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Africa
3:46 am
Sun February 19, 2012

'Enough Is Enough' Say Sengalese Rappers

Credit AFP/Getty Images
Police arrest Kilifa, center, one of two leaders of Senegal's rapper-led youth movement on Thursday in Dakar.

Senegal's capital of Dakar remains jittery, with the youth and the riot police locked in running street battles.

The police are using teargas, rubber bullets and water cannon spray to chase away angry opposition demonstrators, including rappers from the Y'en a Marre movement. Their name means "We're Fed Up, Enough is Enough."

This past week, a planned overnight sleep-in protest was broken up by the security forces. Founding member and rapper, Djily Baghdad, blames Abdoulaye Wade for the ban, the crackdown and for overstaying his welcome as president of Senegal.

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Arts & Life
2:38 am
Sun February 19, 2012

E-Books Flipping The Page On Publishing Standards

The publishing business is not known as a hot bed of experimentation and has been slow to embrace the transition from print to e-books. But this past week in New York, the Tools of Change digital publishing conference attracted entrepreneurs and innovators who are more excited by, rather than afraid, of the future.

It was the kind of crowd where some were more inclined to say "steal my book" than to argue over what an e-book should cost. These are people who see digital publishing not as a threat, but as an opportunity.

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Technology
1:00 am
Sun February 19, 2012

Building A Village, One Home-Brewed Tool At A Time

Do-It-Yourselfers have made everything from bamboo bicycles to 3-D printers, but nothing as ambitious as what's happening on a farm in northwest Missouri where tractors and other industrial machines are being made from scratch.

Marcin Jakubowski earned a Ph.D. in physics and his doctoral thesis deals with velocity turbulence and zonal flow detection, whatever that is. But when Jakubowski graduated in 2004, he wanted nothing to do with physics or academia.

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Music News
6:40 pm
Sat February 18, 2012

Fans Flock To Newark For Whitney Houston Memorial Service

Credit Michael Nagle / Getty Images
Fans mourn outside the funeral service for singer Whitney Houston in Newark, N.J., on Saturday. The pop superstar was found dead in a California hotel room a week ago. The cause of death has yet to be determined.

Originally published on Sat February 18, 2012 7:20 pm

It was at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, N.J., where Whitney Houston first learned to sing, and it was there that friends and family gathered on Saturday to say goodbye to the pop superstar.

The star-studded service lasted more than three hours. Among those in attendance were Dionne Warwick, Kevin Costner and Alicia Keys.

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Middle East
5:35 pm
Sat February 18, 2012

'On The Table:' Options For Ending The Iran Standoff

Credit AFP/Getty Images
Iran's state-run Press TV showed images of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad touring Tehran's research reactor on Wednesday.

It was one of the more surreal photo ops this week: Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, live on Iranian TV, visiting a nuclear reactor. Ahmadinejad trumpeted his country's nuclear progress, but denied, once again, that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons.

In Washington, officials weren't buying it.

They rushed to repeat the official U.S. line — a line President Obama himself is fond of delivering.

"Let there be no doubt: America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal," he said.

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Author Interviews
4:15 pm
Sat February 18, 2012

Murder, Corruption And Cover-Ups In 'Bloodland'

Originally published on Mon March 18, 2013 6:11 pm

A troubled starlet dies in a helicopter crash off the Irish coast after sending a series of mysterious text messages. Three years later, a hungry young reporter desperate for work takes an assignment to write a quickie celebrity biography of her — but finds complexity and danger.

That seemingly accidental death is the catalyst for the events in Bloodland, a new thriller by Irish author Alan Glynn.

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Election 2012
3:38 pm
Sat February 18, 2012

The Role Of Political Spouses: Decoding An Image

One of the most talked about personalities on the Republican presidential campaign trail — Callista Gingrich — rarely says a word.

That changed at the Conservative Political Action Committee earlier this month when she spent three minutes introducing her husband. Politico quipped it was the "longest most people have ever heard her speak."

In this presidential campaign, as in the past, the candidates' spouses play a very particular role.

Callista's Hair

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NPR Story
3:00 pm
Sat February 18, 2012

Week In News: Payroll Tax Cut, China VP Visit

In a victory for the White House, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed an extension of the payroll tax cut on Friday after weeks of refusal. Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with James Fallows of The Atlantic about the political reasoning behind the vote.

NPR Story
3:00 pm
Sat February 18, 2012

The Future Of Children's Books

The market for children's books is huge: Consumers buy $3.1 billion children's books annually. Now, with e-books and apps taking off, there are new opportunities to turn traditional story books into interactive experiences. Guest host Mary Louise Kelly talks with Dan Poynter, consultant and publisher at Para Publishing, and Roxie Munro, an author and illustrator of more than 30 children's books, about where children's books are headed.

Media
1:20 pm
Sat February 18, 2012

Careful With That Fire, Drinking And Litter: 70 Years Of The Ad Council's Advice

Credit Courtesy of the Ad Council
"The Crying Indian," became an iconic messenger of the Ad Council's anti-pollution campaign.

"Loose lips sink ships." "Only you can prevent forest fires." "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." "Take a bite out of crime." Sound familiar?

