Investigators are now saying arson was not the likely cause of a fire that on Monday destroyed a cypress tree in Central Florida that was an estimated 3,500 years old — making it perhaps the oldest such tree in the nation and one of the oldest in the world.

Known as "The Senator," the tree that once stood 165 feet tall (before a hurricane lopped off about 45 feet in 1925) was more likely brought down by a fire that had been smoldering inside it — without being detected — since a lightning strike about a week ago, investigators say.

The Los Angeles City Council is poised to approve a measure today that would require adult film stars to wear condoms when making films. The AP reports that last week, the council voted 11-1 for preliminary approval.

The new requirement is controversial in the porn industry. NPR's Alex Cohen explored the issue back in 2010. Essentially, the industry claims condoms hurt sales and their method of testing actors every 30 days is effective.

Last September, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas requested full membership to the United Nations for a state of Palestine.

With negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders at a stalemate, is there another approach that could offer a diplomatic solution for peace?

The nation's obesity epidemic appears to have hit a plateau, according to the latest federal data released Tuesday.

Obesity soared in the U.S. during the 1980s and 1990s, doubling among adults and tripling among children. That raised widespread alarm and debate about the causes and possible solutions. Obesity can increase the risk for diabetes, heart disease, cancer and other serious health problems.

In an interview with the CBC, yesterday, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper had some harsh words for the United States and its side of the Keystone XL pipeline debate.

"I don't object to foreigners expressing their opinion," Harper told the CBC. "But I don't want them to be able to hijack the process so that we don't make a decision that's timely or in the interests of Canadians."

He has probably paid an effective federal income tax rate of about 15 percent in recent years, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told reporters in South Carolina a short time ago.

If patients and doctors both have easy access to the notes the doctor takes during their office visits, will it change their behavior?

That's a question that an experiment called OpenNotes aims to answer by letting patients of more than 100 primary care doctors in three states see the notes online.

In December, researchers reported the results of surveys taken before the project started in 2010 in which patients and physicians were asked about their attitudes toward making such information available.

MEMPHIS, Tenn (AP/WMOT) --  Two Tennessee newspapers have teamed up to launch PolitiFact Tennessee, part of a national organization that works to hold politicians accountable by fact-checking their statemenst and claims.

The Commercial Appeal of Memphis and the Knoxville News Sentinel will examine claims made by local, state and national officials. PolitiFact Tennessee will also track Gov. Bill Haslam's progress in meeting his campaign promises.

The papers that participate research statements by elected officials and others and rate their accuracy.

Morning Edition's staff noticed a story from over the long holiday weekend that's just too much of a "no-way!" not to pass along.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  More than 800 area volunteers helped spruce up Nashville Fire stations and a local homeless charity over the long holiday weekend as part of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service.

The event was sponsored by Hands On Nashville and Mayor Karl Dean’s Impact Nashville initiative. Dean and Senator Bob Corker joined volunteers yesterday as they added a new coat of paint to Fire House 19.