Author Jamaica Kincaid is out with a new novel, her first in 10 years.

Kincaid is perhaps best known for her books At the Bottom of the River and The Autobiography of My Mother. Her new book, See Now Then, tackles some difficult themes.

The novel opens with a scene of a seemingly idyllic home life in small-town New England. But it is soon clear the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Sweet is anything but sweet.

It was not the outcome they had hoped for, but in his first interview since losing the presidential election, Mitt Romney said he and his wife are moving on.

Speaking to host Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, Romney described last year's presidential race, his second attempt at serving in the White House, as a "great, thrilling experience of a lifetime."

"It didn't end the way we wanted it to, but the experience itself was magnificent," Romney said.

Both he and his wife, Ann, said they did not expect to lose to President Obama last November.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is in hospital where she's being treated for symptoms of gastroenteritis.

NPR's Philip Reeves is reporting on the story for out Newscast unit. Here's what he says:

Syrian President Bashar Assad, in apparent response to Secretary of State John Kerry's remarks last week in support of opposition forces in Syria, says only the Syrian people can tell him to step down.

"Only Syrian people can tell the president stay or leave, come or go. No one else," he said in an interview to Britain's Sunday Times.

It was a rare TV interview for the Syrian president, whose regime has battled rebels as well as calls to step down for nearly two years.

Cardinals from all over the world are gathering at the Vatican, as they take their first steps toward electing a new pope. They'll meet Monday for their first official meeting since Pope Benedict stepped down last week. Host Rachel Martin speaks with NPR's Sylvia Poggioli.

The Dragon has been captured. The SpaceX unmanned craft connected with the International Space Station at 5:31 a.m. ET, NASA tweeted. The spacecraft arrived a day late due to mechanical problems after Friday's launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Sunday, one woman will make history in the National Football League. Lauren Silberman, a 28-year-old life-long soccer player, will be the first woman to try out at the NFL's regional combine in New York.

Host Rachel Martin speaks with congressional scholar Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution about the economic and political impact of sequestration. He is the co-author of a book about political gridlock, called It's Even Worse Than It Looks.

Host Rachel Martin and NPR's Scott Horsley cover the three most important elements of the federal budget cuts known as sequestration, which went into effect Friday.