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Around the Nation
2:00 am
Wed March 28, 2012

Slain Teen's Parents Appear On Capitol Hill

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Florida state investigators are continuing to look into the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. His family has been part of a widespread campaign calling for the arrest of the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot and killed the 17-year-old high school student. Yesterday, the parents of Trayvon Martin were up on Capitol Hill attending a forum on hate crimes and racial profiling. NPR's Sonari Glinton reports from the Capitol.

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Politics
2:00 am
Wed March 28, 2012

Bill Maher's Obama SuperPAC Donation Causes Stir

Credit Chris Pizzello / AP
Bill Maher, shown here at a 2011 event in Los Angeles, gave $1 million to the superPAC supporting President Obama's re-election bid.

Comedian Bill Maher's $1 million check to the superPAC supporting President Obama's re-election is the first seven-figure donation to the group since Obama tacitly endorsed the fundraising strategy in early February.

And it has brought new focus to some of Maher's statements about women — specifically Republican women — and led to calls for the White House to disavow the HBO host and his money.

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Business
2:00 am
Wed March 28, 2012

The Last Word In Business

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And our last word in business today is lost and found.

For nearly 60 years, the whereabouts of a painting by Paul Cezanne remained a mystery. Some art experts feared his 19th century painting was lost forever. The watercolor is a study for a famous series of oil paintings Cezanne called "The Card Players."

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The Record
10:01 pm
Tue March 27, 2012

Alan Lomax's Massive Archive Goes Online

Credit Shirley Collins / Courtesy of Alan Lomax Archive
Alan Lomax (right) with musician Wade Ward during the Southern Journey recordings, 1959-1960.

Originally published on Thu October 25, 2012 12:53 pm

Folklorist Alan Lomax spent his career documenting folk music traditions from around the world. Now thousands of the songs and interviews he recorded are available for free online, many for the first time. It's part of what Lomax envisioned for the collection — long before the age of the Internet.

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Sweetness And Light
10:01 pm
Tue March 27, 2012

Watching College Basketball's Slump Into Anonymity

Credit Streeter Lecka / Getty Images
Duke freshman Austin Rivers, seen here in the Blue Devils' loss to Lehigh in the NCAA tournament, is leaving school for the NBA draft. The trend of athletes spending only one year in college has hurt the sport, says Frank Deford.

This year's Final Four seems more like Best in Show at the Westminster. Such pedigree: Kentucky, Kansas, Ohio State and Louisville –– four of the very top dogs in the history of the sport. Well, it's a Meryl Streep kind of year, isn't it?

But if the Final Four might delight fans by giving them aristocracy in its teams, unfortunately the whole of college basketball is plagued by anonymity in its players, and external issues that have diminished the popularity of the game.

Good grief. This year, there has been more buzz about Mad Men than about March Madness.

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Movies
10:01 pm
Tue March 27, 2012

In Japan, 'Sliced-Up Actors' Are A Dying Breed

Japan is home to Asia's oldest and largest motion-picture industry, with its own unique genres and traditions. While every film industry has stuntmen, only Japan has a class of actors whose main job is to be sliced and diced by samurai sword-wielding protagonists. But the decline of period dramas means that this class of actors is literally a dying breed.

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Art & Design
5:36 am
Tue March 27, 2012

Semi-Nude Painting Smuggled Into Canadian Museum

It took a while, but guards at Canada's Glenbow Museum finally noticed a new acquisition in the gallery: An oil painting of a semi-nude woman. An anonymous note said the donor's late father did the painting and had always wanted his work in a museum.

Around the Nation
5:25 am
Tue March 27, 2012

Misbehaving Parents Ruin Easter Egg Hunt

Originally published on Tue March 27, 2012 5:27 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

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Around the Nation
2:00 am
Tue March 27, 2012

Koch Brothers Move To Control Cato Institute

Libertarians say it's like watching dear friends in an ugly divorce, as the billionaire Koch brothers try to take control of the highly regarded Cato Institute. The head of Cato says the Kochs are out to politicize the think tank.

Religion
2:00 am
Tue March 27, 2012

Pope To Meet With Cuban President Raul Castro

Pope Benedict is in Cuba, Latin America's least Catholic country. He arrived Monday in Santiago, where Cuba's revolution began in 1953. He urged Cubans to seek unity and overcome their divisions, but his message wasn't especially political.

Around the Nation
2:00 am
Tue March 27, 2012

Special Prosecutor Takes Over Trayvon Martin Murder Case

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Now, let's turn to another case where legal questions are swirling. In Sanford, Florida, and across the country yesterday, thousands of people held rallies yesterday demanding the same thing - the arrest of George Zimmerman. Zimmerman is the neighborhood watch volunteer who last month shot and killed a black teenager named Trayvon Martin. As NPR's Greg Allen reports, city officials in Sanford say the case is now out of their hands.

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NPR Story
2:00 am
Tue March 27, 2012

Business News

Apple CEO Tim Cook has flown in to China to meet with government leaders. He's trying to work out issues ranging from trademark concerns to treatment of local factory workers who make Apple products.

NPR Story
2:00 am
Tue March 27, 2012

21st Century Vietnam Leaves War In The Past

Hanoi, Hue, Danang and Saigon, were city names that were stamped on the American psyche a half-century ago, when the U.S. waged war in Vietnam. The once war-torn, Southeast Asian nation has made great strides to leave its troubled past behind.

