NPR News

Pages

The Two-Way
1:37 pm
Wed March 6, 2013

Alvin Lee Is Going Home: 'Ten Years After' Guitarist Dies

Originally published on Thu March 7, 2013 9:18 am

Guitarist Alvin Lee, whose incendiary performance with the British band Ten Years After was one of the highlights of the 1969 Woodstock festival, has died.

He was 68. Lee's website says he "passed away early this morning [Wednesday] after unforeseen complications following a routine surgical procedure." An assistant to his daughter also confirmed the news to NPR.

His band's biggest hit — "I'd Love to Change the World" — came a couple years after Woodstock. We'll embed a clip from that.

Read more
The Two-Way
1:33 pm
Wed March 6, 2013

Guys, Your Color Blindness Might Be Messing With Kenya's Elections

Credit Gregory Warner / NPR
Kenyan election observers and voters in the mixed slum of Kiambiu — where the first fires started in Nairobi after the disputed presidential election of 2007 — vote in this year's elections. Could something as innocent as the color of the ballots and ballot boxes be contributing to voting "irregularities"?

Originally published on Mon March 25, 2013 2:44 pm

In Kenya, colorblindness may be contributing to more than just questionable sartorial combinations. Some observers say it may have something to do with the hundreds of thousands of spoiled ballots — a term for disqualified or invalidated votes — in Monday's presidential election, adding new delays to declaring a winner and raising the possibility of a costly and contentious runoff election in April.

Read more
The Two-Way
1:18 pm
Wed March 6, 2013

Portland City Employee Is Arrested, Accused In Pakistan Terror Attack Of 2009

Credit Multnomah County Sheriff's Office
Reaz Qadir Khan, 48, was accused Tuesday of giving money and advice to terrorists. The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that Khan helped plan a suicide bomb attack on Pakistan's intelligence headquarters in 2009.

A Portland, Ore., resident was arrested Tuesday on charges of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. The FBI alleges that Reaz Qadir Khan, 48, gave money and advice to a man involved in a deadly 2009 suicide bomb attack on the headquarters of Pakistan's intelligence service in Lahore.

The attack resulted in an estimated 30 deaths and 300 injuries. Khan, a naturalized U.S. citizen, could face a maximum sentence of life in prison if he is found guilty. FBI agents arrested him at his home Tuesday morning.

Read more
The Two-Way
12:56 pm
Wed March 6, 2013

Under Its Frozen Exterior, Scientists Say Europa's Ocean Is Salty Like Ours

Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
The mosaic was constructed from individual images obtained by the Solid State Imaging (SSI) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft during six flybys of Europa between 1996 and 1999.

Here's a quote we found awe-inspiring:

"If you could go swim down in the ocean of Europa and taste it, it would just taste like normal old salt."

That's California Institute of Technology (Caltech) astronomer Mike Brown talking about Jupiter's moon Europa. Brown and his colleague Kevin Hand from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory believe that if you could drill your way through the moon's frozen exterior, the ocean beneath it would taste a lot like our own sea water.

Read more
The Two-Way
12:37 pm
Wed March 6, 2013

Europe Hits Microsoft With $731 Million Fine Over Browser Options

Credit David Becker / Getty Images
Microsoft Corp CEO Steve Ballmer speaks during a keynote address at the 2013 International CES in January.

Some sloppy coding on an update to Microsoft's Windows 7 two years ago has cost the computer giant a $731 million fine to the European Commission.

Microsoft said Wednesday it would not contest the fine, imposed for what the commission said was the company's abuse of its market dominance to stifle competitors' Web browsers.

Read more
The Two-Way
12:27 pm
Wed March 6, 2013

VIDEO: Mount Etna Lights Up The Night Sky

Credit Salvatore Allegra / AP
The sky glowed red above Sicily's Mount Etna early Wednesday.
The Salt
12:04 pm
Wed March 6, 2013

Eating Eyeballs: Taboo, Or Tasty?

Originally published on Wed March 6, 2013 12:58 pm

It wasn't the fish heads poking out of the Stargazy Pie that stopped more than a few of our readers cold. It was the eyeballs.

"Not a lot of food nowadays has eyes; what's up with that?" one reader asked in commenting on a recent Salt post that featured a photo of the historic dish, which involves whole fish (eyes and all) poking out of a pie.

Read more
Shots - Health News
12:03 pm
Wed March 6, 2013

Why ER Docs In The Big Apple Won't Replace That Painkiller Prescription

Credit New York City Health Department
Posters like this one tell patients in New York City emergency rooms what to expect when it comes to painkiller prescriptions.

Early this year, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said public hospitals there would take steps to reduce overdoses and abuse of opioid painkillers.

Read more
The Two-Way
12:02 pm
Wed March 6, 2013

Pro Wrestling's Paul Bearer Dies At Age 58

Credit WWE, Inc.
William Moody, who brought a sense of ghoulish danger to the WWE as manager Paul Bearer, died Tuesday at age 58.

William Moody, who as the pro wrestling character Paul Bearer embodied a sense of theater that was equal parts morbid and absurd, has died at age 58. A portly man known for his wild-eyed stare and habit of carrying a brass urn under his arm, Paul Bearer was most notably the manager of The Undertaker and Kane.

Read more
Education
11:55 am
Wed March 6, 2013

Where Kids Go When Neighborhood Schools Close

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Now, we want to turn to a hot button issue in education, something that might be going on where you live. In a number of cities around the country, officials are debating closing dozens - in one case, more than 100 - schools. Officials cite low enrollment at many of these schools and the cost of maintaining buildings that aren't fully utilized, but in many places, these school closings have sparked furious protests by parents who've said that they are unfair and that they are ripping communities apart.

Read more

Pages