LATEST FROM NPR

Pages

7:08am

Fri April 20, 2012
Books

'China Hand': John Paton Davies Place In History

Originally published on Fri April 20, 2012 10:49 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

When John Paton Davies died, he left some unfinished business. His daughter, Tiki Davies, knew he had signed a contract to write a memoir but never finished it. One of her sisters had a carbon copy of the manuscript, which Tiki Davies started typing into a computer.

TIKI DAVIES: What was interesting to me about retyping it is that it's very much in his voice. He was very funny and an elegant speaker as well as a writer. And so I felt as though I had him back for the couple of months I did this.

Read more

6:55am

Fri April 20, 2012
Around the Nation

Boston Landmark, Fenway Park, Turns 100

The home of the Red Sox may be a Boston landmark but it also holds a place in baseball history. The big green wall in left field is known as the Green Monster. Some fans are paying more than $1,000 to sit on top of the Green Monster when the Red Sox play Friday night.

6:46am

Fri April 20, 2012
Remembrances

The Band's Levon Helm Dies Of Cancer At 71

Drummer and singer Levon Helm was a founding member of The Band. Helm and his group played as a backup band for Bob Dylan in the 1960s. Later the band became famous enough to simply be called The Band.

6:46am

Fri April 20, 2012
Movies

'Marley' Has Great Music, Remarkable Personal Story

Originally published on Fri April 20, 2012 3:25 pm

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Any documentary about a singer-songwriter can provide great music, but with "Marley" you also get a remarkable personal story. We have a review from our critic Kenneth Turan.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

KENNETH TURAN, BYLINE: Bob Marley, who was only 36 when he died in 1981, could be a dusty musical footnote by now. Instead, the enormous popularity of this transcendent reggae superstar shows no sign of going away, and "Marley," a moving and authoritative new documentary, explains why.

Read more

6:46am

Fri April 20, 2012
Middle East

Video Asks Asma Assad To Help Stop Syrian Conflict

Earlier this week, two women took a new approach to raising awareness about Syria's crackdown. The wives of the British and German ambassadors to the United Nations appealed directly to Syria's first lady with a video on YouTube. The narrator calls on Asma Assad to "stop being a bystander" — and to stop her husband and his supporters from continuing the conflict.

6:22am

Fri April 20, 2012
Middle East

EU Increases Humanitarian Aid To Syrian Refugees

Originally published on Fri April 20, 2012 6:46 am

More refugees are fleeing the fighting in Syria. Lynn Neary talks to European Union Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva about what officials are doing to help the internally displaced, and those who have fled to neighboring countries.

5:16am

Fri April 20, 2012
Media

Examining Coverage Of The Trayvon Martin Case

Originally published on Fri April 20, 2012 6:46 am

Transcript

LYNN NEARY, HOST:

The Florida judge in the case of George Zimmerman, who shot and killed teenager Trayvon Martin in February, set bail this morning of $150,000. Zimmerman took the stand during the hearing and told Martin's parents that he was sorry for the loss of their son. Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder, but he claims self-defense. Cable TV news channels carried the bail hearing live.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Read more

5:11am

Fri April 20, 2012
Media

Murdoch's News Corp. Faces New Legal Threats

Originally published on Fri April 20, 2012 6:46 am

Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper division is accused of phone hacking and bribing police officers. That scandal has already cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars. Now News Corp. is fending off media reports that a specialized unit engaged in industrial espionage on behalf of the company's global satellite and cable TV operations.

5:02am

Fri April 20, 2012
Business

The Last Word In Business

Originally published on Fri April 20, 2012 7:24 am

Vegetarians and others were highly distressed after finding out that Starbucks uses a red coloring in some of its drinks that's made from crushed bugs. An online protest campaign delivered thousands of angry emails to Starbucks headquarters.

5:02am

Fri April 20, 2012
Election 2012

Romney Points To Obama's Failed Promises

Originally published on Fri April 20, 2012 6:46 am

One day after President Obama delivered a speech on the U.S. economy in Lorain County, Ohio, Mitt Romney went there Thursday to respond to the president. Romney is chasing the president to accuse the incumbent of failing to live up to his campaign promises.

4:47am

Fri April 20, 2012
NPR Story

Business News

Originally published on Fri April 20, 2012 7:18 am

Nokia gave its new Lumia smartphone a splashy launch this month. The phone runs on a new Microsoft operating system and is a key part of the Finnish company's efforts to regain market share. But on Thursday, Nokia admitted that its new phone isn't connecting with consumers.

