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The Supreme Court has refused to block the execution of the mastermind behind the 2002 sniper killings. John Allen Muhammed is scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday evening in Virginia.

Did you know that the word "Frisbee" is derived from Mary Frisbie, a woman who made pies in Connecticut? Or that "silhouette" originated with Etienne de Silhouette, an 18th century French finance minister? John Marciano shines light on these and many other etymological mysteries in Anonyponymous: The Forgotten People Behind Everyday Words.

Senior investigators say they did know that accused Fort Hood, Texas, shooter Nidal Hasan had communicated with people with links to al-Qaida. They say the leads were checked, and the content of the communications seemed in line with Hasan's professional research as a psychiatrist studying post-traumatic stress disorder.

The fish sent a chill through summertime swimmers in Sweden and Denmark. It isn't the much-feared piranha, but a cousin, the pacu, which has a reputation for attacking men's testicles.

A decade ago, we were still exploring the technological wonders of cellphones and other electronic devices. Few were thinking about how they could be used to monitor us. Then came Edward Snowden.

On June 5, 1968, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was gunned down in a hotel in Los Angeles. Kennedy, a presidential hopeful who was memorialized as a liberal icon, was complicated and contradictory.

Five Sept. 11 suspects, including the alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, will be brought to the U.S. to stand trial, the Justice Department will announce Friday. NPR has learned that Attorney General Eric Holder has decided that the suspects should be tried in the Southern District of New York.

Many advisers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center had concerns about Nidal Hasan's job performance and behavior, yet time and time again, officials gave him another chance. NPR's Daniel Zwerdling has spoken with top officials there, and tells host Melissa Block new details about Hasan's work at Walter Reed.

President Obama sat down for an informal dinner Monday with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao. Serious discussions were put off until Tuesday when the two leaders will hold a more formal meeting in China's Great Hall of the People. Earlier, Obama told a group of college students in Shanghai that the U.S. welcomes China's growing influence in the world.

The government released figures Monday showing that a record number of Americans faced food insecurity in 2008. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said 49 million people lack the access to food that they need.