As the number of Americans without health insurance grows, the nation’s largest health insurance company is having success with a new idea: retail stores that sell insurance directly to consumers.

Ten female ski jumpers from six countries are suing to get into the 2010 games. They argue that the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games is violating the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by staging ski jumping competition that excludes women.

Abortion-rights backers want quick action from the president-elect, although they may not press for sweeping changes. Obama has said he is looking to find common ground on reproductive health issues.

South Korea’s Y. E. Yang became the first Asian-born golfer to win a major tournament. He pulled off an upset by rallying to beat Tiger Woods by three shots to win the 91st PGA Championship. This is the first time in 14 years that Tiger Woods has not won a major championship.

U.S. Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) is calling for a new U.S. approach to dealing with the military regime in Myanmar. He’s spoken with the junta’s reclusive leadership and also helped secure the release of an American imprisoned after sneaking into the home of Myanmar’s detained opposition leader.

Sink your nose into the yellow bark of a Ponderosa and take a big whiff: It may smell more like a dessert topping than a desert pine. As a group of hikers in Arizona recently learned, there are plenty of reasons to help this iconic Western tree thrive.

The news business seems to drag in August. But Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum says big stories often break when the world’s on vacation. Guy Raz talks to her about the international crises that could ruin your summer holiday.

Muhammad Ali may have long-lost cousins from the town of Ennis in County Clare, Ireland — and the world champion is due to meet his distant relations next month on a trip there. The county’s genealogist Antoinette O’Brien, who traces Ali’s lineage back to the O’Gradys of Ennis, talks to host Guy Raz about Ali’s family tree.

When US Airways Flight 1549 made an emergency landing in the Hudson River in January after hitting geese, it turned the spotlight on so-called bird strikes — a longstanding problem of aircraft colliding with birds in flight. Airports try a lot of tricks to keep birds away, but now some researchers are shining light on a possible solution.

Here’s a surprising bit of news that’s come to light: Word is that late last month a couple of cops on the beat in Long Branch, N.J., came across a guy wandering around a dicey neighborhood. They asked the man for his ID. He told them he didn’t have it on him, but that his name was Bob Dylan. The officers had no idea who that was.