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Only three states — Illinois, New Mexico and Washington — allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses. Other states have recently implemented practices aimed at banning immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally from operating motor vehicles. As part of the NPR series, "On The Road to Safety," Tell Me More explores the risks of road safety posed by unlicensed and uninsured drivers. Guest host Jennifer Ludden speaks with Loretta Worters, of the Insurance Information Institute, for more. ...

In a rare Saturday session, the Senate cleared the way to take up debate on sweeping changes to overhaul the nation's Health Care system. Guest host Jennifer Ludden talks with NPR's Congressional Correspondent David Welna about what obstacles lay ahead with the health care bill.

Each holiday season, thousands of people find temporary jobs helping retail companies meet the demands of the busiest shopping period of the year. This year, many companies are being cautious about additional hiring because consumers are expected to spend only slightly more than last year.

The federal government said it has found a "strong association" between problematic imported Chinese drywall and corrosion of pipes and wires, a conclusion that supports complaints by thousands of homeowners over the last year.

A federal judge in Minneapolis is set to unseal a roster of documents charging as many as eight new people with terrorism offenses related to the disappearance of young Somali-Americans to fight for a terrorist organization in Somalia, NPR has learned.

The abysmal job market is making it hard for some to start making student loan payments, which come due this month for May graduates. A new law could ease the pain for some: It limits monthly payments to 15 percent of a graduate's income.

One of the busiest passenger rail trains in the nation is getting a new engine — a greener engine. In California, Amtrak's Capitol Corridor, which runs between San Jose and Sacramento, is starting to use a cleaner-burning diesel engine. The new technology cuts harmful emissions in half.

The brutal killing of a Chicago teenager in September brought U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan to the city to speak out about youth violence. Now that the Cabinet members are back in Washington, what is happening in the effort to stop youth violence? Some Chicago teenagers are taking on the issue themselves.

Thanksgiving is just days away, and for many Americans, that means taking to the highways. This week, NPR looks at ways to improve road safety. Today: the testing and technologies that are making vehicles safer.

A Charlotte, N.C., construction firm is among an increasing number of small companies trying a strategy that makes the firing process a bit gentler. It's called "attached unemployment," a kind of temporary layoff aimed at softening the blow of job cuts.

There are neighborhoods in America, where to be young is to be afraid. For many, the most dangerous part of their day is the journey to and from school. In some areas, the risks of gang fights, drive-by shootings and random violence are the price of an education. Youth Radio brings us the voices of teenagers who attend schools in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The five men facing trial in the Sept. 11 attacks will plead not guilty so that they can air their criticisms of U.S. foreign policy, the lawyer for one of the defendants said Sunday.

We're headed into the year's biggest travel week, and there's not much bigger than what's sitting in the port of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., right now. It's called the Oasis of the Seas, and it's the largest cruise ship ever built — five times the size of the Titanic, with a price tag of $1.5 billion.

Highway fatality rates were highest in Montana and Louisiana in 2007 — more than 2 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. The lowest state rates were found in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Nationally, the fatality rate fell to a historic low of 1.27 in 2008.

The shimmering, white glove Michael Jackson wore when he premiered his trademark moonwalk dance in 1983 was auctioned off for $350,000 — plus tax — on Saturday.

The Army psychiatrist charged with killing 13 people at Fort Hood will be confined until his military trial, initially staying in a hospital where he is recovering from gunshot wounds, his attorney said Saturday.

Barack Obama's presidential campaign was one of several successful, modern-day political campaigns to break through racial barriers. Is this an indication that America is experiencing a shift toward political colorblindness?

The Obama administration has launched the Financial Fraud Task Force to investigate issues related to the economic crisis. The Department of Justice will lead the task force's efforts to combat fraud in such areas as mortgage lending, stimulus spending and the government's bailout of the financial sector. Host Liane Hansen talks with Department of Justice Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli, who will be one of the leaders of the task force.

Nine people were killed in a Metro train crash in Washington, D.C., this summer. The growing number of commuter rail collisions is one of the reasons the Obama administration proposed this week that the federal government take over safety regulation of the country's subway and light rail systems. Host Liane Hansen speaks with Deborah Hersman, Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Astronaut Randolph Bresnik is a new dad again, after launching into space and taking a spacewalk, all for the first time.

Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin of Rhode Island has banned Rep. Patrick Kennedy from receiving the central sacrament of the church because of the congressman's support for abortion rights, Kennedy said in a newspaper interview published Sunday.

Highway safety has improved through better vehicle technology, smarter road designs and reformed behaviors, such as reduced drunken driving. But fatalities are still high: In 2008, more than 37,000 people were killed in crashes involving motor vehicles. This week, as the holiday travel season begins, NPR will explore these issues.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates ordered a series of investigations in every military branch this week to examine the process used to identify potentially violent troops. Military officials are still puzzled over the shooting at Fort Hood that left 13 people dead and dozens more injured. They're trying to figure out how alleged shooter Nidal Hasan might have slipped through the cracks, and whether the real problem is the military's policies or leaders not following them.

Senate Democrats pushed through a procedural wall Saturday night and formally opened the floor debate on their effort to overhaul the nation's $2.5 trillion health care system.

The Army has always trained its soldiers to be physically strong. With its Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program, it's aiming to make soldiers and their families psychologically strong as well. Host Scott Simon speaks to the program's director, Brig. Gen. Rhonda Cornum.

No Republicans will vote Saturday night to advance the Senate's health care bill to full debate, Republican Whip Sen. John Kyl says. That leaves the fate of the vote in the hands of a few moderate Democrats, all of whom are needed to reach the 60 votes required to push the bill forward. Host Scott Simon speaks with Kyl on his party's chances of defeating the bill.

NPR's Ari Shapiro spent time in Eastern Long Island reporting on a story about hate crimes against Hispanics. While he was there, he discovered that the line distinguishing a perpetrator from a victim can be hazy.

For the second time in a week, a panel of medical experts has recommended that younger women be tested less frequently for cancer. The latest advice is that women can wait until 21 to have their first Pap test for cervical cancer. Many women can skip annual Pap smears after that. The guidance comes after another recommendation earlier this week that routine mammograms needn't start until age 50. NPR digital health correspondent Scott Hensley has been following the changes and joins host Scott Simon to talk about it.

Dozens of demonstrators who barricaded themselves inside a campus building at the University of California, Berkeley in a protest over fee hikes and budget cuts were removed late Friday, bringing the daylong occupation to an end, university officials said.

Wide-eyed children around the world will be hearing from Santa's "elves" at the North Pole after all.

Evan Ratliff eschewed his identity and picked up a new one, challenging Wired readers to find him in 30 days in a contest sponsored by the magazine. Lured by a cash prize, readers mobilized online in a mad dash to locate Ratliff — who got a little too cocksure for his own good.

Its alluring crimson fruit makes it an enduring star of the Thanksgiving centerpiece, but Asiatic bittersweet is strangling trees across New England. In many states, it's illegal to collect or move the invasive vine.

Repeated deployments of troops to Iraq and Afghanistan are taking an increasing toll on military families, especially those with young children. But for Ken and Kristie Halander, it came down to a difficult choice: another long deployment to Iraq for Ken or access to medical care for their children.

Sen. Carl Levin, the chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, said there may be additional e-mails that could have tipped off law enforcement or military officials to the alleged Fort Hood shooter before the deadly rampage.

Narseal Batiste, who faced a maximum of 70 years in prison, was convicted in May of conspiracy to provide material support to al-Qaida, plotting to blow up buildings and conspiracy to wage war against the U.S. Officials acknowledged the plot never got past the discussion stage and the group never acquired the means to carry it out.

As it gets more difficult to see a primary care doctor, walk-in medical centers are picking up the slack. And if Congress succeeds in passing a nationwide health insurance mandate, the urgent care industry expects even more growth.

Boeing has moved to South Carolina from its ancestral home in the Pacific Northwest to build the 787 Dreamliner. The company will spend less on labor and receive more than $175 million in state incentives. But it will have to train a new workforce, which Boeing's Seattle unions predict may be the undoing of the Southern operation.

The Washington Times has long thought to be immune from the economic forces challenging the rest of newspaper industry because of the deep pockets of its founder and owner, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, head of the Unification Church. But the recession has taken a toll on the paper and now an apparent power struggle among Moon's sons is adding to the paper's challenges.