|
3 Things You Need To Know About The Weekend's Basketball Action The biggest story? Florida Gulf Coast's Cinderella run. The biggest controversy? A missed call at the end of Ohio State's game with Iowa State. The longest game? The Dayton women's epic double overtime victory over St. John's. |
|
Book News: Willa Cather's Letters To Be Published Against Her Wishes Also: the best books coming out this week; Philip Roth on the joys of napping; Caroline Kennedy on books about Catholicism. |
|
Spring Is Just A State Of Mind As Wintry Weather Wallops Much Of Nation The calendar says it's spring. But it sure doesn't look like it across much of the nation. A storm that gave parts of the Rockies and Midwest another taste of winter is now coating parts of the Northeast with snow and slush. |
|
Free Tax Help Protects Low-Income Filers From Pricey Loans As this year's tax deadline approaches, hundreds of thousands of low-income Americans are relying on free services to help with returns. The services are an alternative to schemes that often prey on people who need quick cash. |
|
Supreme Court Hears 'Pay To Delay' Pharmaceutical Case The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments Monday in a case worth billions of dollars to pharmaceutical companies and American consumers. The issue is whether brand-name drug manufacturers may pay generic drug manufacturers to keep their cheaper products off the market. |
|
Shift In Gay Marriage Support Mirrors A Changing America The latest polls indicate 58 percent of Americans support same-sex marriage. In 1977, that number was 13 percent. One researcher says that jump in support isn't the result of a generational gap — it's that many who once opposed gay marriage have changed their minds or softened their opposition. |
|
How An Unlikely Drug Helps Some Children Consumed By Fear When abiding fear takes over some kids' lives, they respond with anger and aggression that's not premeditated. One psychiatrist says he's finding profound relief for a particular subgroup of these children in experimental research with the anesthesia drug ketamine. |
|
Cyprus Secures Outline Of Bailout With European Officials The cash-strapped island nation of Cyprus has secured a rescue package following negotiations that stretched into the early morning hours of Monday, in order to save the country's banking system from collapse. |
|
Millennials And Same-Sex Marriage: A Waning Divide Recent polls show 70 percent of those aged 18 to 32 favor same-sex marriage. But the topic isn't settled, and for many young people, especially young Republicans, the issue of gay marriage is still a stumbling block. |
|
Marking Forgotten Slave Burial Sites, Online Sandra Arnold, a student at Fordham University, is building the first national online registry of slave burial sites. The idea was sparked after she visited a former plantation in Tennessee where her great-grandfather, who was born a slave, is buried next to his wife, Ethel. |
|
Where's George?: The Trail Of $1 Bills Across The U.S.   For the last 15 years, a group of hobbyists has been tracking the movement of currency across the country. Self-named "Georgers" — after the president on the $1 bill — log the date, location and condition of bills they've encountered, and even spread the money by traveling across the country. |
|
Ex-President Musharraf Returns To A Different Pakistan After four years of self-imposed exile, Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has come home. His plan is to run for office and reclaim political influence, but death threats and legal battles complicate his return. |
|
100 Hours On The Supreme Court's Sidewalk: Camping Out For A Seat To History Sub-freezing temperatures and a snow forecast aren't stopping die-hards from camping outside the Supreme Court for a seat to history. The court will begin hearing oral arguments Tuesday in its review of same-sex marriage laws. |
|
Goldman Sachs Hopes To Profit By Helping Troubled Teens Goldman Sachs has invested $9.6 million in a new initiative for juvenile offenders in the New York City prison system. While the Department of Corrections needs the money, some wonder if private investment has a place in government agencies. |
|
U.K. Police Investigate Death Of Exiled Russian Oligarch Boris Berezovsky, the Russian oligarch who made headlines in 2000 after falling out with President Vladimir Putin and moving to the U.K., was found dead at his home in England. He was 67. Police are treating his death as unexplained. |
|
Backyard Chickens: Cute, Trendy Spreaders Of Salmonella Backyard chickens have become a hot trend, loved as a source of healthy local food and fluffy wonderfulness. But backyard birds have also sparked outbreaks of salmonella, the CDC warns. |
|
Syrian Opposition Leader Resigns In Frustration Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib posted his resignation to Facebook, criticizing the international community for not doing enough to stem the two-year-long crisis. His Syrian National Council is the main opposition against Bashar Assad's regime |
