National News from NPR

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said today that NATO had made a preliminary decision to end its mission in Libya on Oct. 31.

The AP reports:

He said Friday the bloc made a preliminary decision to end air operation on Oct. 31, and will make a formal decision next week.

After Libya's former rebels killed Gadhafi on Thursday, officials said they expected the aerial operation to end very soon.

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan has taken a lot of heat recently. One of the biggest criticisms: several independent analysts have found that under the plan, poor and middle class families would pay higher taxes while the richest of the rich would see a substantial tax cut. Today in Detroit, Cain unveiled his response.

"If you're at or below the poverty level, your plan isn't 9-9-9," said Cain with the abandoned Michigan Central Station in the background. "It's 9-0-9."

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain's much discussed 9-9-9 tax plan just got a major facelift after intensifying criticism that it would shift the tax burden to the least fortunate Americans.

In a Detroit speech Friday, the former Godfather's Pizza CEO created another numbers scheme for those "at or below poverty level."

"Your plan isn't 9-9-9," Cain said, addressing low-income voters. "It is 9-0-9."

"Say amen y'all," said Cain, also a Baptist minister. "9-0-9."

This past week, republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has been hit hard over his 9-9-9 tax overhaul plan. During the last Republican debate, Cain's plan was attacked as regressive, meaning that it would hit the middle-class and poor Americans hardest.

Fifth in a series

Perhaps more than any other Republican running for president this year, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann has railed against taxes. She says they're too high, and that the current tax code should be repealed.

But Bachmann had a somewhat surprising early career: going after tax evaders as a prosecutor for the Internal Revenue Service.

'Know Your Enemy'?

At times, the congresswoman and former state senator has seemed to deny that for nearly her entire professional life, she's been on the public payroll.

How do Iraqis feel about the U.S. decision to withdraw all its remaining troops by the end of this year? The issue of a residual American force to train the Iraqi military was hotly debated in Baghdad.

Autofocus cameras hit the stores back in the 1970s, making it dramatically simpler for the average consumer to get a good shot. Later the digital camera made it possible for just about anyone to process their own pictures at home on a computer. Now comes a camera that could represent another kind of photography revolution: the light field camera. Take the picture, but focus it afterwards. Robert Siegel speaks with Lytro founder Ren Ng about the new light field camera that his company is producing.

Astronomers have come across the youngest planet ever observed, at just 2 million years old. It's called LkCa 15 b, and it's still in the early stages of forming. Melissa Block talks to Adam Kraus of the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy about the discovery.

Injury and ineptitude forced several NFL teams to make a change of quarterback this week. Minnesota, Oakland and Washington all have new starters at the position. But the change that has most football fans talking is in Denver. Robert Siegel and sportswriter Stefan Fatsis talk about the NFL and the Rugby World Cup.

President Obama announces that he's withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.