NPR News

As the trial of Egypt's former dictator continued in Cairo, today, one of the prosecutors said Hosni Mubarak should face the death penalty for his role in the killing of protesters during the uprising that toppled his regime, last year.

"Retribution is the solution," Mustafa Khater said on the final day of the prosecution's opening statements. "Any fair judge must issue a death sentence for these defendants."

New state laws reflect controversial national issues such as immigration. They also regulate local concerns from requiring teaching about important gay figures in California schools to limiting when New Yorkers can fertilize their lawns. NPR's Corey Dade and Pam Fessler discuss 2012's new laws.

After more than 20 years as a columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Pulitzer Prize-winner Cynthia Tucker left to become a visiting professor at the University of Georgia. She edited the editorial page for the paper for eight years until she was reassigned as a political columnist.

Middle childhood was often thought of as a developmental placeholder between toddler and teen years. But a special issue of Human Nature explains that's when children learn to reason, control impulses, understand and accept mortality and plan for the future, among other developmental milestones.

More than 90 percent of patients in one survey said they'd want to know what doctors write in their charts. The majority of doctors, though, are reluctant to share their notes. Time's Alice Park explains why patients want to see their charts — and why many physicians are wary of the idea.