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Land that isn't in good enough condition to grow crops could be used to produce substantial amounts of liquid biofuels, a new study claims. But there are many concerns about the study, and about the future of advanced biofuels in the U.S. and abroad.

Robert Siegel talks to Martin Chulov of the Guardian about the aftermath of Tuesday's massive bombing at a university in Aleppo, Syria.

In 1986, Congress passed a ban on buying and selling machine guns made from then on — with the blessing of none other than the National Rifle Association. Gun law experts say the law was more significant than it seemed at the time.

The State Department said Americans are reported to be among the hostages taken by militants at an Algerian gas plant. The total number of hostages is unclear, as are the number of Americans. The attack is seen as retaliation against France's intervention against Islamists in neighboring Mali.

NPR's David Greene talks with a group of young adults who've struggled with the role of faith and religion in their lives. They do not speak of emptiness without religion, but recognize that it fills needs. They talk of having respect for religion, but say that it's not something they identify with now.

Most of the world's 787 jetliners are not flying. The Federal Aviation Administration announced late Wednesday it was grounding the U.S. fleet of Boeing's flagship airliner until it's confident the planes are safe. As expected, other countries then grounded their airplanes too.

President Obama has signed into law 23 executive orders allowing federal agencies to strengthen the existing background check system and improve the tracking of stolen guns. But the big items like universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines will need congressional action.

The Federal Reserve has released its latest snapshot of the state of the U.S. economy. Retail and auto sales were up slightly over the year before — as was activity in the housing sector. Renee Montagne talks to David Wessel, economics editor at The Wall Street Journal, about housing's recovery.

French and Malian troops are directly engaging the rebels in combat. For an update on how the fighting is going, Renee Montagne talks to Sudarsan Raghavan, a correspondent for The Washington Post, who is covering events from the capital Bamako.

Federal authorities in New York have charged 32 people with using threats of violence to control garbage pickup routes in New York City and its suburbs. Officials say many of the suspects have ties to organized crime.