Search results for

Linda speaks with Rex Gephart, head of the Los Angeles MTA's "Metro Rapid" program, which aims to reduce bus travel times by 25 percent. As part of the plan, the MTA has equipped two of its major bus lines with a new device that hold a green lights for approaching buses. Gephart says ridership has increased significantly on the lines being tested. He says L.A. is the first city in the U.S. to implement so-called "signal priority" so extensively.

NPR's Eric Weiner reports that despite the taint of drugs and Olympic scandals, the 2000 Summer games have begun and the opening ceremonies is reflecting on positive aspects of the Olympics. Athletes from North and South Korea marched today under one unification banner.

Last week All Things Considered asked listeners to call in with questions they'd like answered by the presidential candidates. We took your calls and played them for both the Bush and Gore campaigns, and they gave us their answers. We'll hear from the Gore Campaign's national spokesman Doug Hattaway, and Bush campaign press secretary, Mindy Tucker.

NPR's Mike Shuster reports that US officials say a single Iraqi MIG-25 penetrated Saudi Arabian airspace on Labor Day, the first such incident since the Persian Gulf War. Officials say the incursion took place when several Iraqi warplanes flew into the "no-fly zone" in southern Iraq, a region the US has declared off limits to Iraqi overflights. According to one official, the US chose NOT to retaliate because the administration at the time did not consider the single Iraqi plane to be a threat. The US also suspected Iraq of trying to provoke a confrontation just before the UN millennium summit. Since the December 1998 bombing of Iraq, the administration has resisted engaging in military confrontations with Iraq.

NPR's Martin Kaste in Buenos Aires reports a bribery scandal in the Argentine Senate is threatening the ruling coalition of President Fernando de la Rua. So far, the president has not been hurt by the scandal, but members of his administration have been accused of bribing senators to secure passage of a labor reform bill.

All Things Considered Host Noah Adams profiles Olympian David Hearn, eighteen times the U-S national solo whitewater canoe champion. He's in his third Olympics in Australia. He's trained on the Potomac River for twenty-five years. Now, his wife, Jennifer, is one of his coaches. He's 41-years-old, twice the age of many of his competitors. Hearn says that the slalom course imitates a real whitewater river.

Commentator Joanne Kaufman just got her drivers license -- at age 41. Her ultimate road test was a trip to the drugstore. She talks about what she missed not being able to drive, the freedom it would have meant as a teenager. Driving solo as an adult is a defining moment she wants to tell everyone about, but the destinations and reasons to drive are different.

Boeing has agreed to redesign the rudder system of its 737. The jet's rudder has been studied as the possible cause of two fatal crashes in 1991 and 1994. The Federal Aviation Administration had mandated three changes in the 737 rudder controls earlier, and officials report no rudder problems since they were implemented. The FAA says the latest changes are meant to take what an agency spokeswoman calls an "extremely safe" plane to the "next level of safety." NPR's Mary Ann Akers reports.

NPR's Anthony Brooks reports on Republican claims that Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore participated in illegal fundraising activities during the 1996 campaign. Gore ignored the allegations and stuck to his script at a campaign stop in New Hampshire.

Host Bob Edwards talks to reporter Richard Galpin about the latest developments in the investigation of an explosion at the Jakarta Stock Exchange. Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid ordered the arrest of Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra the youngest son of ex-dictator Suharto, two days after the deadly explosion that killed 15 people and injured dozens more.

NPR's Tom Goldman reports on the Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. The event ceremony celebrated Australia's rich and strange history, with a lawnmower ballet, displays of horsemanship and tributes to the island nation's Aboriginal history. But it was the selection of Australian sprinter Cathy Freeman, an Aborigine and gold medal favorite, as the final torch bearer, that provided the emotional highlight of the 4-hour event.

