On July 1, the European Union says it will stop buying oil from Iran. Europe is one of the most important markets for Iran's oil, and in anticipation of the boycott, Iranian oil exports worldwide are already down by more than 25 percent.

Iran's leaders say they can weather this pressure, and so far they have refused to budge on their controversial nuclear activities, ones that prompted a series of economic sanctions.

As a result, it appears as if Iran will only face even greater difficulties when it comes to exporting oil, the lifeblood of its economy.

Imagine a school where every child gets instant, personalized writing help for a fraction of the cost of hiring a human teacher — and where a computer, not a person, grades a student's essays.

It's not so far-fetched. Some schools around the country are already using computer programs to help teach students to write.

There are two big arguments for automated essay scoring: lower expenses and better test grading. Using computers instead of humans would certainly be cheaper, but not everyone agrees on argument No. 2.

First of a two-part series

This summer, my big idea is to explore the big ideas of science. Instead of just reporting science as results — the stuff that's published in scientific journals and covered as news — I want to take you inside the world of science. I hope I'll make it easier to understand how science works, and just how cool the process of discovery and innovation really is.

A lot of science involves failure, but there are also the brilliant successes, successes that can lead to new inventions, new tools, new drugs — things that can change the world

NPR Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep is taking a Revolutionary Road Trip across North Africa to see how the countries that staged revolutions last year are remaking themselves as they write new social rules, rebuild their economies and establish new political systems. Steve and his team are traveling some 2,000 miles from Tunisia's ancient city of Carthage, across the deserts of Libya and on to Egypt's megacity of Cairo. In Tunisia, he sat down with the country's new president, Moncef Marzouki.

Alabama authorities want to question a Montgomery man in connection with the slayings of 9-year-old twins

and a 73-year-old family friend whose bodies were found on a dirt road near Hayneville.

The Alabama Bureau of Investigation said in a news release Wednesday that 22-year-old Deandra Marquis Lee

is being sought for questioning in the triple-homicide.

Lowndes County deputy sheriffs on Tuesday found three bodies off Route 21, later identified as 73-year-old Jack

Mac Girdner of Hope Hull and the twins, Jordan Dejerinett and his sister Taylor.

Children who get CT scans are at slightly increased risk for brain cancer and leukemia, according to a large international study released Tuesday.

CT scans create detailed images of the inside of the body. So they're great for diagnosing all sorts of medical problems — so great that their use has soared in recent years. More than 80 million are being done every year in the United States.

The morning after Republican Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin handily rebuffed Democratic efforts to oust him, politicos in the state and beyond pored over exit poll data and turnout numbers to tease out:

A: How he did it.

B: Where Democrats failed.

My colleague Ron Elving, NPR's senior Washington editor, took a good shot at answering Question A Wednesday morning.

Don Taylor, one of Wisconsin's most influential Republicans, had predicted that GOP Gov. Scott Walker would stave off recall challenger Tom Barrett, a Democrat, by a couple of percentage points.

$400 million in damage to the Navy's fast attack submarine USS Miami was caused by a fire started by a vacuum cleaner.

That's what a preliminary report about the May 23 fire has found. The vacuum cleaner, the Navy said in a statement, was "used to clean worksites at end of shifts, and stored in an unoccupied space."

There's still no indication how the vacuum cleaner caught fire to begin with.

Music is the universal language which spans all cultural, regional and racial boundaries. Tune in to WVAS-FM throughout the month of June as we celebrate America's Classical Music - Jazz.