NPR Story
2:00 am
Tue March 27, 2012

Jobs Act Could Expand Funding For Start-Ups

Lawmakers in the House are expected to vote on a jobs act Tuesday. Part of the legislation would allow the public to make investments in start-up companies and small businesses. These companies could raise money online or through social networks. The bill would lift SEC regulations that restrict soliciting investors.

Business
2:00 am
Tue March 27, 2012

Harrisburg Residents May Foot Police Bill

The Pennsylvania capital Harrisburg is more than $300 million in debt. The budget is controlled by a state-appointed custodian. City and law enforcement services are under strain and residents worry violent crime may be growing.

Business
2:00 am
Tue March 27, 2012

The Last Word In Business

The walls, furniture and detailing of artist Frank Buckley's apartment in Dublin, Ireland, are made from bricks of shredded euros. He estimates each brick contains up to 50,000 euros worth. He got the materials for free from the country's central bank.

Law
2:00 am
Tue March 27, 2012

High Court Delves Into More Health Care Questions

At the Supreme Court, lawyers and justices will continue to spar over the new health care law. Tuesday's debate will center on whether the requirement that everyone carry health insurance — the individual mandate at the heart of the law — is constitutional.

Asia
2:00 am
Tue March 27, 2012

Obama Praises Global Nuclear Summit

More than 50 international leaders wrapped up talks Tuesday in Seoul, South Korea, on what needs to be done to secure vulnerable stockpiles of plutonium and highly enriched uranium. President Obama hosted the first such summit two years ago. He praised the achievements since then, but said much more needs to be done.

Shots - Health Blog
10:01 pm
Mon March 26, 2012

In Haiti, Bureaucratic Delays Stall Mass Cholera Vaccinations

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 8:56 am

A hundred thousand people in Haiti are ready and waiting to get vaccinated against cholera.

The vaccine is sitting in coolers. Vaccination teams are all trained. Willing recipients are registered and entered into databases.

The impending mass vaccination project aims to show that vaccinating against cholera is feasible in Haiti. It has never been done in the midst of an ongoing cholera epidemic. So far, more than 530,000 Haitians have fallen ill with cholera, and more than 7,000 have died.

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Movies
10:01 pm
Mon March 26, 2012

'October Baby' Tells A Story Hollywood Wouldn't

October Baby tells the story of 19-year-old Hannah, a first-year college student, who leaves home on a search for her birth mother. In many ways, it's a Hollywood-style road trip movie dealing with questions of identity, but at the movie's core is also a vigorous message about abortion.

In one scene, Hannah tracks down a nurse who worked at the health clinic where her birth mother had sought an abortion — one that failed when Hannah was born prematurely.

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Europe
5:44 am
Mon March 26, 2012

Fake Movie Anthem Played For Kazakhstan Winner

Kazakhstan's Maria Dmitrienko took gold at the Arab Shooting Championships last week in Kuwait. As she stood to hear her national anthem, out blared the parody anthem from the movie Borat. Organizers apologized. They got Serbia's anthem wrong, too.

Europe
5:35 am
Mon March 26, 2012

Should Big Ben Be Renamed Big Beth?

Britain's Big Ben is technically the giant bell inside St. Stephen's Tower at Parliament. Some members of Parliament want it renamed the Elizabeth tower, in honor of the queen. Jokingly, some suggested the name: Big Beth.

NPR Story
2:00 am
Mon March 26, 2012

Global Nuclear Summit Opens In South Korea

Originally published on Mon March 26, 2012 3:15 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning to you. I'm David Greene.

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NPR Story
2:00 am
Mon March 26, 2012

The Last Word In Business

The adventure film The Hunger Games collected $155 million at the box office over the weekend. A sequel is already in the works.

NPR Story
2:00 am
Mon March 26, 2012

Supreme Court Watchers Vie For Front Row Seats

The Supreme Court begins hearing arguments Monday on President Obama's health care law. There will be six hours of arguments spread over three days. With only 400 seats in the courtroom and political interest roiling, people began lining up early for a front-row seat.

Analysis
2:00 am
Mon March 26, 2012

Politics In The News

For the first time since February, there's no Republican nomination contest this week. Over the weekend, in the Louisiana primary, Rick Santorum won big. But overall, Mitt Romney continues to hold a decisive lead in delegates.

Law
2:00 am
Mon March 26, 2012

Employers Monitor Supreme Court's Health Law Arguments

The Supreme Court won't rule on President Obama's health care case until June. Republicans vow to repeal the law if they win big in November. David Wessel, economics editor of The Wall Street Journal, talks to David Greene about how the ruling could affect doctors, hospitals, employers and consumers.

NPR Story
2:00 am
Mon March 26, 2012

Business News

Royal Dutch Shell can't pay the $1 billion it owes Iran because of sanctions imposed on the Middle East country by the United States and European Union. The sanctions have made it nearly impossible to transfer the money. Reuters reports that Shell is trying to wrap up its business dealings with Iran.

NPR Story
2:00 am
Mon March 26, 2012

Businessman Chosen As Hong Kong's Next Leader

A selection committee in Hong Kong has chosen a former Cabinet chief as the southern Chinese financial hubs next leader. The voters were handpicked by Beijing. Leung Chun-ying's term will start in July.

NPR Story
2:00 am
Mon March 26, 2012

Mich. Furniture Maker Celebrates 100 Years In Business

The American office furniture maker Steelcase is celebrating its centennial. Michigan Radio's Lindsey Smith explores the challenges of making cubicles and filing cabinets when both are in decline.

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