Those tag lines are just a few of the many ads created by the Ad Council, a nonprofit organization that was founded in the 1940s by the leaders of the advertising industry and President Franklin Roosevelt.

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Strange News
11:25 am
Sat February 18, 2012

Through RecordSetter, Everyone Can Be World Champ

Credit Emily Wilson / Courtesy of RecordSetter
Dan Rollman, the co-founder of RecordSetter, holds up a microphone to Rob Lathan, who currently holds the world record for completing 81 leg kicks on stilts while singing "New York, New York," at a World Record Appreciation Society event in New York City.

What's the record for squeezing open the most ketchup packets in 30 seconds? Seven. The record for the most people simultaneously flossing with the same piece of dental floss? 428.

These records are nowhere to be found in the Guinness World Records book, but rather on the website RecordSetter, where everyone can be a world champion.

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Simon Says
8:19 am
Sat February 18, 2012

Remembering John Glenn's Nervy Flight, 50 Years On

Fifty years ago, John Glenn was alone on top of a rocket waiting to blast into space and around the Earth. In these times, when people can become suddenly famous for doing so little, it may be good to recall the daring and imagination of that moment on Feb. 20, 1962.

Two Russians, Yuri Gagarin and Gherman Titov, had already dauntlessly orbited the Earth. The Soviets kept their missions secret until they were under way, but John Glenn would fly with the eyes of the world watching every second.

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NPR Story
8:00 am
Sat February 18, 2012

Mortgage Woes Pock Irish Landscape

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Many lives are being turned completely upside down by the eurozone crisis. That's especially true in Ireland, where they're still clearing up the mess left when the property bubble burst. Thousands of homes lie empty and unsold. And as NPR's Philip Reeves reports, some people have been left with colossal debts.

PHILIP REEVES, BYLINE: Step, for a minute, into the strange world of Jill Godsil. She lives among the farms and villages and rolling hills of Ireland's Wicklow County. The countryside's spectacular.

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NPR Story
8:00 am
Sat February 18, 2012

Investor Counting On Ireland's Better Days

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

As Phil reported, things are still pretty tough for the people of Ireland, but there's one man who thinks things there will start to look up before too long. He's prepared to put money on it, billions in fact.

Michael Hasenstab is what's known as a contrarian investor. He's just about the only person prepared to bet that Ireland's fortunes will greatly improve over the next couple of years. Michael Hasenstab joins us from Templeton Investments in San Mateo, California.

Thanks for being with us.

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NPR Story
8:00 am
Sat February 18, 2012

You Say 'Nay,' I Say 'Neigh': Goats Have Accents

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

You're listening to WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News,

Goats bleat. But a new study says: Not all in the same accent. Goats have accents, according to a new study from Queen Mary University in London. Now, a bleat from one group of goats sounds like this.

(SOUNDBITE OF A GOAT)

SIMON: But no other goat would apparently confuse that bleat with the accent of this goat.

(SOUNDBITE OF A GOAT)

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

SIMON: Any more than you'd confuse Kenneth Braunagh with Billy Bob Thornton.

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NPR Story
8:00 am
Sat February 18, 2012

It's 'Shatner's World' And He Wants You To See It

Credit Joan Marcus /
William Shatner in Shatner's World: We Just Live In It on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre. In the 90-minute show, Shatner illustrates some of his stories with photos and video clips.

Over the past half-century, the wild range of roles played by William Shatner has included a starship captain, a blowhard attorney and the man who can get you a deal on a hotel room.

Now, for the first time since John F. Kennedy was in the White House and James T. Kirk was just a glint in Gene Roddenberry's eye, Shatner has returned to Broadway and the stage.

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NPR Story
8:00 am
Sat February 18, 2012

Payroll Tax Cut Brings Other Benefits

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

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NPR Story
8:00 am
Sat February 18, 2012

Sports: Spring Training Begins; Basketball All-Star Ahead

Originally published on Sat February 18, 2012 10:16 am

It's the beginning of the beginning of baseball season, and two major thumpers have jumped leagues. Plus, basketball makes it to a midpoint, and suddenly you have to ask: Who's really the best team in Los Angeles? Host Scott Simon talks with ESPN's Howard Bryant about the sports of the week.

NPR Story
8:00 am
Sat February 18, 2012

Roadblocks That Might Stall China's 'Unstoppable' Rise

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Throughout this last week while the Chinese vice president was visiting the United States, there was a lot of talk about America and American business finding new opportunities in China, selling more to Chinese consumers instead of just buying so much from the world's second largest economy. Many Americans also see China as an unstoppable economic force that's surpassing the United States. But how does all this look from China? We're going to now to NPR's Shanghai correspondent, Frank Langfitt. Frank, thanks for being with us.

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NPR Story
8:00 am
Sat February 18, 2012

Michigan Brakes For Santorum

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

That Michigan primary is just in 10 days and the contest there is turning to be closer than expected. Mitt Romney grew up in Michigan. His father, George Romney, ran a car company there. He was the governor. But Santorum has come on strong and even ahead in current polls. We're joined now by another son of Michigan, NPR's Don Gonyea, live in our studio, who spent the week in his home state. Thanks very much for being with us, Don.

DON GONYEA, BYLINE: My pleasure. Good to be here.

SIMON: What's the latest?

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