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In her new story collection, This Close, Jessica Francis Kane depicts a group of women who are worn down, overwhelmed by love and loss, yet familiar as old friends. Reviewer Jane Ciabattari says they are "our family, our friends and neighbors. They are us, at our most vulnerable."

In The Barbarian Nurseries, Hector Tobar explores the inconsistencies in the country's dependence on illegal immigrants even as some Americans persist in keeping them at arm's length.

A road trip from Michigan to Alabama places the Watson family in Birmingham in 1963, just as racial tensions are roiling. Christopher Paul Curtis draws upon his own experiences growing up in the 1960s for this Newbery Honor-winning novel.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki launches a new security plan for Baghdad aimed at staunching both insurgent attacks and sectarian killings that have been increasing in intensity.

Texas plumbers are getting trained as substitute teachers to allow teachers to protest at the state Capitol against a school vouchers bill.

Two U.S. Marine fighter jets have disappeared while flying in Iraq. The body of one pilot has been found. The U.S. military says there is no immediate evidence that hostile fire contributed. Meanwhile, violence broke out near the Syrian border, and Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's struggles continue as he tries to complete a cabinet.

Iraqi authorities are investigating an apparent attempt to burn down the headquarters of the Iraqi Transitional Government, situated in the heavily guarded Green Zone. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Jaafari announced a new national security plan.

Villagers in Baluchistan, the country's poorest province, say Pervez Musharraf's government has done little to improve their lot. And yet, his party may still get their votes in Monday's elections. The village remains a feudal society where people follow the orders of their leaders.

Argentina will legalize abortion following a successful vote in the Senate early Wednesday. The decision could send shock waves throughout the heavily Roman Catholic region of Latin America.

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe asks researcher Kimberly Bertrand about hair relaxers containing formaldehyde and moves by the FDA to ban them.