Thirteen people are charged in the alleged hazing death of a Florida A&M University drum major. Prosecutor Lawson Lamar says most of the suspects will face a felony hazing charge.

 

"Obtaining justice for Robert Champion, his family, and by extension the university family, is paramount. We never shy away from difficult prosecutions."

 

The charges come more than five months after the 26-year-old band member died aboard a chartered bus in Orlando.

 

More conflicting reports are surfacing on the condition under which a Chinese dissident left the US embassy in Beijing today. Was it free will or under government threat? The Associated Press is now reporting that Chen Guangcheng wants to seek asylum in the United States. But there‘s been no confirmation of that from Washington, which has been eager to move beyond the diplomatic route ahead of crucial talks with the Chinese government. We have this from NPR's Louisa Lim.

 

Speaking from his hospital bed, activist Chen Guangcheng told AP that a Chinese official threatened to beat his wife to death, if he did not leave the embassy. The AP report quotes a US official who denies knowledge of the threat. But he acknowledges that Chen was told his family would be sent home, if he stayed in the embassy. Friends of the dissident had warned he'd been threatened and had reached his decision under duress. These latest revelations will undermine US relief at reaching an agreement with Beijing on the eve of high-level diplomatic talks. Senior US officials had said that Chen had received assurances he'd be able to live in safety and study at the university away from his home province.  Louisa Lim, NPR News, Beijing.

 

Newt Gingrich has formally announced his exit from the GOP presidential campaign. More from NPR's Kathy Lohr.

 

Almost a year after announcing he would make a run for the GOP presidential nomination, Gingrich ended it. 

 

"Suspending the campaign does not mean suspending citizenship. Callista and I are committed to be active citizens."

 

The former speaker won just two primaries, South Carolina and Georgia, which he represented in Congress for two decades. During the campaign, Gingrich fiercely attacked his opponent Mitt Romney, now the presumptive GOP nominee. The former speaker did not announce that he would endorse Romney today. He did say he would work to get Republicans elected across the spectrum, saying the election just starts the dance, it doesn't end it. Kathy Lohr, NPR News.

 

The Dow is down 11 points. 

 

This is NPR.

 

The NFL is suspending without pay four current and former New Orleans Saints players for their participation in a cash-for-hits bounty system intended to knock an opposing player out of the game, among those punished for the entire 2012 season, linebacker Jonathan Vilma.

 

The Drug Enforcement Administration's reportedly apologizing to a 23-year-old California student who was arrested during a drug raid and left in a holding cell for several days without food, water or access to the bathroom. It says in a statement that the treatment of Daniel Chong is not consistent with the agency's practice, and that an investigation is underway.

 

Well, one of the art world's most iconic images, The Scream, is being auctioned at Sotheby's in New York tonight. NPR's Margot Adler reports that the pastel done in 1895 could go for as much as 80 million dollars.

 

The Scream, as a symbol of the anxiety of modernity, has been on T-shirts, key chains and inflatable dolls. It has spoken to millions as both a personal scream from the abyss and a symbol of modern horrors like World War II and the holocaust. The hairless figure, hands blocking the sound of the scream under a blood-red sky, is one of the four versions Munch created. The others are in museums in Norway. The original frame includes the hand-painted poem that inspired the image. Munch described himself as "shivering with anxiety." "I felt the great scream in nature." The pastel is owned by Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen, whose father was a friend and patron of the artist. Olsen plans to use the money to create a museum and art center. Margot Adler, NPR News, New York.

 

Before the close, US stocks mixed with the Dow down 11 points, NASDAQ up nine, S&P 500 down four.