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Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon notes that a new study finds that in addition to twigs and branches, birds are also using cigarette butts to build their nests — and they are actually proving to be helpful.

The growing number of voters not aligned with a specific religion helped President Obama overcome deficits with Protestants and Catholics in key swing states. The Pew Research Center calls this group "nones" — agnostics, atheist and those who define themselves simply as "religious" or "spiritual but not religious."

For the last decade, NATO and the international community have pumped billions of dollars into construction projects in Afghanistan. Yet with the drawdown of troops also comes a drawdown in the construction of bases and big infrastructure projects — and that's taking a big bite out of the economy and the bottom line of Afghan contractors.

U.S. forces rescued Dr. Dilip Joseph of Colorado Springs, Colo. He was kidnapped Dec. 5 along with two other aid workers outside Kabul. All three worked for Morning Star Development, a Colorado-based nonprofit. His associated were freed Saturday.

From the versatility of the violin to the virtuosity of a mysterious opera composer, NPR's Tom Huizenga and host Guy Raz spin an eclectic set of the year's best classical recordings.

The "Diana Ross of Mexican music" was on a small plane that crashed Sunday in Northern Mexico, killing all seven people on board. A California native, she sold millions of records and was an emerging TV star.

Also: Russia and U.S. hold "brainstorming session" on Syria; European Union officials accept Nobel Peace Prize; Barcelona's Lionel Messi sats new calendar-year record for goals.

Jacintha Saldanha transferred a call to another nurse. Two Australian DJs were pretending to be Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles, and they were able to find out how the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge was feeling. Saldanha's suspected suicide, though, has turned a prank into a tragedy.

In Who Could That Be at This Hour?, a prequel to A Series of Unfortunate Events, Daniel Handler satirizes pulp mysteries and uncovers the parallels between detective fiction and childhood. In both, he says, an outsider is trying to make his way in a mysteriously corrupt world.

The country's protest movement has evolved into a broad range of groups now filling the gaps left by the eroding welfare state. From doctors to teachers and homeowners to judges, Spaniards are organizing.