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How hard can it be to measure the health of a population? Oregon is finding out it's difficult to decide even what to track. But the state received almost $2 billion in federal funds to improve the health of its residents and to cut costs. The state faces substantial fines if it can't prove it has done the job.

Automatic budget cuts have pushed Air Force bases to slash their flying budgets even though it means grounding pilots and reducing readiness. The cancellations are boosting the arguments of those who want the military excepted from sequestration cuts.

The Justice Department says about half of all international criminal organizations have links to extremist groups, such as Hezbollah, the Taliban and FARC rebels in Colombia. But diffuse priorities are hindering U.S. efforts to combat this growing problem of transnational, organized crime.

While the ATF is a fraction of the size of its sister agency, the FBI, it runs the show when it comes to tracing weapons at crime scenes and investigating bombs and arson. But the agency has been without a permanent director for almost seven years.

What happens when you ask architects to re-imagine a structure mandated by the Jewish holy book? A freaking cool cultural piece of art, that's what.

Dawn Dekle has made a career out of running schools in conflict zones. She is the newest president of the American University of Iraq. Previously, she was provost of the American University of Afghanistan. Renee Montagne talks to Dekle about her unique work.

Serena Williams will take on Victoria Azarenka in the U.S. Open final. Host Scott Simon talks to NPR's Tom Goldman about tennis, as well as the season opener of the NFL.

When Congress left on its August break five weeks ago, members knew they had a string of fiscal deadlines coming up upon their return — from the budget bill funding the government to a debt ceiling increase. The Syria debate has overshadowed all of that.

China runs the largest censorship machine in human history, researchers say. But Harvard studies of Internet postings in China suggest that even vitriolic criticisms of leaders and state policies are not what officials want to censor.

When the swirling, howling winds of the 1930s Dust Bowl gobbled up farmland from Texas to the Dakotas, the federal government planted 100 million trees to act like a giant windbreak. It worked. But now, after years of drought, those old trees are dying.