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Movies I've Seen A Million Times
2:09 pm
Sun May 19, 2013

The Movie Katie Aselton Has 'Seen A Million Times'

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 4:18 pm

The weekends on All Things Considered series Movies I've Seen A Million Times features filmmakers, actors, writers and directors talking about the movies that they never get tired of watching.

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The Two-Way
1:42 pm
Sun May 19, 2013

North Korea Fires Another 'Short-Range Projectile'

North Korea launched another short-range projectile on Sunday, just a day after they launched three similar objects.

The projectile landed away from neighboring countries in the sea off North Korea's east coast.

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The Two-Way
11:34 am
Sun May 19, 2013

WSJ: Yahoo! Board Approves $1.1 Billion Purchase Of Tumblr

Credit Brad Barket / Getty Images
Yahoo President and CEO Marissa Mayer.

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 1:39 pm

The Wall Street Journal has this breaking news from the tech world:

"The Yahoo board has approved a deal to pay $1.1 billion in cash for the blogging site Tumblr."

The Journal, the only outlet reporting the approval, is sourcing its story to "people familiar with the matter." Lauren Armstrong, a Yahoo spokeswoman, told us in an email that they "don't comment on rumors or speculation."

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The Two-Way
9:37 am
Sun May 19, 2013

On Sunday News Shows, Obama Official Plays Defense

Credit Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images
President Obama walks across the tarmac to greet well-wishers on Sunday upon his arrival in Atlanta, Ga., where he will attend the commencement at Morehouse College.

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 12:24 pm

Talk during the Sunday news shows today focused expectedly on the trifecta of scandals — IRS targeting of conservative groups, the seizure of AP phone records and the attack of the Benghazi consulate — rocking the Obam

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The Two-Way
8:32 am
Sun May 19, 2013

Police Accidentally Killed Hofstra University Student

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 12:00 pm

After analyzing forensic evidence, Nassau County Police in New York said on Saturday that it was a shot fired by an officer that killed 21-year-old Andrea Rebello.

Rebello, a junior at Hofstra University, was being held hostage by a masked gunman who broke into a house she shared with her sister. Police came looking for the man, when he turned a gun on them. The man allegedly had Rebello in a headlock.

CBC News reports that's when an police officer shot eight rounds. Seven hit Dalton Smith, the gunman, and one of them hit Rebello.

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The Two-Way
6:38 am
Sun May 19, 2013

WATCH: David Beckham Tears Up At Final Home Game

The Salt
6:05 am
Sun May 19, 2013

Giant Renaissance Food People Descend Upon New York

Originally published on Tue May 21, 2013 2:30 pm

It takes a lot of chutzpah to reduce one of the most powerful men on Earth to a pile of fruits and vegetables.

Luckily for art lovers, Giuseppe Arcimboldo had nerve to spare.

Arcimboldo created this unorthodox produce portrait of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II back in 1590. By that time, the Italian artist had been painting for the emperor and his powerful Habsburg family for more than 25 years, so presumably, they'd grown used to his visual jokes. (The emperor has "peachy" cheeks and "ears" of corn, get it?)

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The Two-Way
5:28 am
Sun May 19, 2013

A Lucky Winner In Florida Could Be $590.5 Million Richer

Credit Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
A customer holds a Powerball ticket and money as he waits in line on May 17, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif.

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 6:27 am

If you bought a Powerball ticket in Zephyrhills, Fla., sit down and look at these numbers:

10, 13, 14, 22, 52 and 11.

As the AP reports, lottery officials believe only one ticket matched all six numbers in yesterday's Powerball drawing with a record $590.5 million jackpot.

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From Our Listeners
4:54 am
Sun May 19, 2013

Three-Minute Fiction: 'Ten Ring Fingers' And 'Ghost Words'

Credit iStockphoto.com

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 4:18 pm

NPR's Bob Mondello and Susan Stamberg read excerpts of two of the best submissions for Round 11 of our short story contest. They read Ten Ring Fingers by Tamara Breuer of Washington, D.C., and Ghost Words by Matheus Macedo of Winthrop, Mass. You can read their full stories below and find other stories on our Three-Minute Fiction page or on Facebook.

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Parallels
4:07 am
Sun May 19, 2013

Russian Lawmakers: Don't Criticize Soviet Actions In WWII

Credit Yuri Kadobnov / AFP/Getty Images
A column of Russia's T-90 tanks rumbles over the cobblestones in Moscow's Red Square on May 9 during the country's Victory Day parade celebrating the anniversary of its costly victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

World War II remains a monumental event in the collective Russian mind. It's known as the "Great Patriotic War," and Russians believe no one made greater sacrifices than the Soviet Union when it came to defeating Nazi Germany.

The end of the war is celebrated with a huge military parade in Moscow's Red Square on May 9, commemorating the millions of men and women, military and civilian, who died during the struggle.

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Parallels
3:50 am
Sun May 19, 2013

Escape From An Eritrean Prison

Credit Stan Honda / AFP/Getty
Eritrea's human rights record has been widely criticized under President Isaias Afwerki, shown here speaking at the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 23, 2011.

