NPR News

A North Dakota high school wrestling team picked up what they thought was a dead raccoon. They put the carcass in the storage compartment of the bus. They opened it later, and the animal walked away. Nobody's sure if it had rabies. The team was pulled out of the regional championship as a precaution.

Rick Holter, editor of Weekend All Things Considered, couldn't get to sleep after last night's Super Bowl, and had to get this out of his system.

I don't care what anyone says — I love the Super Bowl national anthem and halftime show. They're like NASCAR, only instead of cars we get celebrities: They spend a lot of their lives in the fast lane, but what keeps you from turning to the Puppy Bowl is the knowledge that they will hit the wall.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appeared in a London court Monday to begin his battle against extradition from Britain to Sweden over sex crimes allegations.

Assange, wearing a blue suit, was flanked by two prison guards as the hearing opened at Belmarsh Magistrates' Court. Celebrity supporters Jemima Khan and Bianca Jagger and politician Tony Benn also attended the start of the two-day extradition hearing.

Swedish officials want to question Assange about accusations of sexual misconduct by two women he met last year during a visit to Stockholm.

Super Bowl bragging rights belong to the Green Bay Packers. They defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 Sunday night. This was Green Bay's fourth Super Bowl title.

As the crisis in Egypt nears its second week, U.S. officials are faced with the challenge of how to back a political transition there without alienating the hundreds of thousands of protesters. Over the last several days, the Obama administration has had to adjust its stance on Egypt, which has resulted in sending out mixed signals to all.