In Minot, N.D., floodwaters are finally starting to recede into the Souris River, according to a National Guard spokesman who talked to the AP. But in the town, 4,000 homes have been damaged by the river, and thousands of residents remain homeless.

Flooding reached a peak over the weekend in Minot, and the water level had fallen by a reported 6 inches by Monday afternoon. But that means other communities downriver — such as Velva and Sawyer — are now under threat of flooding.

All fans of food, facts and geography should consider viewing this Food Chains map, put together by Haisam Hussein for Lapham's Quarterly. If you're into coffee, tomatoes and black pepper, you have little choice but to check it out.

The map shows the far-flung origins of this well-loved food trio — and how their successful spread around the world was due to both trading and imperial conquest.

There's a lot of chatter about how public policy can influence doctors' decisions about which new patients to see and which to turn away.

One big question: Does the squeeze on Medicare that has limited the program's pay increases to doctors lead them to see fewer of those patients?

Some researchers decided to look at recent data for clues. And they found a slight drop — a little less than 3 percent in the proportion of doctors taking new Medicare patients between 2005 and 2008.

The last assets of Nortel Networks, the former high-tech giant, are to be auctioned Monday, as it sells off more than 6,000 patents. The bankrupt Canadian company was once a leader in research and development in the telecom industry.

Google has already aired a $900 million bid for the U.S. and international patents, which focus on mobile video and wireless networks, as well as Internet search. With the starting bid that high, it's likely the final price could easily top $1 billion.

NPR's Robert Siegel spoke to the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. As we reported last week, the U.N.'s General Assembly voted unanimously to keep Ban for another five-year term.

Robert's conversation with Ban ranged from Libya to Syria to a new report about this leadership. Here are some of the highlights:

Pesticide use in vegetable and fruit farming has been a common practice for decades.   Likewise, medical research over the years, has resulted in safer ways to kill pests and disease.  Still, health concerns persist.

The state will begin installing median cable barriers on I-64 in Franklin and Woodford counties and on I-65 in Bullitt County. Work is scheduled to begin July 7 on installation of median cable barriers on Interstate 64 between mile point 57.2 in Franklin County and mile point 65.7 in Woodford County. Construction will begin about two weeks later on Interstate 65 in Bullitt County between mile points 103.8 and 109.3.

Jurors in the Lexington murder trial of Glen Doneghy (DON’-eh-high) got a brief physics lesson from a KSP collision reconstructionist Monday. Doneghy is charged with killing Lexington police Officer Bryan Durman in a hit and run crash.

As part of "Beginnings," a summer-long series on All Things Considered, Melissa Block traveled to Mozambique to explore maternal health. This is the first of three reports.

In Mozambique in southeastern Africa, the rates of maternal and infant mortality are among the highest in the world.

In her lifetime, a Mozambican woman has a 1 in 37 chance of dying during pregnancy or within a short time after a pregnancy has ended. One in 10 children won't live past their first year. One in 7 die before they reach the age of 5.

Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann, riding a wave of Tea Party excitement over her strong showing in a new Iowa caucus poll and a round of national media appearances, has conspicuously altered the early race for the GOP nomination.

Just ask the Minnesota congresswoman's home state rival for the GOP crown, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who, despite dogged organizing in Iowa and efforts to improve his own national profile, has so far failed to find a receptive audience.