NPR News

A federal grand jury in Virginia is scheduled to hear testimony on Wednesday from witnesses in one of the government's biggest criminal investigations of a national security leak.

Prosecutors are trying to build a case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, whose website has embarrassed the U.S. government by disclosing sensitive diplomatic and military information.

The WikiLeaks case is part of a much broader campaign by the Obama administration to crack down on leakers.

A Worrisome Development

A three-judge panel in Richmond, Va., heard Tuesday oral arguments in two cases challenging the constitutionality of the nation's landmark health care law.

It marked the first time any of the dozens of lawsuits filed against last year's law have reached the appellate level, and brings the measure a step closer to what most predict will be a legal showdown that will only end at the Supreme Court sometime in 2012.

President Obama meets with Senate Democrats Wednesday to discuss how to address the country's long-term deficits. Obama follows up Thursday by meeting with Senate Republicans.

The White House meetings come just days before the federal government is expected to start bumping up against its debt ceiling. But so far, at least, financial markets don't seem overly worried.

Top lawmakers from both parties agree that sooner or later they'll have to vote to raise the debt limit. But the vote may come at a price.

Part of an occasional series

Today, couples who may never have become parents a generation ago have the wonders of technology to help them. One in every hundred babies in the U.S. is conceived in a laboratory. But because most insurance does not cover fertility treatments, a big barrier remains: money.

That stark reality hit Carla and CJ Van Devander, of Staunton, Va., five years ago. They were crushed to find they could not conceive, and Carla saw a painful irony. They're both teachers, devoted to helping bring up other people's children.

NPR has been profiling some of the Republicans who are considering a presidential run in 2012, to find out what first sparked their interest in politics. Read more of those profiles.

When you ask many politicians what inspired them to a life of public service, you often hear familiar words about a commitment to helping people, or perhaps a desire to run government more like a business.

Newt Gingrich has a different story to tell.