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Reports this week about former Defense Secretary Robert Gates' new book have implied that he thinks President Obama approved a 2009 troop surge in Afghanistan believing the strategy would fail. But Gates tells NPR that's not right. He believes Obama became skeptical about the "troop surge" later on.

If a person loses all brain function, he or she is considered legally dead. But the cases of Jahi McMath and Marlise Muñoz have shown that even though doctors can declare someone dead, families and the courts might not always agree with that definition.

David Green talks to Steve Inskeep about his upcoming interview with former Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Gates has a new book out titled, Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War.

The December 2004 Asian tsunami left nearly a quarter of a million people dead. Indonesia's Aceh province was among the hardest hit. But nine years on, the province is home to a largely successful reconstruction effort, a peace deal between separatists and the government, and economic progress.

Ezra Klein, founder of The Washington Post's Wonkblog policy website, is planning to leave the Post, according to a report in Friday's The New York Times. The Times says the Post's new owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and the Post's publisher turned down Klein's request for a dollar amount in "eight figures" to launch a new explanatory journalism venture. It's a boom time for so-called "content verticals" among news operations, with new projects being launched by the Times, The Wall Street Journal and ESPN, among others.

Braille hasn't changed much in the nearly 200 years it's been around. But with tablets, smartphones and e-readers, how we read things has. Judy Dixon of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped talks with NPR about how technology has changed Braille — and whether it can endure.

One day after being told the ship they're now on might have to assist another stranded vessel, the explorers have been told their trip can continue. The stranded icebreaker says it is not in distress and can wait for conditions to improve.

Emergency unemployment insurance expired Dec. 28 for an estimated 1.3 million Americans. That includes more than 220,000 Californians. They responded with everything from returning Christmas presents for cash to packing up and leaving the state. Congress could still renew these emergency benefits, as they have multiple times since 2008.

You've heard it a thousand times, maybe 10,000. Is there any way to make "The Star-Spangled Banner" fresh? Even fascinating? There is (Jimi Hendrix aside). Here is a new one that did it for me — the Jon Batiste version.

Last year in Massachusetts, chemist Annie Dookhan was sent to prison for falsifying drug tests. Her misconduct tainted thousands of cases, and was one of the largest crime lab scandals in U.S. history. Critics say it raises a larger question: Do forensic analysts serve the truth, or the prosecution?