NPR News

Pages

Books
3:46 pm
Tue September 11, 2012

'Breed': A Pseudonym To Pen A Tale Of Horror

Credit Wendy Ewald
Scott Spencer, writing for the first time under the pen name Chase Novak, is the best-selling author of Endless Love and A Ship Made of Paper.

Originally published on Tue September 11, 2012 9:57 pm

If you're a horror fan, you're probably familiar with the trope of the demon child — you know, the sweet little kid who undergoes a horrible transformation and terrorizes everyone in his or her path (or is just born evil, like Rosemary's titular baby).

Read more
The Two-Way
3:38 pm
Tue September 11, 2012

Egyptian Protesters Scale U.S. Embassy Walls In Cairo

Credit Mohammed Abu Zaid / AP
Protesters destroy an American flag pulled down from the U.S. embassy in Cairo, Egypt on Tuesday.

Originally published on Wed September 12, 2012 2:04 am

A group of protesters scaled the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and replaced the American flag with a black one inscribed with the Islamic declaration of faith.

"There is no God but Allah and Mohamed is the Prophet of Allah," the flag read.

According to the AP hundreds of demonstrators gathered to protest against an American-made film they said insults the Islamic prophet, Muhammad.

The AP reports:

Read more
Animals
2:49 pm
Tue September 11, 2012

New Center Trains Detection Dogs To Save Lives

Originally published on Tue September 11, 2012 3:27 pm

A detection dog-training center opens Tuesday, on the anniversary of Sept. 11, at the University of Pennsylvania so scientists can train dogs for search-and-rescue missions — and study what helps them succeed.

Read more
It's All Politics
2:36 pm
Tue September 11, 2012

Politics, The Pledge And A Peculiar History

Originally published on Tue September 11, 2012 5:05 pm

When Mitt Romney uses the Pledge of Allegiance as a metaphor for all that's good and right with America, how many in his audience know that the two-sentence loyalty oath was penned not by the Founding Fathers in 1776, but a fascist preacher more than 100 years later?

Or that the original recommended posture was with a straightened arm raised upward and outward? Or that it was changed to the hand over the heart during World War II after the Nazis adopted the original as their salute?

Read more
The Two-Way
2:14 pm
Tue September 11, 2012

Netanyahu Says World Has No 'Moral Right' To Stop Israel From Attacking Iran

Credit Gali Tibbon / AP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a joint press conference with his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borissov, not seen, in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

Originally published on Sun September 16, 2012 8:26 am

Comments from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are ratcheting up diplomatic tension between Israel and the United States.

During a joint press conference in Jerusalem with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Netanyahu expressed his frustration with how world powers are handling Iran and its nuclear program.

"The world tells Israel 'wait, there's still time'. And I say, 'Wait for what? Wait until when?' Those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don't have a moral right to place a red light before Israel," Netanyahu said.

Read more
Monkey See
2:09 pm
Tue September 11, 2012

TIFF '12: Billy Bob Thornton's Film That Is Not About 'Jayne Mansfield's Car'

Credit Van Redin / Toronto International Film Festival
Billy Bob Thornton and Kevin Bacon star in Jayne Mansfield's Car.

Originally published on Tue September 11, 2012 2:30 pm

[Monkey See will be at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) through the middle of this week. We'll be bringing you our takes on films both large and small, from people both well-known and not.]

Here's a declaration for you: I haven't seen even ten percent of the films playing at the Toronto International Film Festival, but I am convinced that Jayne Mansfield's Car has the worst title.

Let's go back to the beginning.

Read more
Mountain Stage
1:53 pm
Tue September 11, 2012

Delta Rae On Mountain Stage

Credit Brian Blauser / Mountain Stage
Delta Rae performs on Mountain Stage.

Originally published on Tue February 26, 2013 12:21 pm

The folk-rock band Delta Rae makes its first appearance on Mountain Stage, recorded live in Huntington, W.V. A six-piece band with four powerful vocalists, Delta Rae was formed on and around the campus of Duke University in Durham, N.C.

Read more
Favorite Sessions
1:47 pm
Tue September 11, 2012

Bomba De Luz: High School Heroes

Credit Nate Ryan / The Current

When Lydia Hoglund sings, her words convey the ache of an old soul. She unspools her melodies in big, booming somersaults that sound both effortless and ageless, her elastic delivery recalling emotive singers like Jeff Buckley and Sharon Van Etten. Yet Hoglund is only 17 — just beginning her senior year at Central High in St. Paul, Minn., and just beginning her journey into music.

Read more
Monkey See
1:17 pm
Tue September 11, 2012

TIFF '12: 'Mr. Pip' And Literary Escape

Credit Toronto International Film Festival
Hugh Laurie and Xzannjah in Mr. Pip.

[Monkey See will be at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) through the middle of this week. We'll be bringing you our takes on films both large and small, from people both well-known and not.]

Read more
The Two-Way
1:16 pm
Tue September 11, 2012

The Mysterious Case Of China's Disappearing Heir Apparent

Credit Xinhua, Li Tao / AP
Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping addresses the opening ceremony of the autumn semester of the Party School of the Communist Party of China in Beijing on Sept. 1.

Originally published on Fri September 14, 2012 11:21 pm

In the rarefied air of China's leadership circle, anything that strays from strict protocol becomes grist for the rumor mill.

So it is with the mysterious and sudden disappearance of Xi Jinping, the presumptive heir to President Hu Jintao.

Xi, 59, has inexplicably missed a series of important meetings with foreign dignitaries in the past week, including one with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Beijing. The last time anyone saw him in public was Sept. 1.

Read more

Pages