News From NPR

The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association says that American skier Lindsey Vonn crashed during the women's world Super-G competition in Austria today and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. Reports indicate she may have a serious knee injury.

The gold-winning Olympian was trailing the race leader by 0.12 seconds, according to the USSA, when she crashed. She was taken for medical treatment by helicopter, which the organization says is 'standard protocol'.

(We updated the top of this post at 1:30 p.m. ET.)

Looking to head off deep, automatic spending cuts set to kick in on March 1, President Obama on Tuesday afternoon said that to avoid the negative economic effects that come with "political disfunction," Congress should move quickly to pass "a smaller package of spending cuts and tax reforms" that won't hurt the economy.

It's a real bummer to be told to eat less of something. Especially when it's salt, the ubiquitous ingredient that seems to make everything taste a little better.

If you're investing to protect yourself from something that may happen 20 or 30 years down the road, you'd like to be confident that your plan will keep pace with the times.

That's a calculation purchasers of long-term care insurance have to make. But a provision in those policies that people rely on to help ensure their coverage will meet their needs decades hence may fall short.

"Slumping personal computer maker Dell is selling itself for $24.4 billion to its founder and a group of investors that includes Microsoft," The Associated Press writes, in "the largest deal of its kind since the Great Recession dried up financing for risky maneuvers like this."

The wire service adds that "the complex agreement announced Tuesday will end Dell Inc.'s nearly 25-year history as a publicly traded company. Shareholders are receiving $13.65 per share for their stock. ... Founder Michael Dell will remain the company's CEO and largest shareholder."