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Claudia Felder spent nearly 10 difficult years in and out of the U.S. foster care system. Now 21 years old, she lives with a loving family. But there are nearly 400,000 kids in foster care, and one researcher says that the problems they face are so intractable because they are also society's problems.

Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was honored over the weekend for her service to the public by Scripps College. Her alma mater awarded her the school's highest level of recognition: the Ellen Browning Scripps Medal.

India's politics and history play a central role in Jhumpa Lahiri's The Lowland. In the Booker Prize-nominated novel, an Indian radical is killed, and his wife and brother start over in America. Lahiri tells NPR's Lynn Neary that the story was inspired by true events, but very unlike her own life.

Pregnant women are told not to drink, smoke or stress out. But it hasn't been clear how those choices may affect a fetus. By studying how genes are turned on and off, scientists say they are getting closer to understanding what experiences in the womb really affect a child's health.

President Obama spoke at a memorial service Sunday for the victims of last week's shooting at the Washington Navy Yard. The president and first lady also met with families of the dead. Twelve people were killed in addition to the gunman, who died in a shootout with police.

Stephanie Rubin and Ingrid Calvo are two New York-based moms who think American school lunches leave a lot to be desired. So they started a delivery business in Manhattan called Inboxyourmeal com. For $10, they'll deliver healthy, chef-prepared meals to students in their delivery area.

President Obama heads to New York on Monday for the annual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. The international meeting comes as, back in Washington, the U.S. Congress is once again heading into a possible government shutdown over spending priorities.

Kenya's Ministry of the Interior said more than 10 suspects had been arrested. At last count, the three-day siege had claimed 62 lives. An Islamist militant group from Somalia has claimed responsibility.

Observers say the decision could allow opponents to undermine the infrastructure of the Islamist group, which is still protesting the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi this summer.

For almost half a millennium, the phrase "call a spade a spade" has served as a demand to "tell it like it is." It is only in the past century that the expression began to acquire a negative, racial overtone.