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 6:56 am

U.S.
3:41 am
Sun May 19, 2013

Detective On Closing Case After Committing Decades To It

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 12:11 pm

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Rachel Martin.

Earlier this month, three women held captive for nearly a decade came home. Amanda Barry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were rescued from a Cleveland basement where they had been held captive since early 2002. The case has generated worldwide attention, some of it fell on the Cleveland Police Department. Officers there had searched in vain over the years for the missing women. Following a case like this for years demands an emotional investment from investigators.

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Politics
3:41 am
Sun May 19, 2013

Political Takeaways: Headaches For The White House

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 12:11 pm

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

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U.S.
3:41 am
Sun May 19, 2013

How Possessive: The Apostrophe's Place In Space

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 12:11 pm

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I'm sure if I asked him, Will Shortz would probably acknowledge that the same people who really love words and word play also have a special affinity for punctuation. I would put myself in this camp. I have a lot of respect for a well-placed semicolon. But it's really the ellipsis that captures my punctuation imagination. To be honest, I've never much cared for the apostrophe. Maybe it's just too utilitarian.

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Middle East
3:41 am
Sun May 19, 2013

How The Syria Debate Is Playing Out In The Middle East

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 12:11 pm

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

That concern is reflected in the Arab media. Ramez Maluf, head of the Department of Journalism at Balamand University in Lebanon, has been tracking that reaction. He joined us from our bureau in Beirut. And I asked him how invested people in the region are in the conflict in Syria.

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Politics
3:41 am
Sun May 19, 2013

Nonconservative Groups Say IRS Scrutinized Them, Too

Credit Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images
Outgoing acting Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Steve Miller (right) and Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George are sworn before a full House Ways and Means Committee hearing Friday.

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 4:46 pm

The IRS was in the hot seat Friday, with its outgoing acting commissioner testifying before a House committee. A Senate panel is scheduled for Tuesday. Congress is prodding to find out why the agency singled out conservative groups for special scrutiny.

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Afghanistan
3:41 am
Sun May 19, 2013

Afghans With Disabilities Fight For The Right To Rights

Credit Sean Carberry / NPR
A technician shapes a cast mold for a prosthetic limb at the Red Cross orthopedic clinic in Kabul. The clinic produces about 2,000 prosthetic limbs each year.

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 4:44 pm

Climbing the rickety metal staircase is precarious enough if you aren't on crutches, but it's simply dangerous if you are. At the top is the office of Janbazan-e-Mayhan, one of many social councils for disabled Afghans. Men missing arms, legs or hands sit around the small room.

Afghanistan isn't an easy place for anyone to make a living. But for those with disabilities, it's a downright hostile environment. Tens of thousands have been maimed and disabled during decades of conflict. Jobs are scarce, and there's almost nothing that's handicapped-accessible.

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Sunday Puzzle
2:28 am
Sun May 19, 2013

Put On Your Thinking Hat

Credit NPR Graphic

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 12:11 pm

On-air challenge: Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which the first word starts with H-A and the second word starts with T.

Last week's challenge: From listener Al Gori of Cozy Lake, N.J. Name a famous American man — first and last names. Change the first letter of his first name from T to H. The result will sound like a term for an attractive person. Who is it?

Answer: Ted Turner; head turner

Winner: Vernon Cole, Brownsboro, Ala.

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Business
10:51 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

Tesla Rides High, But Faces Formidable Foe: Car Dealers

Credit Stan Honda / AFP/Getty Images
The Tesla Model S, Motor Trend Car of the Year, is introduced at the 2013 North American International Auto Show, in Detroit in January. Tesla's attempts to sell its cars without going through dealerships is meeting resistance.

Tesla Motors, the American maker of luxury electric cars, has been riding a wave of good publicity.

Its Model S sedan (base priced at $62,400, after federal tax credits) was just named Motor Trend Car of the Year. Reviewers at Consumer Reports gave the lithium-ion battery powered vehicle a rave.

And the company, headed by billionaire innovator Elon Musk, 41, posted a profit for the first time in its 10-year history — powered in part by zero-emission environmental credits.

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Movie Reviews
4:14 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

New 'Trek' Goes 'Into Darkness,' But Not Much Deeper

Credit Zade Rosenthal / Courtesy Paramount Pictures
Zachary Quinto as Spock, with Chris Pine as Kirk, in Star Trek: Into Darkness.

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 5:47 pm

The opening sequence of J.J. Abram's new entry in the Star Trek universe has all the ingredients of the classic franchise.

There's Kirk and his crew bellowing on the bridge, everyone worrying about the prime directive and our favorite Vulcan trapped in a volcano.

OK, I'm in. I may not be a fanboy anymore, but I sure was in my youth, and having these guys in their youths again is just as cool at the outset as it was last time.

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Mental Health
3:27 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

Alzheimer's Cases Rise, But Hope Remains

Credit Sarah Brodzinski
Amy Goyer moved back to Phoenix to look after her father, Robert, when he began to show signs of Alzheimer's. He is just one of 5 million Americans living with the disease.

