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An injured occupant is carried out of Norris Hall at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., Monday, April 16, 2007. Shootings in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech resulted in multiple fatalities, police say. (AP Photo/The Roanoke Times, Alan Kim.

AP Photo/Roanoke Times, Alan Kim

Gunman Kills At Least 20 People at Virginia Tech

A gunman opened fire in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech on Monday, killing at least 20 people and wounding another 21 before he was killed, police said. "The university is shocked," said school president Charles Steger.

Blog: Multiple Fatalities

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Timeline: Campus Attacks

A woman cowers in fear behind a statue at the University of Texas during a campus shooting incident in 1966.

The Virginia Tech tragedy has eclipsed the 1966 attacks at the University of Texas at Austin, which killed 16.

Hourly Newscast: Five-minute news summary

NPR Program Stream: 24-hour schedule

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Alito Nomination to Go Before the Senate

The conservative Supreme Court nominee faces tough questioning during his confirmation hearings, which begin Monday.

Summer Reading 2006

Picks for the Hammock

Kick off the season with book excerpts, recipes and more.

Joe & Flo: A Senior Couple's Struggle to Stay United

Joe and Florence Chandler on their wedding day, 1938. Photo courtesy of Michael Chandler.

After 66 years together, the Chandlers wanted nothing more than to spend their final years together, in sickness and in health. But finding a nursing home that could accomodate both their needs was a struggle. Reporter Michael Chandler tells her grandparents' story.

Jens Lekman: Idiosyncratic Pop from Sweden

Jens Lenkman, photographed by Emma Svensson

Swedish pop star Jens Lekman is just 24, but his silky voice and instrumentation lend his music a retro pop feel. Only his lyrics give him away... they're just too odd to be throwbacks.

Web Extra: Hear 'Black Cab,' Other Tunes

U.S. Plan to Stockpile Bird-Flu Vaccine a Big Gamble

Production of flu vacine begins with hens' eggs, which are used to incubate the virus. Photo courtesy Chiron Corp.

The U.S. government is backing production of an experimental human vaccine against bird flu. The plan is to stockpile the vaccine, but it's not clear how useful the vaccine would be if a pandemic occurs.

Web Extra: Other Vaccine Plans

A Life 'Not Afraid' in a Hardscrabble Mining Town

Author Homer Hickam's father. Credit: Courtesy of Homer Hickam.

Like his coal miner father, October Sky author Homer Hickam says his values –- to trust in God but rely on oneself –- come from deep underground. He grew up in Coalwood, a mining town in West Virginia.

Web Extra: Read Hickam's Essay

The Future of Television

Video iPods and high-definition flat screens are the first signs of a sweeping television revolution, with viewers undoing 60 years of viewing habits and forming new ones. In a three-part series of reports, Rick Karr explores the surprising future of video.

A Soldier Describes the Iraq War in Poetry

Brian Turner served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army's Third Stryker Brigade during the war in Iraq. Here, Bullet collects the poems he wrote as he reflected on his experiences there.

Web Extra: Read Sgt. Turner's Poetry

Celebrating a Sister's Memory, on Tape

Seven years ago this week, Kim Emerson lost her sister to random violence on a subway platform. But soon after, she found a cherished reminder. She tells her friend Gladys Chen the story.

Web Extra: Hear More in the Series

Seattle at Forefront of Planning for Flu Pandemic

Nurse Chris Martin. Credit: Richard Knox, NPR.

In the United States, the Seattle region is one of the few areas preparing in earnest to face a flu pandemic. What would it take for a U.S. city to meet the threat of bird flu head on?

Web Extra: View a Simulation of the Flu Spreading

Tory Dent's Poetry on Life with AIDS

Poet Tory Dent, who used her work to write about the experience of living with AIDS, died Friday at age 47. Dent discovered she was HIV-positive 17 years ago. Poet Adrienne Rich remembers her friend's life and work.

Web Extra: Read Dent's Poetry