Search results for

No issue has divided the two major party presidential candidates more sharply than Social Security. Vice President Al Gore campaigns on guaranteeing current benefits for retirees and those who will soon retire. Texas Governor George W. Bush stresses the need to provide for younger workers by investing some Social Security funds in the stock market. And each candidate accuses the other of pitting one generation against another. NPR's Steve Inskeep reports.

Linda talks to Birger Haraldseid, a spokesperson for the Norwegian subsidiary of the Haliburton Corporation about his company's salvage efforts on the sunken Russian submarine, Kursk. The bodies of Russian sailors have been trapped inside the Kursk since it sank in August. The plan is for Haliburton divers to begin bringing the bodies to the surface this week, but bad weather has been complicating the operation.

NPR's Kenneth Walker in Abidjan reports an opposition candidate is claiming a surprise victory in Sunday's presidential election in Ivory Coast. Laurent Gbagbo says he has defeated Retired General Robert Guei who came to power in last year's military coup.

NPR's Eric Westervelt reports on the efforts by the gun lobby to mobilize voters who oppose gun control. Charleton Heston is urging the three-and-a-half million members of The National Rifle Association to vote for George W. Bush and other Republican candidates. The NRA and The National Shooting Sports Foundation are concentrating on critical swing states, such as Pennsylvania and Florida. Groups that support gun control also are trying to get out the vote for their candidates.

Chris Morris reports from Ankara on Turkish anger over a resolution before the U.S. House of Representatives to acknowledge that Armenians were victims of genocide during the First World War. If the resolution passes, the Turkish government may consider revoking airspace permission for the U.S. planes on their way to patrol northern Iraq.

NPR's Linda Gradstein reports from Jerusalem where two Israeli reservist soldiers were killed by a Palestinian mob in the West Bank. International leaders are still trying to bring the two-sides together, but Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer declared on national radio that the peace process is dead and said the nation is on the road to war.

NPR's John Nielsen reports that increasing the supply of iron in the world's oceans could help fight global warming. More iron in the ocean generates larger phytoplankton which in turn soak up carbon dioxide, the main contributor to global warming. The idea, known as the "iron hypothesis," has been around for years, but is slowly gaining more currency among oceanographers. (3:40) (Stations: studies on the topic are featured in the latest edition of the journal, "Nat

Host Bob Edwards talks to Jim Willett , warden at the Walls Unit in Huntsville, where the State of Texas carries out executions. Over the last decade, 199 prisoners have been put to death there by lethal injection. Willett is the narrator in a new radio documentary, "Witness to an Execution," which will be broadcast later today on "All Things Considered" from NPR News. The documentary features workers at the facility, who talk about what it's like to work there.

Host Bob Edwards talks with medical anthropologist Clotaire Rapaille who has built his career on understanding people's shopping -- and voting -- habits. He gives his own analysis of last night's debate.

NPR's Jim Zarroli reports on the expected rise in natural gas prices nationwide this winter. In one New Jersey town, residents could be paying 16% more to heat their homes. Industry experts say seasons of low gas prices are to blame: natural gas producers cut back on production because it was harder to make money. But now there's an increased demand for the resource. (

NPR's Julie McCarthy reports that Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates has established an international scholarship at Cambridge University in London. Gates' scholarship is open to students of all nationalities including Americans. William Gates, Senior announced the endowment and says his son's motive is entirely altruistic.

NPR's Elaine Korry reports on a request by makers of the ulcer-relief drug Misoprostal for doctors not to proscribe their drug to pregnant women. Because the contraction-inducing medication is necessary for effective the use of RU-486, this may render the FDA's recent approval of the drug moot.

(Update) Host Bob Edwards talks with NPR's Steve Inskeep about the attack against a United States Naval ship. A small boat rammed the destroyer USS Cole while it was in port in Yemen.

Nancy Marshall reports a dating service in Philadelphia may be able to help singles who don't have a lot of time to spend looking for a soul mate. The company's called Nanodate, and it specializes in arranging meetings where singles have an 8 minute conversation before they move on to another perspective mate. (6:26

(Update) Host Bob Edwards talks with NPR's Mike Shuster about the violence in the Middle East.

NPR's Mike Shuster reports on the increased air traffic into Baghdad. U.N. sanctions have kept all but humanitarian relief flights away from Iraq for over a decade. But now more countries are willing to bypass the U.N.'s approval. The U.S. is worried that more flights into Iraq will increase the chances for a weapons build-up. (

One week after riots forced Yugoslavia's president Slobodan Milosevich from power, his supporters in the Serbian government are making life difficult for his replacement, Vojislav Kostunica. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from Belgrade.

Host Bob Edwards talks with Harry Link about the winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, announced this morning. Gao Xingjian is the first Chinese author to win the award. Gao's has been living France since 1987 after one of his work "The Other Shore" was banned in China. He is a novelist, dramatist, and translator.

Host Bob Edwards talks with NPR's Ted Clark about Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's announcement yesterday that she will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang late next month. She will be the highest ranking US official ever to visit the communist nation.

NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says the trouble in the Middle East is a headline-grabbing situation unsuitable for political gain -- bad news for George W. Bush and Al Gore.

Wade Goodwyn reports on a study by a Texas advocacy group that says the state's death penalty system needs a drastic overhaul. The report, by the Texas Defender Service, says the system is full of dishonest prosecutors, incompetent defense attorneys, a weak appeals process, and racial bias in sentencing and jury selection.

Robert speaks with Robert Pelletreau, former Assistant Secretary of State, about the lack of popular support among Israelis and Palestinians for final compromises in the peace negotiations. They discuss what Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak must do for the peace process to be able to resume successfully.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden in Jerusalem reports there were more clashes in the West Bank and Gaza today, even as the Israeli and Palestinian leaders were meeting in Egypt in an attempt to end the violence of the past two-and-a-half weeks.

The Yugoslavian people chased president Slobodan Milosevic out of office two weeks ago, but the former leader says he still wants a role in Yugoslavia's new government. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from Belgrade on Milosevic's potential for a political future.

NPR Special Correspondent Susan Stamberg speaks with Anna Deveare about her new book, Talk to Me -- Listening Between the Lines. Deveare has made a life taking art out of life, bringing together interviews and conversations about race conflict and performing them on stage.