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The once sleepy role of secretary of state is rising in profile and controversy as the business of conducting elections has become more and more contentious over the past decade. From Maine to New Mexico, secretaries of state are making activism their trademark.

The Taliban has announced it is setting up an office in the Gulf state of Qatar as part of a process that might lead to peace talks in Afghanistan. Michael Semple, a fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School, talks to Renee Montagne about an article he's written for Foreign Affairs magazine called "How to Talk to the Taliban."

Jerry Yang has resigned from Yahoo's board and severed all ties with the company that he co-founded 17 years ago. Yang is leaving at a time when the Internet behemoth has struggled to remain relevant.

The Wall Street Journal picked up on the device, which was advertised briefly in China's state media. It offered web content for the party faithful. The device however was apparently priced at more than $1,500. China's online community launched scathing attacks about the Red Pad, saying only corrupt bureaucrats using public funds could afford such a thing.

Wikipedia, Reddit and Boing Boing are among the popular websites that will be dark Wednesday to protest a pair of bills making their way through Congress. Hollywood studios say tougher rules are needed to protect their intellectual property from online piracy. But Silicon Valley companies say the bills would encourage censorship and harm innovation.

In recent years abortion rights opponents have stepped up efforts to challenge Roe vs. Wade, the nearly 40-year-old Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion. Many states have adopted new laws restricting abortion rights since 2010, putting abortion rights supporters on the defensive.

Texas Congressman Ron Paul is back in New Hampshire, where he'll take part in Saturday night's debate with the other Republican candidates for president. On Friday, Paul addressed an enthusiastic crowd of supporters in Nashua and took particular aim at one of his competitors, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

Shakespeare's Iago is one of the great defining villains of literature. He masquerades as a friend, which disguises his schemes to manipulate, betray and destroy. Host Scott Simon talks with author David Snodin, whose new book, Iago, fills in what happened after Iago masterminded the murders of his wife, Othello and Desdemona.

Meryl Streep stars as Margaret Thatcher in Phyllida Lloyd's biopic about the former prime minister of the United Kingdom. Film critic David Edelstein applauds her performance, calling it "one of the greatest impersonations I'd ever seen."

The honey bee population of North America is declining and new research may help answer why. It shows the bees can become hosts of a fly parasite, which causes them to become disoriented and leave their nests. Scott Simon talks with San Francisco State University's Andrew Core, who authored the study.