All Things Considered

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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Federal health officials today issued a warning for something we don't usually think about in August: the flu. NPR's Rob Stein reports on a worrisome jump in the number of Americans getting infected with a new swine flu virus.

On Sunday night, a six-wheeled rover the size of a subcompact car will land on Mars. We preview the mission, from the remarkable landing system to the kind of science the rover will do during its mission.

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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Audie Cornish. The Chinese swimming champion Ye Shewin has accused a U.S. coach of acting unprofessionally when he suggested she was doping. That's after the 16-year-old blasted past her opponents to win two Olympic gold medals.

It's been a dramatic week for her. Instead of reveling in breakout-star status, she left a controversy in her wake. From London, NPR's Tom Goldman reports.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: The London games ended quietly for Ye Shewin.

We got a call in the newsroom this morning telling us that a car had collided with a bear just outside of Concord.

We're still learning exactly what happened in that incident, but we thought it would be a good time to check in on how bears and humans have been coexisting in the Granite State this year.

Gabby Douglas, the 16-year-old gymnast from Virginia Beach, Va., won another gold medal Thursday. The first was won with her team earlier this week. She was the only member of the team to perform in all four rotations. So, why are some black women obsessed with her hair? Writer Monique Fields has this perspective.

Never mind how she flies like a raven on the balance beam. Or flutters across the floor. Or soars on vault. Or swings on the uneven bars.

The West Nile virus is back, and it's looking like it could be particularly bad this year. As as result, federal health officials are warning people to protect themselves against the mosquito-borne infection.

The West Nile virus first showed up in the U.S. in 1999 and quickly spread from coast to coast, raising widespread alarm. Some have argued that red-breasted robins play a key role in the spread of the virus.

This weekend the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire formally begins the process of installing its next bishop.

His name is Robert Hirschfeld, and he comes to New Hampshire after working for about a decade at a church in western Massachusetts. He’ll formally be consecrated as Bishop Coadjutor at a ceremony this weekend in Concord. Once that happens Hirschfeld will be in line to lead the Diocese next January, when Bishop Gene Robinson retires.

As Lena Henderson says, she hadn't been expecting to remarry Roland Davis some 48 years after their divorce, but "you never know what tomorrow is going to bring."

All Things Considered today tells the touching story of how the two 85-year-olds are set to tie the knot again on Saturday in Buffalo, N.Y.

A top foreign policy adviser to Mitt Romney on Wednesday defended statements the Republican presidential candidate made in Israel about the cultural differences between Israelis and Palestinians.