|
Secretary Of State Kerry In Baghdad, With Concern Over Syria John Kerry is urging Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to crack down on flights from Iran to Syria, which pass through Iraqi airspace. U.S. officials say Iran is shipping weapons to Bashar Assad's regime. |
|
Former Bush Aide Pushes 'Conservative Case' For Gay Marriage Ken Mehlman, the political director for the George W. Bush White House, compares the right to marry to other fundamental rights conservatives embrace. He rounded up a group of 131 prominent Republicans to sign a legal brief that's at odds with the House GOP leadership and the party's platform. |
|
No. 1 Gonzaga's Been Dumped: Here's What Else You Should Know Wichita State took down the first top-seeded team in the NCAA men's basketball tournament Saturday. It's the first time Wichita State is headed to the Sweet 16 since 2006. Plus, Harvard started Thursday on a high, but has since tumbled. |
|
In Gun State, Suicide Prevention Aims For Firearm Safety  Discussing gun control is not easy in Wyoming, which has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the country. But it also has the highest per capita suicide rate. One mom, who lost two sons to suicide, started a nonprofit to teach others gun safety and how to help those battling mental illness. |
|
Battling Suicide In A 'Gun State' Means Treading Carefully Discussing gun control is not easy in Wyoming, which has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the country. But it also has the highest per capita suicide rate, and guns are usually involved. One grieving mother is trying to boost awareness while respecting the state's gun culture. |
|
Documents: Investigating A Grain Bin Accident In July 2010, two young employees died inside an Illinois grain bin after being sucked under a mountain of corn. These document detail the case and the safety violations federal regulators found. |
|
Fines Slashed In Grain Bin Entrapment Deaths The persistence of grain bin entrapments and a horrific 2010 incident expose weaknesses in worker safety laws and enforcement. An NPR and Center for Public Integrity analysis has found that among 179 deaths since 1984, fines were reduced 60 percent of the time. |
|
Joe Weider, Fitness Icon And Mr. Olympia Creator, Dies At 93 Weider's publicist, Charlotte Parker, told The Associated Press that the bodybuilder, publisher and promoter died of heart failure at his home in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley. |
|
Can Detroit Return To Its Former Glory? A population exodus, as well as bad financial management, has put the city on the brink of bankruptcy. These drastic times forced the governor to appoint an emergency financial manager, who has the Herculean task of reviving what was once the bustling car capital of the U.S. |
|
How Vermont's 'Civil' War Fueled The Gay Marriage Movement As the Supreme Court considers the constitutional case for gay marriage, we look back at the role Vermont played just 13 years ago in the historic metamorphosis of the issue. The state's governor, who wore a bulletproof vest that year, called it "the least civil public debate in the state in over a century." |
|
The Cicadas Are Coming! Crowdsourcing An Underground Movement WNYC is asking "armchair scientists, lovers of nature and DIY makers" for their help to predict this year's cicada emergence in the Northeast. The bugs have been underground for the past 17 years. |
|
Oregon's Arsalan Kazemi: From Iran To NCAA Hoopla Rebounding machine Arsalan Kazemi is the first Iranian-born player in Divison I men's college hoops. He's focused on helping the Ducks beat St. Louis on Saturday — and well aware of his role as a pioneer. |
|
A Hint Of Bipartisanship On This Obamacare Tax? Anyone looking for a glimmer of bipartisanship in Washington might want to pay attention to the medical device tax that is part of Obamacare. It took a notable, if largely symbolic, hit this week from the left and the right. |
|
In Case You Missed It: Georgetown Upended, And Other NCAA Surprises Newcomer Florida Gulf Coast made quite an entrance Friday: The No. 15 seed beat No. 2-ranked Georgetown. Other notable wins went to La Salle and Iowa State. |
|
Resurrected Frog Gives Us Cause To Brood This week scientists announced they have reproduced the genome of an extinct amphibian, the gastric brooding frog. But animals are more than just their genomes, so NPR's Scott Simon wonders if it's necessary — or kind — to bring them back. |
|
The Senators Who Oppose DOMA, Despite Having OK'd It When the Defense of Marriage Act passed in 1996, it had strong bipartisan support. All of the 15 sitting Democrats who voted for it are now against it. But so far, Sen. Rob Portman is the only current Republican Senator to change his mind. |
|
