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College sports fans can be distinctively different from the pro variety, no matter where they are. And that might complicate the growth plans of athletic conferences such as as the Big Ten, says Frank Deford.

The women's soccer team in Afghanistan isn't an international powerhouse. But their mere existence is a triumph and points to the growing number of Afghan women playing sports. And they're getting a little help from an American soccer star.

French actress Marion Cotillard won the 2008 Academy Award for best actress for her role in La Vie en Rose. NPR's Robert Siegel speaks with Cotillard about her new film, Rust and Bone, in which she plays an amputee.

Syrian rebels claim to have shot down a government MiG fighter jet and captured one of its pilots. It appears to be one of the first times Syrian rebels have successfully used a type of portable missile and could mark a turning point as the rebels challenge the regime's advantage in the air.

President Obama wants House Republicans to simply pass tax-cut extensions for most Americans and argue about the rich later. It looks like he's found at least one ally — Oklahoma congressman Tom Cole.

The $5 billion National Ignition Facility has been called a modern-day moonshot, a project of "revolutionary science." But the massive experiment that aims to generate nuclear fusion has failed to do so by a key deadline.

In 1951, Leslie Caron arrived in California a malnourished and anemic ballerina. After spending the war in occupied Paris, Tinseltown was a revelation, and she soon took it by storm, appearing with the likes of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly in more than 40 films.

On Jan. 1, Medicare is set to cut payments to doctors by nearly 30 percent. Lawmakers of both parties want to prevent this. So why is it imminent?

By delaying the age at which people can join Medicare, the federal government could save millions of dollars. But if 65- and 66-year-olds have to find health insurance on the open market, states, employers and individuals of all ages will end up paying a lot more.

A couple of bright moments in a city still recovering from a dark storm: On Staten Island, people were startled by the dreamlike spectacle of two men chasing an escaped zebra and pony down the street — with lassos. And in Manhattan, Rockefeller Center lit up with 45,000 lights — on an 80-foot Christmas tree.