Search results for

Private security contractors were involved in a number of controversial shootings in Iraq during the war. With U.S. troops gone, American diplomats will be depending on up to 5,000 security contractors to keep them safe.

This year saw musicians, athletes and actors launching their own lines of beer, wine and mescal. The list includes the boy band Hanson, which premiered an India pale ale called MMMHop.

This moment in the presidential campaign sun for Santorum feels like it could be very brief indeed. It's just difficult to see how he would sustain his momentum coming out of Iowa, assuming he wins there.

Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum finished virtually even in Iowa's caucuses Tuesday, but after Rep. Michele Bachmann's sixth-place finish, she announced Wednesday that she is suspending her campaign. For more on the GOP race and the next contest — Tuesday's New Hampshire primary — Linda Wertheimer talks with NPR's Brian Naylor, who's in the city of Manchester.

Unseasonable temperatures and lack of snow have a lot of New Englanders singing the blues. In Maine, snowmobiling, ice fishing and Nordic skiing are a big part of the winter economy. Downhill ski areas are making due with man-made snow, but those other industries have no choice but to wait for Mother Nature.

In the new movie Albert Nobbs, Close brings to life the painful loneliness of a woman living as a man in 19th-century Ireland. For Close, who is also a producer and screenwriter on the film, it's a passion project years in the works.

Egypt's tourist industry is crucial to its economy, and the number of visitors has fallen off sharply this year. Islamists are now expected to hold a majority of seats in parliament, and some have suggested banning alcohol and segregating beaches by sex.

Volkswagen has come a long way since it tried to market cars to Americans with the "Fahrvergnugen" slogan. The company has adapted to the U.S. market with bigger, less quirky cars. It seems to have paid off, as sales rose last year in the U.S. — but the company is set on becoming No. 1 worldwide.

College football bowl games began last month but the big games are being played in the new year. There were six games played Monday including the Rose Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl. Michigan and Virginia Tech meet Tuesday night in the Sugar Bowl.

With new, affordable supplies of natural gas coming to market, renewable forms of energy are having difficulty competing. Electricity prices are down, which means it now takes longer for people who installed solar panels to recover their investment.