NPR Blogs

No one said it would be easy to sell kids on quinoa and kale, but an invitation to the White House's first Kids State Dinner today, complete with fresh fruit topiaries and balloon animals, turned out to be just the ticket for some.

Michael Wayne Hash served 12 years in prison, after he was convicted of capital murder.

In March, a court found deep problems with how prosecutors achieved that conviction, so he threw it out and told the state it needed to make a decision on whether it would take Hash to trial again.

Getting into Syria has been a journalistic obsession since anti-regime protests began there in March 2011. The choices have been risky or next to impossible. The Syrian regime has given out few journalists' visas (full disclosure, I got a legal visa to Syria in June).

A federal court in Austin, Texas has dismissed a lawsuit filed by cyclist Lance Armstrong that sought to stop a doping hearing by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

The AP reports:

"Armstrong has repeatedly denied doping. His lawsuit claimed USADA lacked jurisdiction and that its arbitration process violates his constitutional rights.

"U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks dismissed the lawsuit, allowing the case to proceed. Armstrong can appeal in federal court, go ahead with USADA's arbitration or accept its sanctions."

Breaking news from The Associated Press about a historic day for one of the nation's most historic sporting venues:

"For the first time in its 80-year history, Augusta National Golf Club has female members.

"The home of the Masters has invited former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore to become the first women in green jackets when the club opens for a new season in October. Both women have accepted."

He sang a gentle song that became a hit and something of a theme song for 1967's "Summer of Love."

"Hundreds of Pakistani Christians are hiding out at a priest's compound, praying for the safety of an 11-year-old member of their community" who is in police custody, NPR's Lauren Freyer reports from Islamabad. The Christians also fear their own safety.

The cause of anger directed toward them by some in the Muslim nation: The girl may have burned some Islamic religious materials. According to The Associated Press:

Good morning.

Our early headlines:

-- In Afghanistan, A Struggle To Stem Deaths From 'Insider Attacks.'

-- Missouri GOP Senate Candidate's Remarks On Rape Stir Controversy.

A few decades ago, a hamburger was just a yummy sandwich.

Saying he apologizes for "any embarrassment I have caused for my colleagues and constituents," Kansas Republican Rep.

The killing Sunday in Afghanistan of an American soldier in what officials say was the latest in a series of "green on blue" attacks by Afghans in uniform against coalition personnel was the 10th in just the past two weeks.

There have been "30 such attacks so far this year, up from 11 in 2011," The Associated Press writes.

Six years ago, we told you about a woman, identified as A.J., who could remember the details of nearly every day of her life. At the time, researchers thought she was unique. But since then, a handful of such individuals have been identified. And now, researchers are trying to understand how their extraordinary memories work.

Good afternoon - here are a few stories we're watching today.

Wikileaks' Assange Demands U.S. Cease 'Witch Hunt'.

Uniformed Afghan Kills NATO Servicemember; 3 NATO Troops Die In Roadside Bombing. (AP)