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Sherman worked a tight niche: classic songs rewritten to tickle a Jewish audience's funny bone. A new biography, Overweight Sensation: The Life and Comedy of Allan Sherman, explains how the performer's 1960s crossover fell in line with a collective awakening to ethnic identity in America.

Content in the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia can be generated and edited by anyone. But the power to delete or lock those entries lies in the hands of the site's "administrators." A rigorous screening process for new administrators has partly led to a drop in site participation. Now, Wikipedia is struggling to find new editors.

The battle for Syria appears to have reached a decisive stage. As fighting intensifies in Damascus, there's an urgent push under way to organize the rebel force. It is widely feared that the hundreds of groups fighting the regime will turn on each other in a struggle for power.

The University of Virginia's board of governors last month fired then rehired its president. One reason some board members called for her ouster was that she had not moved quickly enough to expand the university's online courses. On Tuesday, school officials plan to announce a partnership with Silicon Valley company Coursera that will do just that.

When it comes to the search for life beyond Earth, most of the focus is in on Mars. But a growing number of scientists are looking at Saturn's moon, Enceladus, instead. Scientists believe the moon has water and organic materials that are the building blocks of life.

U.S. pole vaulter Jenn Suhr reached a long-awaited breakthrough Monday, when she won the gold medal in her event at the London Olympics. She defeated a field that included two-time gold medalist Elena Isinbaeva of Russia. As NPR reported back in April, Suhr trains in a unique setting: an airplane hangar next to her house.

Adam Steltzner, the leader of the Mars rover's entry, descent and landing engineering team, says he was terrified of "a false positive celebration" in the control room. Fortunately for him, Curiosity landed perfectly. Now he's eyeing Jupiter's moon.

Secretary General Ban Ki Moon is expected to tap a veteran U.N. troubleshooter to take over from international envoy Kofi Annan. At the same time, U.N. military observers are wrapping up their mission. By next week, all of the unarmed U.N. military observers will be out of Syria.

A court sentenced the three members of the female punk band Pussy Riot to two years in jail after they were found guilty of hooliganism and religious hatred. The group had staged an anti-Putin protest in Moscow's main cathedral last February.

Mass disqualifications have thrown Egypt's upcoming elections into turmoil. In a surprise move, Egypt's election commission barred 10 of the 23 registered presidential candidates from next month's election.