NPR News

Pages

Shots - Health Blog
3:27 pm
Fri June 15, 2012

Calif. Runs With Health Law Without Waiting On Supreme Court

Credit iStockphoto.com
California lawmakers have been introducing legislation that would replicate key pieces of the federal law, including bills defining benefits and guaranteeing coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.

Originally published on Fri June 15, 2012 4:25 pm

Many states have done nothing to implement the health overhaul law, saying they'll wait to see how the Supreme Court rules.

Not California.

The country's most populous state got out in front first on implementing the law, and it hasn't slowed down in recent weeks as the rest of the country waits to hear from the high court.

Read more
Africa
2:59 pm
Fri June 15, 2012

Egypt Shake Up A 'Coup With A Legal Framework'

Originally published on Fri June 15, 2012 4:25 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

And I'm Audie Cornish. Egyptian voters go back to the polls tomorrow for the runoff in the country's historic presidential election. The leader of the Muslim Brotherhood is facing off against a man who was prime minister under the now-imprisoned former President Hosni Mubarak.

Read more
The Two-Way
2:57 pm
Fri June 15, 2012

The Euro Crisis Has A Beat (And You Can Cry To It)

Credit The Guardian/YouTube

Originally published on Mon July 9, 2012 6:52 pm

The Two-Way
2:55 pm
Fri June 15, 2012

Napolitano: New Immigration Policy Is Part Of A 'Strong Enforcement'

Credit Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Originally published on Fri June 15, 2012 4:25 pm

In an interview with All Things Considered's Audie Cornish, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the administration's decision to defer the deportation of some young illegal immigrants is a part of a "strong enforcement" of immigration laws.

She said that this administration has stymied illegal border crossings and stepped up deportations of criminals.

"Strong enforcement also embodies looking at different categories differently when the facts justify that we do so," Napolitano said.

Read more
National Security
2:55 pm
Fri June 15, 2012

50 Years After A Cold War Drama, A Silver Star

Originally published on Fri June 15, 2012 4:58 pm

When an experimental U.S. spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960, the U.S. government quickly came up with elaborate cover stories.

"The plane [Soviet leader Nikita] Khrushchev reported shot down inside Russian territory presumably is an American, single-engine jet, a U-2 reported missing on a flight along the Turkish-Russian border last Sunday," a broadcast at the time said. "The national space agency has been flying these planes, 10 of them, in many parts of the world, studying the upper atmosphere."

Read more
Shots - Health Blog
2:22 pm
Fri June 15, 2012

As More Americans Live Through Cancer, Survivors' Ranks Grow

Originally published on Fri June 15, 2012 3:07 pm

A cancer diagnosis is no longer a death sentence for many people who get one.

The ranks of American cancer survivors are growing, and will increase from 13.7 million in January 2012 to nearly 18 million in January 2022, according to a report from the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute.

Read more
It's All Politics
1:54 pm
Fri June 15, 2012

With DREAM Order, Obama Did What Presidents Do — Act Without Congress

Credit Susan Walsh / AP
President Obama on Friday announced he was using his executive power to give some young illegal immigrants the right to stay longer in the United States.

Originally published on Mon June 18, 2012 11:12 am

President Obama's announcement Friday that he is using his executive authority to defer deportation proceedings for young immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally but meet certain requirements was just the latest example of the president's use of his power to act without Congress on policy issues.

Read more
Food
1:20 pm
Fri June 15, 2012

African Land Fertile Ground For Crops And Investors

Originally published on Fri June 15, 2012 4:25 pm

Second of a two-part story. Read Part 1

In some countries of Africa, there's a land rush under way as investors claim farmland, establish mega-farms and try to cash in on high prices for food and biofuels. These deals are controversial. Critics accuse investors of dispossessing subsistence farmers.

Read more
The Salt
1:11 pm
Fri June 15, 2012

Salmonella in Dog Food Is Making Humans Sick

Credit Harkamal Nijjar / iStockphoto.com
Dogs are cute, but they can give Salmonella to their owners.

A lot of people share everything with their dogs — a long walk, a bed, even people food. But one thing you might not want to share is a nasty bug called Salmonella.

Read more
The Two-Way
1:08 pm
Fri June 15, 2012

Neil Munro, Of Daily Caller, Interrupts President During Rose Garden Address

Credit Alex Wong / Getty Images
Neil Munro of the Daily Caller (center) interrupts U.S. President Barack Obama with questions as he delivered remarks in the Rose Garden at the White House.

Originally published on Fri June 15, 2012 5:52 pm

President Obama grew very angry when Neil Munro of the website Daily Caller shouted a question in the middle of his address at the Rose Garden.

The first time he was interrupted, Obama said, "Excuse me sir. It's not time for questions, sir. Not while I'm speaking."

The president was issuing a statement about his administration's decision to delay the deportation of some young immigrants. Toward the end of his speech, Obama addressed Munro directly.