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 5:47 pm

More than 5 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer's disease, and the National Institute on Aging estimates that that number is going to triple by 2050 — in part due to aging baby boomers.

The cost of coping with the disease — currently estimated at $215 billion — is projected to rise to half a trillion dollars by 2050. That amount will likely tax our overburdened health care system, the economy and the families of those affected.

Amy Goyer realized her 84-year-old father Robert's health was deteriorating one night while watching a movie with him.

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The Two-Way
3:09 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

Prominent Pakistani Politician Shot, Killed On Re-Election Eve

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 1:25 am

On the eve of a re-vote, a prominent Pakistani politician was shot and killed on Saturday.

Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reports that Zahra Shahid Hussain, who was the senior vice president of Pakistan's Movement for Justice (PTI), was shot in the head during "an attempted robbery incident."

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Around the Nation
2:42 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

Impossible Choice Faces America's First 'Climate Refugees'

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 3:59 am

Climate change is a stark reality in America's northernmost state. Nearly 90 percent of native Alaskan villages are on the coast, where dramatic erosion and floods have become a part of daily life.

Perched on the Ninglick River on the west coast of the state, the tiny town of Newtok may be the state's most vulnerable village. About 350 people live there, nearly all of them Yupik Eskimos. But the Ninglick is rapidly rising due to ice melt, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the highest point in the town — a school — could be underwater by 2017.

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From Our Listeners
2:41 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

Three-Minute Fiction Reading: 'Plum Baby'

Credit  

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 5:47 pm

NPR's Susan Stamberg reads an excerpt of one of the best submissions for Round 11 of our short story contest. She reads Plum Baby by Carmiel Banasky of Portland, Ore. You can read the full story below and find other stories on our Three-Minute Fiction page or on Facebook.

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Author Interviews
2:41 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

'Waiting To Be Heard' No More, Amanda Knox Speaks Out

Credit Oli Scarff / AP
Amanda Knox enters an Italian court on Oct. 3, 2011, just before being acquitted of murdering her British roommate, Meredith Kercher.

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 5:47 pm

When 20-year-old Amanda Knox left for Italy in August 2007, it was supposed to be a carefree year studying abroad.

No one could have foreseen it ending in her being accused, tried and convicted in the murder of her roommate, Meredith Kercher.

The case, and Knox, became an international media sensation.

"I think that there was a lot of fantasy projected onto me," she tells weekends on All Things Considered host Jacki Lyden. "And that resulted in a re-appropriation and re-characterization of who I am."

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Business
2:41 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

Internships: Low-Paid, Unpaid Or Just Plain Illegal?

Credit Seth Perlman / AP
Students fill out applications during a job fair at the University of Illinois Springfield in February. Fed up with working for free, some interns are suing their employers.

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 5:47 pm

Summer is almost here, and with it comes the army of interns marching into countless American workplaces. Yet what was once an opportunity for the inexperienced is becoming a front-line labor issue.

More and more, unpaid and low-paid interns are feeling their labor is being exploited. Some are even willing to push back — with lawsuits.

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Parallels
2:20 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

Spaniard's Song Brings YouTube Fame ... And Maybe A Job

Credit mrenzovic/youtube.com
Enzo Vizcaíno, a 24-year-old unemployed Spaniard, isn't singing for his supper. He just wants a job.
The Two-Way
1:14 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

Bashar Assad: A Political Solution In Syria is 'Unreal'

Credit Louai Beshara / AFP/Getty Images
Syrian President Bashar Assad made it clear in an interview with the Argentine newspaper El Clarin that he was not resigning.

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 1:22 pm

Syrian President Bashar Assad essentially dismissed attempts by the United States and Russia to bring the civil war in the country to a political solution.

"Believing that a political conference will stop terrorism on the ground is unreal," Assad said in an exclusive interview with the Argentine newspaper El Clarin. Assad also took the usual stance on a wide range of issues.

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Fresh Air Weekend
11:09 am
Sat May 18, 2013

Fresh Air Weekend: Gerwig, Baumbach, Dawes And Polley

Credit Roadside Attractions
For her latest film, Stories We Tell, Sarah Polley turns her camera on her own family.

Fresh Air Weekendhighlights some of the best interviews and reviews from past weeks, and new program elements specially paced for weekends. Our weekend show emphasizes interview with writers, filmmakers, actors and musicians, and often includes excerpts from live in-studio concerts. This week:

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The Two-Way
10:58 am
Sat May 18, 2013

Afghan Parliament Halts Debate On Women's Rights Bill

Credit Nicolas Asfouri / AFP/Getty Images
A boy holds the burqa of his mother as they walk down a street in the old city of Kabul on November 1, 2009.

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 8:58 pm

After protests from some MPs and after only about 15 minutes, the Afghan parliament halted debate Saturday on a bill aimed at curbing violence against women.

As the BBC reports, the bill would have solidified a law passed by presidential decree in 2009, which banned "violence against women, child marriages and forced marriages."

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