Morning Edition

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep. Marie Colvin of the Sunday Times in London spent a career documenting the peril that others faced, which meant the American reporter shared their danger. Her paper says she was killed today by artillery fire that struck the Syrian city of Homs. French officials affirm a French photojournalist has also been killed.

Activists in the Syrian city of Homs say rockets struck the house where the two journalists were staying. Syrian troops have been shelling the city. French officials identify one journalist as photographer Remi Ochlik. The Sunday Times of London confirms the other was American reporter Marie Colvin.

Buses took Boston area college students to a ski trip in Quebec, Canada. The buses were stopped on the way back, and Vermont state troopers cited 26 students for alcohol. In their defense, the drinking age in Quebec is 18, compared with 21 in the U.S. It was harder though to explain the drugs on board.

When California officials responded to a call in a wealthy Bay area suburb Tuesday, they found that an 85 lbs. German Shepherd named Cody had scared a mountain lion 30 feet up a tree. The dog is smaller than what big cats have been known to eat.

As part of Black History Month, President and Mrs. Obama hosted a musical celebration of the blues Tuesday night. Guests included legends like B.B. King and Mick Jagger.

A new poll of Arizona voters shows former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum in a virtual tie with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Next week's Arizona primary is on the same day as Michigan, but has received less attention. Santorum campaigned yesterday in the Phoenix area ahead of tonight's debate in Mesa. Peter O'Dowd of member station KJZZ reports.

On the day she was born, Fawzia Koofi nearly died after being left outside in the unrelenting Afghan sun. But against all odds, Koofi survived and went on to become Afghanistan's first female deputy speaker of Parliament. Today, Koofi's name is floated in discussions about whether Afghanistan is ready for a first female president.

Just about three years after he violently assaulted her, R&B singer Chris Brown is back with pop star Rihanna — musically, at least. On Monday night, each released a new version of a previously released song. Both remixes feature the other party, and both are causing quite the stir.

A couple who met working in a book store in Denver have spent their marriage amassing books about their passion: nature. Now the house they live in is up for sale, and they're scrambling to find storage for 30,000 books.

Pakistani workers at an Air Force factory are making a low-budget tablet computer. With Pakistani engineering and Chinese hardware, they make their version of Apple's iPad. The copy is the PACPAD.

There area a lot of bad movies out there. Some movies are so bad that they're good. For some reason people love them. Is there an art to making films that are deliberately bad? Can a company be successful by producing bad movies?

The March issue of the medical journal Pediatrics features an editorial looking at gender identity disorder in children. Pediatricians apparently are seeing more young patients who express an interest in changing their gender.

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(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)NPR's business news starts with lower European markets.) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.

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Spain officially has Europe's highest jobless rate. That's based on the number of people who register for unemployment benefits, which are some of the most generous on the continent. But many Spaniards still collect a paycheck while they're on the dole.

The film Saving Face is nominated for an Oscar. It chronicles the lives of acid-attack survivors in Pakistan. Filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy talks to Renee Montagne about what happens to some of the victims.

Tension has been high in the Maldives after Mohamed Nasheed resigned as president earlier this month. He later claimed that he was the victim of a coup, but his successor denies this. Nasheed talks to Renee Montagne about his situation, and what it means for the Indian Ocean islands.

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(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SWING LOW, SWEET CHARIOT")(Singing) Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home. Swing low...) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Some new research throws into question things we say all the time about the Internet. The research focuses on Twitter, the service that lets many millions of people send short messages to each other from computers or cell phones. It's commonly said that social networking like this is revolutionary, that it's created new communities, even that it's obliterated geography. You can connect with people who share common interests, not just people who happen to live nearby. NPR's Shankar Vedantam is here to explode all that. Hi, Shankar.