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Can eating a banana counter the effects of caffeine? That claim has been circulating around blogs recently. Some baristas swear by it, but we talked to a scientist who explains why it just isn't true.

The Syrians are believed to have hundreds of tons of chemical agents. NPR has learned that the 82nd Airborne Division just wrapped up a nine-day training exercise at Fort Bragg, N.C., to get ready for a possible mission to deal with those deadly chemicals.

Catholics in Philadelphia react on Wednesday to selection of the new pope.

Pope Francis is the first pope from Latin America, a choice that makes sense strategically as the church becomes less Europe-centric. But how he will direct the church, which is still dealing with the fallout of the sexual abuse crisis and other challenges, remains unclear.

On an album released nearly 50 years ago Harry Taussig demonstrated an accomplished, self-taught style of improvisational guitar. This week in Austin, Texas Taussig will perform in public for the first time.

From Chris Christie to Jeb Bush, a slew of potential candidates for president have been getting attention. Most of them are speaking this week at the Conservative Political Action Conference, but a few pointedly were not asked.

Steve Inskeep has a remembrance of Parveen Rehman, a Pakistani woman he meet there while reporting in 2008. Rehman was head of the Karachi-based Orangi Pilot Project, a research center that aids in the development of impoverished communities. She was killed on Wednesday at the age of 56.

Conservative activists are gathering just outside Washington, D.C., on Thursday for the annual gathering known as CPAC — the Conservative Political Action Conference. A year ago, the group was riding high, confident in their ability to help the Republican Party defeat President Obama. Today, controversy over who's speaking at the conference and who's boxed out illustrate the woes confronting the GOP.

A 62-year-old man had been on sick leave from work due to stress for the past few months — which is why his employer was surprised to see him wrestling a shark on an Australian beach in a video that went viral. The charity he worked for fired him. In his defense, the man said a doctor had advised him to take a vacation.

The first pope from the New World must now confront some old problems. He's begun his first full day as head of the church by slipping out of the Vatican to visit an ancient basilica. There, he quietly prayed with priests.