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A drop in the numbers of fierce beasts worldwide might seem like good news for deer and antelope. But expanding herds of grass-eaters leave stream banks naked and vulnerable to erosion, and can even change the stream's course, according to scientists calling for more protection of large predators.

Germany is one of the few EU countries that has welcomed Syrians fleeing civil war. But it offers refuge only to a few thousand out of the millions who need it. And it actually deported Syrian asylum-seekers last year because of treaty requirements. Still, Syrians are risking their lives to get there.

A chemical used to wash coal seeped into the Elk River near Charleston on Thursday. Customers in more than 100,000 homes and businesses that get their water from one local company have been advised not to drink, wash or bathe with what's coming from their taps. More than 480,000 people live in the affected area.

Hospitals in Maryland would be financially rewarded for keeping people healthy and out of the hospital. The arrangement, once unimaginable, could serve as a model for containing hospital costs elsewhere in the country.

Reports this week about former Defense Secretary Robert Gates' new book have implied that he thinks President Obama approved a 2009 troop surge in Afghanistan believing the strategy would fail. But Gates tells NPR that's not right. He believes Obama became skeptical about the "troop surge" later on.

From Connecticut to Minnesota to California, correctional authorities are finding all kinds of reasons to produce food inside prison walls. A new video provides a glimpse of one of these projects, a vegetable garden inside San Quentin State prison outside of San Francisco.

Berns was the star of a popular documentary on progeria, a disease that accelerates aging. His parents, spurred by Sam's own illness, were instrumental in the discovery of the first drug to treat the disease.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon died on Saturday. He was a soldier-turned-politician who believed in hardline military solutions but also looked beyond force to try to bring peace in Israel. NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Ari Shavit of The Haaretz newspaper about what Sharon meant for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

One observer calls the episode a "very British scandal about a very French affair." French laws and culture make publishing stories about affairs rare.

The organization has unveiled its nominees for the 45th annual Image Awards, established to honor African-American performers who are often ignored by mainstream Hollywood. Some nominees are white, others of South-Asian or Latino heritage. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans wonders if that changes the meaning of the ceremony.