NPR News

"Ambassador Robert Ford has completed his consultations in Washington and is returning to Syria," the State Department confirms on its official Twitter page.

He left there the weekend of Oct. 22 because of what State said had been "credible threats against his personal safety."

Jazz has long been a staple of European television programming. American musicians on tour frequently turn up on the tube, caught live or in a studio. That's partly because such shows are relatively cheap to produce, and because jazz makes for good cultural programming.

They're Super Bowl champions. They're 12-0 this season.

And they're hot with investors (sort of).

Things couldn't be much better for the Green Bay Packers. And this morning we're hearing that the team's fifth sale of stock in its 92-year history is going very well.

When it comes to polls, Newt Gingrich is a strong frontrunner. New surveys in Iowa and South Carolina show him lapping the rest of the Republican presidential field and holding strong double digit leads.

But when it comes to money, the essential for running an effective modern campaign, Gingrich is still not a top-tier candidate.

With the Jan. 3 Iowa Republican caucuses set to kick off the "real" battle for the party's presidential nomination, there's word that:

One-size-fits-all health insurance premiums that don't take into account how much an employee earns strike many people as unfair.

Why should someone who makes $30,000 a year pay the same premium for health care coverage as his boss, who pulls down three times that amount?

Yet most companies continue to keep employee contribution rates the same for all employees, regardless of how much they're paid. Why don't they switch?

This is a story of David and Goliath — except it's kale versus chicken. Vermont folk artist Bo Muller-Moore is fighting charges of trademark infringement from the Atlanta-based fast-food chain Chick-fil-A.

Muller-Moore runs a T-shirt business from his Montpelier, Vt., studio around the phrase "Eat More Kale." He got the idea 10 years ago from a farmer friend who wanted to promote local agriculture — and sell more kale.

Each year Muller-Moore sells thousands of T-shirts, and at $25 a pop he makes enough to support his family.

Good morning.

Our early headlines were:

-- Dozens Of Bodies Scattered After Deadly Bombings In Afghanistan.

-- Coal Company Reportedly Set To Pay $200 Million In W. Va. Disaster.