Search results for

NPR's David Welna reports on the deal reached between the House and the Senate on President Bush's budget plan. The compromise includes a major reduction in the amount of Mr. Bush's proposed tax cut.

NPR's Rachel Jones reports on a study which claims that the use of home monitors to track an infant's heart-rate does not necessarily prevent the occurrence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS. The study appears in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association.

NPR's Madeleine Brand reports that while crime rates for boys are dropping, more girls are being picked up for criminal offenses.

NPR's Guy Raz reports from Berlin, Germany where May Day demonstrations turned violent today. Police used water cannon and tear gas against left-wing protesters, who had pelted them with cobblestones and set fires in the streets.

The bell at First Congregational Church in Woodbury, Connecticut rings every hour. It's been doing that for 150 years. Now, the town council is considering putting a stop to the bell's ring between 6 p.m. and 10 a.m. Residents are complaining the bell is keeping them awake. Noah Adams talks with Mark Heillishorn, pastor of First Congregational.

The trial of former Ku Klux Klansman Thomas Blanton Jr. is over. The man was convicted of bombing the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963. NPR's Debbie Elliott reports on the trial and sentencing in this highly publicized case.

NPR's Patricia Neighmond reports on a study which finds a woman need not get a complete physical in order for her doctor to determine whether its safe to use hormonal birth control, like "the pill." The study appears in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association.

Linda Wertheimer talks with NPR's Melissa Block about the federal government's closing arguments in the trial of four men charged in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The prosecution argued today that it has proven the bombings were carried out as part of a plot by followers of Saudi exile Osama bin Laden to wage Jihad -- or holy war -- against America. If convicted, two of the defendants could face the death penalty.

Noah Adams and Linda Wertheimer remember Dr. Meyer Friedman, the cardiologist who coined the concept of "Type A behavior." Dr. Friedman has died at the age of 90.

There is a new two CD set by Ani DiFranco. It is full of music with a wide range of emotions and influences. Music critic Will Hermes thinks that it is a powerful record by an artist that has done the kind of music she wants, the way she wants to do it. Over the years she has established herself as an independent and it pays off. She has her own label and her own studio. (4:30) It's on Righteous Babe Records.

NPR's Rob Gifford reports in a surprising turn of events, the Chinese Communist Party has started quoting Confucius. Most of the last half century, the party has tried to eliminate Confucius from public discourse. The revival of Confucionism might be an attempt to build public confidence in the government, which is riddled with corruption.

Noah Adams talks with NPR's Debbie Elliott about the verdict reached in the trial of a former Ku Klux Klansman for the 1963 bombing of a Birmingham, Alabama church. Thomas Blanton Jr. was convicted of murder in the explosion at the Sixteenth Street Church, which killed four black girls. Adams and Elliott discuss the closing arguments and reaction to the verdict.

NPR's Alex Van Oss reports Lawrence Small, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. His decisions to change the Smithsonian's current system have drawn sharp criticism from current staff as well as outsiders.

NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr offers his thoughts on former U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey's revelation that he was involved in a raid that resulted in the killing of women and children as a Navy SEAL during the Vietnam War.

Maura Ferrelly of Georgia Public Radio reports that residents of Savannah, Georgia are divided over a statue that would commemorate slaves and their contribution to the city. The focus of the controversy is an inscription on the proposed slave memorial by poet Maya Angelou describing the horrors of the "middle passage," the voyage slaves took from Africa to the New World. Opponents say the inscription is divisive, others believe it is an accurate reflection of the voyage.

Yesterday's scheduled auto race -- the Firestone Firehawk 600 -- at the Texas Motor Speedway was postponed after it became clear that drivers practicing on the course were experiencing dizziness. Noah Adams talks with Dr. Steve Olvey, the medical director for Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. in Miami, Florida about the course and the "G" forces involved.

It costs a lot of money to rent a tuxedo for the prom. So Aaron Theisen has decided not to wear one. It's not that he can't swing the cost. He thinks the money can be better used. Theisen is donating the amount he'd otherwise spend on a tux to the Cystic Fibrosis foundation. And he's convinced some other kids to follow. Noah Adams talks with Aaron Theisen, a high school senior at Marquette University High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

NPR's Guy Raz reports from Berlin on a controversial exhibit that is drawing huge crowds. The artist -- German anatomy professor Gunther Von Hagens -- mummifies human and animal organs and bodies by immersing them in a polymer solution. He then poses and displays the bodies. Von Hagens says his exhibit is intended to "enlighten" the public, and indeed many visitors see it as educational. The Roman Catholic Church, however, sees it as a perversion.

Commentator Stacy Horn has learned her mother has a terminal disease. She finds some comfort in an unlikely place -- an episode of television's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, called The Body.

Despite the negative publicity of the foot and mouth epidemic in England, British officials are celebrating higher than expected tourism over the past spring break. But as NPR's Julie McCarthy reports, tourism in rural communities is still hurting.

NPR Science Correspondent Joe Palca recently visited Cambodia where it's estimated that 70 percent of the men smoke cigarettes, including Buddhist monks. Palca meets with a physician, whose work with Buddhist monks has led to smoking cessation for a large part of that population, and it's affecting local Cambodians as well.

For the first time in more than two decades, Americans can view art from Iran.

Laura Sydell reports on a prominent contemporary composer, David Del Tradici. His collection of songs entitled Gay Life premiers this weekend in San Francisco.

Commentator Frank Deford isn't sure members of the clergy belong in the locker room. Deford alleges that many team chaplains are using the guise of Christianity to cozy up to their favorite sports celebrities.

Robert Siegel talks with NPR's Vicky O'Hara about today's meeting in Washington between Secretary of State Colin Powell and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. They discussed efforts to bring about a cease-fire in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, as a step toward resuming peace talks.