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Update at 7:27 p.m. ET. Toys R Us Pulls Dolls:

After a controversy stirred by a Florida mom, Toys R Us is pulling a line of action figures based on the TV show Breaking Bad.

The AP reports that in a statement, the toy retailer said: "Let's just say, the action figures have taken an indefinite sabbatical."

The retailer had at first said the dolls — one of which was a teacher turned meth dealer — were intended for adults. The dolls, however, will no longer be sold in stores or on the retailer's website.

Our Original Post Continues:

Walter White and Jesse Pinkman have moved from the small screen to your neighborhood toy store. And some people aren't happy about that at all.

A line of action figures based on the characters from the award-winning AMC show Breaking Bad have been seen on Toys R Us shelves and on ToysRUs.com. One mother, Susan Schrivjer of Fort Myers, Fla., didn't want her children exposed to the toys, which are based on a high school chemistry teacher turned crystal meth dealer and his druggie sidekick. (The Walter White character at Toys R Us even comes complete with a bag of fake crystal meth.)

Schrivjer started a change.org petition. She wrote:

"Parents and grandparents around the world shop at Toys R Us, online and in [stores], with their children and should not be forced to explain why a certain toy comes with a bag of highly dangerous and illegal drugs or why someone who sells those drugs deserves to be made into an action figure.

"Please sign to join me in asking Toys R Us to stop selling the Breaking Bad dolls and return to the family focused atmosphere for which they are known."

As of Tuesday, the petition had over 7,000 signatures.

Schrivjer also made an appearance on the Fort Myers Fox affiliate, Fox4Now. She had harsh words for the toys, although she admitted she was a fan of the show:

" 'Knowing those are the items one needs to make meth I just think that it's wrong,' Schrivjer says. ... 'Kids mimic their action figures, if you will.' Schrivjer tells FOX 4 'Do you want your child in an orange jumpsuit?' "

NBC says Toys R Us defended the action figures:

"Florida mom petitions against Toys 'R Us over Breaking Bad action figures." I'm so mad, I'm burning my Florida Mom action figure in protest

— Bryan Cranston (@BryanCranston) October 20, 2014

"In a statement, Toys 'R Us told NBC News that 'the product packaging clearly notes that the items are intended for ages 15 and up' and 'are located in the adult action figure area of our stores.' "

Breaking Bad action figures did not show up on the Toys R Us website during a search by NPR Tuesday. And Toys R Us has not responded to our request for comment. But Wal-Mart, eBay and Barnes and Noble all had the toys for sale online.

Meanwhile, Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston is taking all of this news in stride:

Correction Oct. 21, 2014

A previous photo caption incorrectly said that Breaking Bad ended its final season on Sunday. The show actually ended in September 2013.

toys r us

Breaking Bad

Florida

At a front-line outpost — a few sandbags, soldiers and grenades perched on the brow of a hill — the Iraqi Kurdish soldiers known as Peshmerga are looking out toward the town of Jalula, maybe three miles away.

A few months ago, the so-called Islamic State seized Jalula in eastern Iraq. The Peshmerga took it back, but now the militants have retaken it. The soldiers catch sight of three vehicles belonging to the Islamic State rolling toward the outpost.

They rattle off machine gun fire at the Humvees heading our way and the vehicles change direction. But that's not always been a good sign. The jihadists keep slipping through Peshmerga defenses, to stage ambushes and lay roadside bombs.

More than four months after the Islamic State burst into towns and cities across Iraq, taking over checkpoints, bases and government buildings, they've changed tack. Now, rival military commanders say they're using ambushes, booby traps and mines.

Peshmerga discuss how to respond to the approach of ISIS fighters from an outpost near the front lines. Alice Fordham/NPR hide caption

itoggle caption Alice Fordham/NPR

The Peshmerga say that's preventing the Kurdish forces from holding turf and causing heavy casualties.

Back at base in the nearby town of Khanaqin, Gen. Mahmoud Sangawy says his biggest problems are roadside bombs, mines and the traps the jihadists leave when they withdraw from their territory.

"They make booby-trapped houses — if you open the kitchen door, it will explode," he says. "Or they leave the gas cylinder open to explode when you enter."

The Peshmerga are not trained for this. Teams of British soldiers and security contractors are giving them lessons in how to deal with this new threat. At a recent session, consultant Chris de Gruchy talked about IEDs — improvised explosive devices.

"It's a very valuable weapon in the insurgent arsenal to provide them a capability where they might be outmatched and outgunned in other areas," he says.

In exercises, one Peshmerga practices using devices to detect explosives, while another lumbers over to a suspect vehicle in a bombproof suit that weighs 70 pounds. His name is Umeid Kharaman, and he's been a military engineer for three years, but this is the first time he's had any proper training. And he's lost a lot of friends to car bombs.

i i

Gen. Mahmoud Sangawi (second from right) says his biggest problems are roadside bombs, mines and the traps the jihadists leave when they withdraw from their territory. Alice Fordham/NPR hide caption

itoggle caption Alice Fordham/NPR

Gen. Mahmoud Sangawi (second from right) says his biggest problems are roadside bombs, mines and the traps the jihadists leave when they withdraw from their territory.

Alice Fordham/NPR

His commander, Gen. Zana Abdulrahman counters that the Peshmerga are trained — but for regular combat in their own region.

"Our officers got their experience on the mountain," he says. Gradually, he says, they're improving their skills.

For some though, that's coming too late.

A medical director for the Peshmerga, Dr. Mohsen Rashid, leads the way through a hospital in the city of Erbil to Rebwa Hassan, lying with bolts in his leg and wincing when he tries to sit up

"A brave Peshmerga," says Rashid. "Injured by a bomb, a big one." He holds up an X-ray of the man's leg; it looks like his bones exploded.

Hassan tells me two people were killed in the attack that shattered his leg.

And the militants put bombs under everything, he says, under weapons they leave lying around, in houses. The doctor's own family wasn't spared. Rashid tells me his nephew, a young officer, was killed by a mine last month

"We are proud of him, really," he says, his voice catching, "although we miss him too much."

Rashid won't give specific numbers, but he says so far hundreds of Peshmerga have been killed and injured in this way. He says it's an emergency.

Islamic State

Kurds

Iraq

Updated at 1:35 p.m. ET

Jeffrey Fowle, one of three Americans held by North Korea, has been released, the White House says.

Fowle, 56, who was detained in June, allegedly for leaving a Bible in his hotel room in North Korea, was home today after negotiators secured his release.

At the time, North Korean state media said he had "acted in violation of the [North Korean] law, contrary to the purpose of tourism during his stay."

State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said Washington has tried for months to send a high-level envoy to North Korea to seek release of the three men.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest says the Pentagon provided Fowle with a flight home.

"While this is a positive decision by the DPRK, we remain focused on the continued detention of Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller and call on the DPRK to immediately release them," Earnest said, referring to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

In June, NPR's Frank Langfitt reported that Fowle had "worked repairing streets in Ohio" and entered North Korea in April. The following month, the State Department urged Americans not to travel to North Korea because of the risk of detention.

Matthew Miller, 24, entered North Korea as a tourist in early April. State media there said he ripped up his tourist visa and demanded asylum. Miller was sentenced to six years' hard labor last month for committing acts "hostile" to the regime.

Kenneth Bae, 45, variously described as a missionary and a businessman, was arrested in 2012 and later sentenced to 15 years' hard labor on charges that included attempted overthrow of the Pyongyang government.

North Korea