for the Catholic Church alone. Many progressives and conservatives are up in arms over the German bishops' decree.

The university's new stadium will be named after a private prison company. The GEO Group gave FAU a $6 million gift that "delighted" the administration but prompted protests from students. Friday, university President Mary Jane Saunders said the deal was a "closed book," despite allegations of abuse at the company's institutions.

Goldman Sachs has invested $9.6 million in a new initiative for juvenile offenders in the New York City prison system. While the Department of Corrections needs the money, some wonder if private investment has a place in government agencies.

The typical first-time mother takes 6 1/2 hours to give birth these days. Her counterpart 50 years ago labored for barely four hours. That's a finding with big implications for current rates of cesarean sections.

Halal meat butchers have a reputation for quality in France. And with an estimated 6 million Muslims now living there, halal products are becoming increasingly popular, and sometimes political. Now one French-Algerian restaurant is trying to make French-Halal fusion food official.

In France, residents go to the polls Sunday in the first round of a two-part presidential election. The top two vote-getters from Sunday's balloting go to a runoff on May 6. As NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports, incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy is trailing Socialist candidate Francois Hollande.

NCAA basketball's Final Four teams will play in New Orleans Saturday, to decide who will play in Monday night's title game. The first match-up pits Louisville against No. 1 Kentucky. In the second game, Ohio State will face the University of Kansas.

Sony is expected to cut about 6 percent of its global workforce in an attempt to return to profitability. Daisuke Wakabayashi, of The Wall Street Journal, talks to Renee Montagne about restructuring plans at Sony.