Here's a bit of audio from that moment:

Read more
Shots - Health Blog
11:51 am
Fri June 15, 2012

Know The Enemy: Scientists Use Genetics To Get Ahead Of Malaria

Credit John C. Tan / AP
A micrograph shows red blood cells infected by the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum.

Originally published on Fri June 15, 2012 12:20 pm

Like the proverbial mosquito that buzzes in your ear but won't die, a lasting solution to malaria has been maddeningly elusive to health experts.

Read more
Interviews
11:44 am
Fri June 15, 2012

Desktop Diaries: Sylvia Earle

A moray eel, a flock of geese and a shrunken head are just a few of the things found in and around Her Deepness' office. Earle, an explorer-in-residence at the National Geographic, has desks all over the country. A few months ago we stopped by her Oakland home-base for the next installment in our Desktop Diaries series.

The Two-Way
11:43 am
Fri June 15, 2012

An L.A. Preschool Graduation Turns Into A Brawl

Credit Youtube
A screen shot of a Youtube video.

Originally published on Fri June 15, 2012 1:09 pm

As the father of an almost 3-year-old, I know the preschool years can get pretty rowdy.

Read more
Science
11:37 am
Fri June 15, 2012

Neanderthals: The Oldest Cave Painters?

Reporting in Science, researchers write that a red disk painted in Spain's El Castillo cave is at least 40,800 years old--making it the oldest known European cave art. Archaeologist Alistair Pike discusses how his team dated the disk, and whether Neanderthals could have painted it.

World Health
11:32 am
Fri June 15, 2012

Virus Hunter Recalls Discovery Of Ebola And HIV

Transcript

IRA FLATOW, HOST:

This is SCIENCE FRIDAY; I'm Ira Flatow. Imagine a cargo plane dropping you off in a remote corner of the African jungle. The area you've just entered is under quarantine for a mysterious plague. Nobody knows how many people it has killed, but all who have fallen sick die within eight days, first high fever, headache, hallucinations, then usually bleeding to death.

Read more
Science
11:26 am
Fri June 15, 2012

Putting a Friendly Face on Statistics

Transcript

IRA FLATOW, HOST:

Read more
NPR Story
11:24 am
Fri June 15, 2012

How The Morning-After Pill Works

Originally published on Fri June 15, 2012 12:12 pm

Mitt Romney referred to morning after-pills as 'abortive pills.' The FDA-approved label on Plan B indicates it may prevent fertilized eggs from implanting in a woman's uterus. Dr. Kristina Gemzell-Danielsson, an obstetrics and gynecology professor at Karolinska Institute, discusses the growing scientific evidence to the contrary.

NPR Story
11:24 am
Fri June 15, 2012

Mapping The Microbial Make-Up Of Healthy Humans

Originally published on Fri June 15, 2012 12:05 pm

Transcript

IRA FLATOW, HOST:

There are trillions of germs that live on us. What are they? What do they do? Inquiring minds want to know, and so they set to find out. And after five years of research, a group of several hundred scientists has released a census of the bacteria, viruses, fungi, other microorganisms that call our bodies home.

Read more
NPR Story
11:24 am
Fri June 15, 2012

Bacterial Armor Imaged, Down To The Details

Originally published on Fri June 15, 2012 11:56 am

Reporting in Nature, an international team of scientists say they've visualized the structure of a protective protein coat that surrounds many bacteria, down to the scale of a single atom. Structural microbiologist Han Remaut, co-author of the study, discusses potential applications of the research.

The Two-Way
11:07 am
Fri June 15, 2012

Hoax No. 2: 'Kindness In America' Memoir Writer Shot Himself

We were very tempted earlier this week to post about the guy who said he's writing a memoir called Kindness in America and had gotten shot while hitchhiking across the country. Many sites picked up that oh-so-ironic story.

Then we got distracted. Probably by our shoes.

Read more
Politics
10:34 am
Fri June 15, 2012

In Washington, Leaking As A Way Of Life

Credit Charles Tasnadi / AP
President Richard Nixon tells reporters he will not allow his legal counsel, John Dean, to testify before Congress in the Watergate investigation, March 15, 1973. Leaks about the Watergate break-in eventually helped lead to Nixon's resignation. And his administration fought and lost a Supreme Court battle over leaking of the so-called Pentagon Papers about Vietnam.

Originally published on Fri June 15, 2012 12:27 pm

A leak — in a pipeline, at a nuclear plant, within a top-secret agency — can be dangerous, disastrous, deadly. But sometimes a leak can also be a good thing — drawing attention to a larger systemic problem.

The debate over news leaks bubbled up again this week after reports that The New York Times relied on information from top-tier and unnamed U.S. officials to reveal details about the U.S. cyberbattle against Iran.

Read more
Planet Money
10:30 am
Fri June 15, 2012

An Austerity Wedding, With No Money For A Dress

Credit Nikolia Apostolou / NPR
Elias Tilligadas and Katerina Margeritou are getting married next week.

