State and National News

In the latest issue of the New York Times Magazine, Adam Davidson profiles Ed Conard, Mitt Romney's former business partner and an unabashed defender of the one percent. It's not an easy position to defend. Take it from John D. Rockefeller, the richest American in history.

You may have read about the demise of the book. You know, the thing that has been around for more than a millennium — dead trees, covered in ink. A repository for the exchange of ideas, and stories — a place of sanctuary, solace and sometimes entertainment. Doomed.

Swimming star Alexander Dale Oen, one of Norway's top gold medal hopes in the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in London, died Monday at his hotel near a training facility in Flagstaff, Ariz.

The 26-year-old world champion in the 100-meter breaststroke suffered an apparent heart attack, according to Norway's Olympic Committee.

One year ago today, we learned that al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden had been located and killed by U.S. Navy SEALs at a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

There's no shortage of stories and news related to that event, including these:

-- "After Bin Laden, Al-Qaida Still Present As Movement." (NPR's Dina Temple-Raston, on Morning Edition.)

Nathan Pippenger is a reporter-researcher for The New Republic.

If history holds, Mitt Romney is still months away from announcing a vice presidential running mate on the Republican ticket. But he continues to make appearances with those who could be on the so-called short list.

Or in Romney's case, it may still be a rather long list.

On Monday, Romney campaigned with freshman Sen. Kelly Ayotte, the 43-year-old former state attorney general, in her home state of New Hampshire.

Winslow Wheeler is the director of the Straus Military Reform Project at the Center for Defense Information.

Michael Auslin is a resident scholar in Asian and security studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

Here's good news for geezers — or for merely middle-aged folks — who'd like to stay fit and independent far into their later years.

You don't have to lift heavy weights to build muscle strength. Lifting lighter weights can be just as effective if you do it right, and you're much less likely to hurt yourself, researchers say.