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Former South African President Nelson Mandela is universally admired but there was a time when he was caught up in controversy. Steve Inskeep talks to Bill Keller, a columnist for The New York Times, about Mandela's controversial past.

Amid growing fears of a potential genocide, the U.N. has approved military intervention in the former French colony.

Mexico's congress is set to pass a controversial plan to open up the country's vast and sluggish oil industry to private investment. The move requires a constitutional amendment since Mexico forbids foreign involvement in the oil industry. Opponents of the plan say the president is selling out the country, but many experts say that without foreign investment, Mexico won't be able to tap all its oil and won't modernize.

Every year, on the day after Thanksgiving, almost 100 volunteer decorators show up at the White House. They spend the next five days stringing garlands and hanging ornaments, making the White House sparkle for the holidays. NPR has a related tradition, and it's about to end.

Ozy co-founder Carlos Watson talks about a rising star in soccer who could turn things around for England in the 2014 World Cup, and a Bahraini woman who calls herself an "accidental activist."

The high-tech system can essentially override human error and slow a train that is going too fast. Congress mandated that all trains have it by 2015, but only a few passenger and freight railroads will be ready by then. And after a deadly train crash in New York, few in Congress may be willing to vote for a delay.

The esteemed UK songwriter says the idea of making a holiday record seemed laughable at first. He tells NPR's Arun Rath how he came around, and performs a few songs from the new Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection for All the Family.

At 44, the German tenor Jonas Kaufmann may be the most popular tenor of his generation in the international opera world, and one of the most versatile. Among his recordings this year are albums dedicated to both Verdi and Wagner, celebrating the bicentennials of their birth.

North Carolina is expected to host one of the nation's toughest U.S. Senate races next year. First-term Democrat Kay Hagan is seeking re-election, but recent polls show that even though her GOP opponent won't be known until the spring, her support for President Obama and the Affordable Care Act have already hurt her standing with state voters. She's also being targeted by outside groups, who are spending millions of dollars in hopes of unseating her.

Women hold only about 17 percent of the seats on boards of directors of Fortune 500 companies, and they have an even smaller percentage of senior executive positions, according to a new study.