NPR's Jim Zarroli reports on another rough day for U.S. stocks. The NASDAQ composite plunged more than five-percent this morning on news that Intel will fall short of revenue targets for the third-quarter. The bad news on Intel's earnings managed to drag down all three major indexes, even though the NASDAQ did recover about half its initial loss by mid-day. Market watchers say investors are also concerned about the sliding Euro.

Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai died today. He was 76 years old. Amichai was born in Germany and moved to Israel when he was 12 years old. He served in four wars and wove the themes of war into his poetry. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin read one of Amichai's poems when he received the Nobel Peace Prize. We have Amichai reading that poem and two others in translation when he came to NPR in 1995.

A number of the athletes at the Olympic games this week took a detour to Flagstaff, Arizona before they arrived in Sydney. They were taking advantage of the regions High Altitude Training Sports Training Complex. High altitude is known to stimulate red blood cell production which improves muscle endurance. The athletes hope the experience gave them a competitive edge. Mitch Teich reports from KNAU in Flagstaff.

Linda Wertheimer speaks with sportswriter Stefan Fatsis about three NFL games coming up this weekend. The Washington Redskins face the unheralded and undefeated New York Giants. Two former dynasties the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49'ers face off in a game that demonstrates the hazards of manipulating salaries under the NFL salary cap for short term gain. In a battle of undefeateds, The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their star wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson play the New York Jets, Mr. Johnson's old team and one he hasn't hesitated to criticize.

A British court ruled today that a pair of conjoined twins must be separated. Separating them will kill one of the twins. They only have one heart. The parents of the twins are devout Roman Catholics and oppose separating them, they may appeal to the House of Lords or the European Court of Human Rights. We hear a report from the BBC's John Duce.

NPR's Bob Mondello reviews the film Dancer in the Dark, made by Danish director Lars Von Trier. Von Treir was cofounder of the "Dogme '95" movement, which advocated removing artifice from film. Bob says this is a real departure from that -- it couldn't be more artificial. And it's dividing audiences.

Veteran broadcaster Robert Trout recalls when the tide of the Battle of Britain turned. The aerial bombardment of London by Germany during World War Two -- known as the Blitz -- was thought to be a prelude to Nazi invasion. After the war, it was learned that on this date Adolf Hitler decided to abandon plans to take over England. Trout narrates a story about anchoring CBS Radio Network News during this period. We hear his colleague in London, Edward R. Murrow reporting on the air raids, Trout's own broadcasts, and the voice of Winston Churchill after the war. Trout tells how the addition of an evening newscast in radio prime time angered advertisers.

NPR's Phillip Davis reports that civil rights groups in Florida are trying to free a Muslim academic who is seeking admission to the United States. He has been held in jail by the Immigration and Naturalization Service for the past three years. The INS claims the man has links a Middle-eastern terrorist group, but refuses to reveal evidence, saying to do so would threaten national security. Civil rights groups say his constitutional right to confront his accuser is being violated.

Zookeepers noticed something was amiss when the animals began eating less and were seen coughing and sneezing. Visitors are not at risk because the public doesn't have access to the enclosures.

It is "a sensual, popular and monumental gesture," says Carine Rolland, the deputy mayor of Paris in charge of culture. The artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude came up with the idea before they died.

Linda and Robert read letters from All Things Considered listeners. (3:30) Send e-mail to atc@npr.org or actual paper letters to "Letters, All Things Considered," National Public Radio, 635 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington DC, 20001.

Linda talks to Andy Kohut, Director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, about the most recent survey on voter attitudes towards the presidential campaign. The poll shows more voters concerned about issues rather than personality. Gore is rating higher on the issues than Bush, even among some Republicans.

NPR's Bob Mondello reviews the documentary Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport, the story of some 10,000 German Jewish children sent to live with British families just before World War II. The rescue operation came to be known as the "Kindertransport."

NPR'S Jennifer Ludden reports on the revival of a radio program in Israel that seeks to reunite Holocaust survivors. "The Department for Seeking Relatives-The Next Generation" is enjoying phenomenal popularity since it was launched earlier this summer.