Originally published on Fri June 15, 2012 4:25 pm

Katerina Margaritou and Elias Tilligadas live in Athens. They're getting married next Wednesday — three days after the Greek election that has the global economy on edge.

Katerina is a chemist, and she works for a company whose main customer is the Greek government. The Greek government, of course, is broke. So Katerina hasn't been paid since last year.

"I'm very happy because I'm getting married," Katerina told me this week. "But I'm very sad because at the moment I cannot buy a dress. My boss promised me that he's going to give money to buy a dress. So I'm waiting."

Read more
'It's All Politics': NPR's Weekly News Roundup
10:16 am
Fri June 15, 2012

It's All Politics, June 14, 2012

Credit David Karp / AP

June already has brought a strong dose of bad news for President Obama, from the monthly jobs report to questions about his Cabinet. So, how much can an incumbent blame on his predecessor?

Plus, Gabby Giffords' annointed successor wins the House seat in Arizona's special election. NPR's Ron Elving and Ken Rudin discuss.

Read more
The Two-Way
10:10 am
Fri June 15, 2012

Rajat Gupta Guilty In Insider Trading Case

Credit Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/Getty Images
Rajat Gupta on Wednesday as he arrived at the federal courthouse in Manhattan.

"Rajat Gupta, who reached the pinnacle of corporate America as managing partner of McKinsey & Co. and was a director at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Procter & Gamble, was convicted by a federal jury of leaking inside information to hedge-fund manager Raj Rajaratnam," Bloomberg News writes.

The Associated Press recaps the case:

Read more
Shots - Health Blog
10:09 am
Fri June 15, 2012

Insurers Wait For Verdict On Health Care Law And Their Bottom Line

Credit John Rose / NPR
Demonstrators both for and against the health care law turned out on the steps of the Supreme Court on March 27, the second day of oral arguments before the court.

Originally published on Fri June 15, 2012 4:25 pm

All eyes these days are trained on the U.S. Supreme Court, which is expected to rule sometime this month on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.

But some people are waiting more anxiously for the court to rule than others. Among them are those with a major financial stake in whether the law goes forward or not and if so, in what form.

Read more
Television
9:53 am
Fri June 15, 2012

'Car 54' Re-Release Drives An Old Fan To Reminisce

Originally published on Fri June 15, 2012 4:24 pm

I grew up in New York City, but I didn't watch Car 54, Where Are You? until I got hooked on it in syndication long after it was originally aired. So I was very happy to see the complete series of 60 episodes released on two DVD boxed sets. The episode in Season 2 titled "I Hate Capt. Block," about trying to teach a recalcitrant parrot to talk and the way people are not much smarter than parrots, is one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen on television, maybe as inspired as Sid Caesar's foreign film parodies or Carol Burnett's version of Gone with the Wind.

Read more
Remembrances
9:53 am
Fri June 15, 2012

For 'Wiseguy' Henry Hill, Mobster 'Days Were Over'

Originally published on Fri June 15, 2012 4:29 pm

Henry Hill, the mobster-turned-informant portrayed by Ray Liotta in the film Goodfellas, died Tuesday at age 69. Hill's colorful life — he lived in Cincinnati; Omaha; Butte, Mont.; Independence, Ky.; and Topanga, Calif., among other places — was documented in crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi's 1986 book Wiseguy and then in Martin Scorsese's film Goodfellas, which was based on Pileggi's book.

Read more
Education
9:36 am
Fri June 15, 2012

FAMU President On Cleaning Up Band Culture

Originally published on Mon June 18, 2012 8:34 am

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I'm Michel Martin, and this is TELL ME MORE, from NPR News. Coming up, America's Catholic bishops are meeting in Atlanta this week. They're asking whether reforms meant to protect kids from sexual abuse are working and they're facing questions about whether they're crossing the line from principled to partisan in their fight against the Obama administration's contraception mandate. We'll talk about all of that in just a few minutes.

Read more
Faith Matters
9:36 am
Fri June 15, 2012

Bishops Ask If Enough Done To Stop Sex Abuse

Originally published on Fri June 15, 2012 1:11 pm

U.S. Catholic bishops are wrapping up their annual meeting in Atlanta. They vowed to continue fighting the Obama administration over contraceptive health coverage. Plus, ten years after sexual abuse scandals were revealed, the bishops assessed whether they're doing enough to protect children. Host Michel Martin speaks with two religion reporters.

Around the Nation
8:55 am
Fri June 15, 2012

U.S. To Stop Deporting Some Young Illegal Immigrants

Originally published on Fri June 15, 2012 8:56 am

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

The Obama administration is announcing a major change in immigration policy this morning. It affects people who are brought to the U.S. as children illegally. Beginning immediately, these young people can avoid deportation and will be allowed to work in this country. The move could affect as many as 800,000 undocumented residents 30 years old or younger.

Joining us now to talk about the move is NPR's Scott Horsley. He's at the White House. And Scott, who exactly is affected?

Read more

Pages