They All Voted For DOMA, But Now These Senators Are Split When the Defense of Marriage Act passed in 1996, it had strong bipartisan support. All of the 15 sitting Democrats who voted for it are now against it. But so far, Sen. Rob Portman is the only current Republican Senator to change his mind. |
|
In Saudi Arabia, Shiite Muslims Challenge Ban On Protests When demonstrators began rising up against Arab governments in 2011, Saudi authorities responded with large spending projects and with tough actions against protesters. However, the Shiite minority in eastern Saudi Arabia persists with regular demonstrations. |
|
Race, Poverty Central To National School-Closure Debate What was once a local issue is growing into a nationwide concern, as civil rights activists argue that school closings are disproportionately hurting minority communities. But cities are in a bind with budget shortfalls, and closing under-populated schools may offer a way to cut costs. |
|
School Closures Pit Race And Poverty Against Budgets What was once a local issue is growing into a nationwide concern, as civil rights activists argue that school closings are disproportionately hurting minority communities. But cities are in a bind with budget shortfalls, and closing under-populated schools may offer a way to cut costs. |
|
At Age 3, Affordable Care Act Is No Less Controversial Political divisiveness over the health care law is as strong as ever, and the American public has never been more confused. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says that may not be such a terrible thing. |
|
Coal And Coral: Australia's Self-Destructive Paradox The city of Gladstone is the world's fourth largest coal-export hub. It's also a jumping off point to the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. But coal mining could eventually kill the reef that Australians revere. |
|
Saturday Mail Delivery: Safe For Now? There's disagreement in Washington, D.C., this week on whether the USPS has the freedom to end Saturday mail delivery in August, as planned. The passage of a bill funding the federal government through September re-ignited the debate. |
|
Republicans Launch Mission To Turn Up Their Digital Game Democrats are winning the digital arms race, a recent GOP report concludes. Republicans say Democrats have a built-in advantage: that many technology and social media experts aren't Republican. Now, the GOP is taking distinct steps to improve its digital strategy and online presence. |
|
From Leadership Posts, Women Said To Be Changing Senate Tone The 20 women in the U.S. Senate this year is the largest number in history. Female senators also now claim an unprecedented number of leadership positions. And several female senators interviewed say that is causing a change on Capitol Hill in the tone and process of legislating. |
|
Are Younger Catholics Abandoning Fish On Fridays? Seafood consumption typically increases during Lent in the U.S. The jump is traditionally attributed to Catholics observing the church's Lenten ban on eating meat on Fridays. But data suggest younger Americans aren't keeping up the fish tradition. |
|
Doubts Raised About Cutting Medicare Pay In High-Spending Areas An influential panel panned an idea to pay hospitals and doctors less under Medicare if they happen to be in regions that are heavy users of medical services. The approach has been popular with some in Congress. |
|
FAA Announces Tower Closures Coming In April The FAA has trimmed the number of towers it plans to close as it shrinks its budget in response to sequestration. Officials spared 40 airport towers it had previously planned to shutter. |
|
As Support For Gay Marriage Grows, An Opponent Looks Ahead Maggie Gallagher is one of the nation's most public opponents of gay marriage. These days, she's thinking more about how to continue advocating for marriage between one man and one woman, even as society's views — and laws — are shifting rapidly. |
|
Chinua Achebe And The Bravery Of Lions The world-famous Nigerian author Chinua Achebe has died. Annalisa Quinn reflects on the legacy of Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart. |
|
Talk Globally, Go Locally: Cellphones Versus Clean Toilets Six billion people around the world now own cellphones, while only 4.5 billion people have a safe place to use the bathroom, the United Nations said Thursday. Improving sanitation could help prevent thousands of kids from dying each day of waterborne diseases. |
|
Talk Globally, Go Locally: Cellphones Vs. Clean Toilets Six billion people around the world now own cellphones, while only 4.5 billion people have a safe place to use the bathroom, the United Nations said Thursday. Improving sanitation could help prevent thousands of kids from dying each day of waterborne diseases. |
|
Some Toddler Foods Come With A Mega-Dose Of Salt Packaged toddler foods have surprisingly high amounts of sodium, with some packing almost half of a child's daily limit, according to a new survey. Too much salt early on could be setting children up for a lifetime of high blood pressure. |
