National News from NPR

The drive to test healthy people for common cancers rests on the idea that finding malignancies early can trigger life-saving treatment. But the evidence that some of the tests will actually reduce mortality is sometimes lacking or is less than clear cut for the people who'll get tested.

The Obama administration is revising some rules on federally guaranteed student loans. The administration says the changes will make it easier for graduates to repay them. It's making it easier for students to consolidate loans into a single payment and expanding a program that bases payments on a graduate's income. The new rules will affect 7 million of the 36 million student loan borrowers.

Wednesday night's E.U. summit in Brussels was at first heralded as the venue for a comprehensive deal that would help Europe's debt crisis — then E.U. leaders started ratcheting back the expectations. Melissa Block talks to NPR's Jim Zarroli for more.

Tom Waits generally sings like a psychotic carnival barker or a drunken lounge crooner. And I really mean that as a compliment.

Amid a relentless and bloody crackdown on protesters by Yemen's government, hundreds of women took to the streets today and set fire to veils traditionally worn by them. As the AP reports, this was not a protest about women's rights, instead "the act of women burning their clothing is a symbolic Bedouin tribal gesture signifying an appeal for help to tribesmen, in this case to stop the attacks on the protesters."

Here's a picture that will remind the rest of the country that winter will soon be upon us:

That picture was taken this morning and posted to Flickr by Pam Morris in Denver, Colo. As she says, the season's first snow is about a week late. The Weather Channel says some parts of Colorado could see up to eight inches of snow and it follows days of record heat.

Update at 3:35 p.m. ET: MLB.com has posted the news that Game 6 of the World Series, which was scheduled for tonight in St. Louis, has been postponed to Thursday at 8:05 p.m. ET because of rainy weather.

That means Game 7, if one is needed, would be played on Friday (weather permitting).

The American League's Texas Rangers lead the National League's St. Louis Cardinals, 3 games to 2.

Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner completed its first commercial flight today. The All Nipon Airways flight flew from Narita to Hong Kong and took about four hours.

As we've reported, the road to this day has been long and full of troubles. The plane is making its debut years delayed and billions of dollars over budget.