4:47am

Fri April 20, 2012
NPR Story

Federal Reserve Delays Enforcement of Volker Rule

Originally published on Tue May 15, 2012 4:31 pm

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Some other news. The Federal Reserve and other banking regulators have granted banks a two-year grace period to come into compliance with the Volcker Rule. That's one of the provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill passed a couple of years ago. It restricts American banks from making trades that put the bank and depositor funds at risk.

But as NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports, regulators are struggling to iron out the details.

Read more

4:47am

Fri April 20, 2012
NPR Story

Google, Oracle Locked In High-Stakes Patent Battle

Originally published on Fri April 20, 2012 8:16 am

Two billionaires took the stand this week — both named Larry. Google's Larry Page and Oracle's Larry Ellison have very different styles and personalities. And that came across in court.

3:26am

Fri April 20, 2012
Planet Money

When Lobbyists Pay To Meet With Congressmen

Originally published on Mon April 23, 2012 5:49 pm

Credit Charles Dharapak / AP

Yesterday, we reported on the fundraisers that lobbyists hold for Congressmen every day in Washington. Today, we hear what happens inside those events. The stories are part of our series on money in politics.

Read more

3:25am

Fri April 20, 2012
Books

The St. Cuthbert Gospel: Looking Pretty Good At 1300

Originally published on Fri April 20, 2012 11:04 am

How much would you pay for a very rare book?

The British Library in London has just paid about $14 million to purchase Europe's oldest intact book, known as the St. Cuthbert Gospel. It's a copy of the Gospel of St. John, thought to have been produced in northeastern England sometime during the seventh century.

Read more

3:24am

Fri April 20, 2012
Europe

Open Season On Spain's King After Luxe Hunting Trip

Originally published on Fri April 20, 2012 6:46 am

For a man used to pomp and paparazzi, King Juan Carlos of Spain looked shaken, emerging from a hospital in Madrid Wednesday after hip surgery.

"I'm very sorry," he said, blinking into the cameras, sheepish, and leaning on his crutches. "I made a mistake, and it won't happen again."

Read more

3:23am

Fri April 20, 2012
Presidential Race

Working Moms' Challenges: Paid Leave, Child Care

Originally published on Fri April 20, 2012 8:55 am

The past week's political firestorm in the presidential race focused on stay-at-home moms, but two-thirds of women with young children now work. Nearly half are their family's primary breadwinner. What some feel is being lost in the political debate are the challenges they face in the workplace.

When Kids Get Sick

Read more

3:22am

Fri April 20, 2012
It's All Politics

Ann Romney Takes Center Stage In Tug-Of-War For Female Voters

Originally published on Fri April 20, 2012 7:57 am

Credit Gerald Herbert / AP
Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, speaks at his Nevada caucus victory celebration in Las Vegas on Feb. 4.

For the past two weeks, the campaigns of both President Obama and GOP rival Mitt Romney have accused each other of waging a war on women. But what's really going on is a war for women's votes.

The president, like Democrats before him, has an advantage with female voters — who make up 53 percent of the American electorate. Romney is trying to close the gender gap by using his most powerful and popular surrogate: his wife.

Read more

3:22am

Fri April 20, 2012
Around the Nation

As Workers Age, Oil Industry Braces For Skills Gap

Originally published on Tue May 8, 2012 9:11 am

Two years after the Deepwater Horizon accident killed 11 men and sent oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, the oil industry says it has learned valuable lessons from the disaster that are making drilling safer today.

But there's still a pressing issue looming for the oil industry: Oil field workers are retiring in huge numbers, leaving a workforce that's younger and — more importantly — less experienced.

Read more

7:14pm

Thu April 19, 2012
It's All Politics

Congress' Approval Rating Recovers Slightly

Americans seem happier with Congress these days. That's what Gallup's two latest polls show: Congress, with an approval rating of 17 percent, has gained a whole seven points since February.

Still, they shouldn't get too cocky on the Hill, because this just means that 79 percent of Americans disapprove of the institution. That's down from a record high 86 percent in December of 2011. We suppose that's like saying in December almost everyone disapproved of Congress and now mostly everyone disapproves.

Here's Gallup's historical chart of Congress' approval rating:

Read more

Pages