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After the U.S. Supreme Court ordered California to reduce its dangerously overcrowded prisons, the state is shifting responsibility of nonviolent criminals to local officials. Of all the prisoners and parolees leaving the state's system, the bulk are headed to Los Angeles County, which already has a strained criminal justice system.

An NPR-Thomson Reuters Health Poll finds 21 percent of Americans believe autism is linked to vaccines. Most people believe vaccines work. Among those with concerns about vaccines, uncertainty about long-term health effects is the biggest fear.

Authorities said employees were buying and selling prescription drugs like Oxycontin and Xanax inside the plant that manufactures CH-47 Chinooks and other military aircraft. The FBI and DEA said they made the arrests using evidence gathered during undercover operations.

Sales of craft beer have risen 15 percent this year, while sales of mass-produced beers have dipped. Innovation within the industry is exciting for aficionados — many of whom will attend this weekend's Great American Beer Festival, considered the premier venue for new breweries to get noticed.

Though the Illinois Department of Natural Resources can only guess at the number of skunks in the state by counting roadkill, officials and residents of Chicago say they see — and smell — a dramatic increase in the number of skunks.

Spurred by the Dominique Strauss-Kahn scandal, French feminists are taking on what they see as one of the most entrenched and subtle barriers to gender equality in France: the word "mademoiselle." They say the term is irrelevant and insulting.

The chemicals in rotting fruit excites male fruit flies, even before they catch a whiff of their future mates. After they mate on the fruit and leave the eggs behind, their larvae can hatch into a nutrient-rich world.

In Afghanistan, ethnic political parties are carving up the government and military in anticipation of renewed factional fighting after Western forces leave the country. Tajik and Pashtun groups, in particular, are placing party faithful in key posts.

In Greece, financial inspectors returned Thursday to review whether the government was complying with the terms of a $150 billion bailout that it agreed to last year. But the inspectors were met with loud demonstrations protesting further wage and pension cuts, public sector layoffs and higher taxes.

Among the morning's leading stories: Al-Qaida cleric Anwar al-Awlaki reportedly killed; Obama administration widens challenges to state immigration laws.