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Two Americans Held In North Korea Are Released

Americans Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller, held for months in North Korea, have been freed as President Obama prepares to depart for a summit in Asia.

A recent study found obese women are more likely than other women to work physically demanding jobs, like the kind that call for hard hats. They're less likely to work in jobs that require a lot of interaction with clients and customers — jobs that, on average, make more money.

Obese Women Make Less Money, Work More Physically Demanding Jobs

A 65 percent increase in a woman's weight is associated with a 9-percent drop in earnings. A recent study investigated what's behind that "obesity penalty," and why it hits women harder than men.

A 2011 collision that left San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey with a broken leg sparked an MLB debate about preventing injuries. Many collisions have caused head injuries, but a bigger risk to catchers is foul tips.

New MLB Rule Cuts Home Plate Crashes, But Not Catcher Concussions

Major League Baseball is reviewing its controversial Rule 7.13, which bans most home plate collisions. Catchers actually face a bigger head-injury risk that the rule can't prevent.

Hasso Herschel, shown in this undated photo, escaped from East Germany in 1961 by using a borrowed passport. Over the next decade, he helped more than 1,000 people flee by smuggling them through tunnels and hiding them in cars.

The Cold War 'Mole' Who Smuggled 1,000 East Germans To The West

Hasso Herschel fled East Germany in 1961 on a false passport. Over the next decade, he helped more than 1,000 East Germans flee by smuggling them through tunnels or by hiding them inside cars.

Defiant Catalans Push Forward With Independence Vote

Separatists in Catalonia are going ahead with an unofficial referendum on independence from Spain. They go to the polls today despite a high court order forbidding the vote.

Richardson: Release Shows N. Korea Is Ready For Dialogue

Two Americans jailed in North Korea have arrived home. NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with former U.S. Ambassador Bill Richardson, who has previously negotiated hostage releases with Pyongyang.

Residents look on as Brazilian military police officers patrol Mare, one of the largest complexes of favelas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on March 30. In one of the world's most violent countries, homicide rates are dropping — but only for whites.

In Brazil, Race Is A Matter Of Life And Violent Death

In 2012, 56,337 people were murdered in Brazil. But that figure hides a color-coded truth: Homicide rates are actually way down — if you're white. If you're black? Murder rates are up 40 percent.

A man wearing a Catalan Nationalist flag T-shirt casts his ballot in a symbolic independence vote in Barcelona on Sunday.

Binding Or Not, Catalans Express Themselves In Referendum Vote

People in the wealthy northeastern region of Spain, many of whom harbor ambitions of independence, cast ballots in a symbolic statement. The majority voted for independence, but turnout wasn't high.

Kaci Hickox and her boyfriend, Ted Wilbur, say they will leave Maine when their self-monitoring for Ebola expires this week.

Maine Nurse To Move Out Of State Following Ebola Quarantine Row

Kaci Hickox, who was quarantined after arriving home from caring for Ebola patients in West Africa, plans to leave this week with her boyfriend but hasn't said where they will go.

Lower oil prices, while good for the economy, are a threat to what has been a dramatic surge in oil production in the U.S.

Low Gas Prices Haven't Slowed Domestic Drilling — Yet

With gas prices plunging below $3 a gallon, motorists have plenty to celebrate. But people in oil-producing states, where low prices mean fewer jobs and less government revenue, are starting to worry.

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