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Around the Nation
8:00 am
Sat March 17, 2012

Suspect In Afghanistan Shooting Shocks Neighbors

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JACKI LYDEN, HOST:

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Politics
8:00 am
Sat March 17, 2012

Clooney One Of Many Celebrities To Grace The Hill

Credit The Washington Post/Getty Images
Actor George Clooney is led away in handcuffs from Sudan's embassy in Washington, D.C., on Friday. Clooney, his father, Nick, and others including Democratic Rep. Jim Moran of Virginia and NAACP President Ben Jealous, were arrested as they demonstrated to bring attention to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.
Politics
8:00 am
Sat March 17, 2012

Who Will Rule In Congress?: A Look At The Races

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JACKI LYDEN, HOST:

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Media
8:00 am
Sat March 17, 2012

'This American Life' Pulls Apple Story

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JACKI LYDEN, BYLINE: This weekend, the public radio program "This American Life" will air a retraction and apologize to listeners for a segment that aired in January about factories in China which make the Apple iPad. The story described hazardous working conditions at the plant. It was told by a man named Mike Daisey, who claimed to have interviewed workers injured there. Many elements of Daisey's story have now been discredited.

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Economy
8:00 am
Sat March 17, 2012

Markets Hit Milestones; Goldman Sachs Gets Bashed

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JACKI LYDEN, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Jacki Lyden. Checking on your retirement and mutual fund statements is getting a bit less scary. The stock market cleared another hurdle this week with the S&P 500 closing above 1,400 for the first time in almost four years, and the Dow Jones Industrials up almost 25 percent from in recent low back in early October. NPR's John Ydstie is here to tell us what's driving the market. John, thank you for coming in.

JOHN YDSTIE, BYLINE: You're welcome, Jacki.

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Music Interviews
8:00 am
Sat March 17, 2012

Composer Matches Music To Horse Hooves

Originally published on Sun March 18, 2012 10:07 am

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JACKI LYDEN, HOST:

As London prepares for an Olympic influx, the world's athletes are not the only ones limbering up. Composer Tom Hunt is at work with members of a British team who compete in the equestrian sport called dressage. He joins us from the BBC studios in Salford.

Thank you for joining us.

TOM HUNT: Thank you for having me.

LYDEN: The music that you compose for the equestrian competition, tell us how the music and the horse work together.

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Europe
6:23 am
Sat March 17, 2012

Greek Bailout Is Accompanied By Greek Resentment

Credit Petros Giannakouris / AP
Shipyard workers demand their unpaid wages in central Athens on Thursday, the day that countries in the 17-nation euro zone formally approved a second bailout of $36.6 billion for Greece.

Debt-beleaguered Greece has secured a second international bailout. But for many Greeks, the conditions set by the International Monetary Fund, European Union and European Central Bank — known as the "troika" — are a breach of their sovereignty.

A recent demonstration in central Athens was organized by a group of lawyers who claim the latest bailout agreement turns Greece into the ward of its international lenders.

Demonstrator Irini Lazana says it violates the country's legislative foundations.

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Author Interviews
6:23 am
Sat March 17, 2012

'The O'Briens': A Multigenerational Canadian Epic

Credit Pantheon

In the Law of Dreams, Canadian writer Peter Behrens' first novel, an Irish immigrant, based on Behrens' grandfather, makes his way out of famine-starved Ireland to Canada. The novel came out in 2006 to wide acclaim and won Canada's Governor-General's award for fiction.

Now, Behrens has followed up with another multigenerational novel. The O'Briens opens in 1867, with teenage Joe O'Brien scratching out a living in Quebec after his father and mother have both died.

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Poetry
6:22 am
Sat March 17, 2012

A St. Patrick's Poem On Shamrocks And Stereotypes

Credit iStockphoto.com

Originally published on Sun March 18, 2012 10:07 am

Ireland has launched some of the greatest writers in English literature, from William Butler Yeats to Oscar Wilde to George Bernard Shaw.

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Middle East
6:21 am
Sat March 17, 2012

Despite Restrictions, Gaza Finds A Way To Build

Credit Mohammed Abed / AFP/Getty Images
A Palestinian youth breaks up stones for construction in Gaza City. Despite restrictions on imports including building material, the area is going through a construction boom.

Originally published on Sun March 18, 2012 10:07 am

A crowd of onlookers has gathered around the oily black tarmac recently being laid down in a section of downtown Gaza City. Gaza's potholed streets are finally getting a makeover, and infrastructure upgrades like this new road are still a novelty for residents.

The overseer of the project says that before, Gaza couldn't get enough material to fix the road. But now, everyone is building.

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Presidential Race
6:21 am
Sat March 17, 2012

Confusion Wins In Missouri's 'Chaotic' Caucus Process

Credit Frank Morris / For NPR
Women count votes at the GOP presidential caucus in Barry County, Mo., on Tuesday. At this and other caucuses held in the state Saturday, voters selected delegates to go to the district and state conventions.

Originally published on Sun March 18, 2012 10:07 am

Cassville, Mo., is a little town on the edge of the Ozark Mountains. During the Civil War, the Confederate state Legislature convened here. Tuesday, the Republican presidential caucus was the big draw. Most of the rest of the state holds its caucuses today.

Confusion On Caucus Night

The first caucus was a messy process. More than 250 people showed up, most planning to vote directly for the candidates. That was not to be.

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Afghanistan
2:22 am
Sat March 17, 2012

Neighbors: Suspect In Afghan Attack Was Family Man

Originally published on Sun March 18, 2012 12:59 am

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the U.S. soldier alleged to have killed 16 Afghan civilians, was described by a former platoon leader Saturday as an "awesome" soldier.

"He always got the job done," said Cpt. Christopher Alexander, who led Bales on his second tour in Iraq. "You give this guy a task — it could be menial, it could be dangerous — either way, you never had to worry about whether he'd get it done and get it done well."

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U.S.
10:38 pm
Fri March 16, 2012

Soldier Suspected In Afghan Shootings Identified

Originally published on Fri March 16, 2012 11:03 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block. We now know the name of the American soldier who's in custody for killing 16 Afghan civilians last weekend. NPR has confirmed he is Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, based out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State. And for more, we're joined by NPR's Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman. Tom, the name has been withheld now for nearly a week since that shooting happened. Why is it out now?

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Music Interviews
6:27 pm
Fri March 16, 2012

Moot Davis: A Rocker With A Honky-Tonk Heart

Credit / Courtesy of the artist
Moot Davis' new album is Man about Town.

Originally published on Sun March 18, 2012 10:07 am

Though guitarist Moot Davis grew up a New Jersey rocker, he had an appreciation for country music thanks to his West Virginian parents. But it wasn't until he saw a certain cola commercial that he really turned a corner.

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The Two-Way
6:23 pm
Fri March 16, 2012

Reports: Officials Identify Soldier Suspected Of Shooting Afghan Civilians

Originally published on Sat March 17, 2012 4:42 am

Pentagon officials say Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is the soldier suspected of killing 16 Afghan civilians, including women and children.

While a profile of him is not yet detailed, now that his name has been made public one is beginning to emerge.

Bales is a 38-year-old father of two from Lake Tapps, Wash. with a good military record. His neighbors describe him as friendly and "full of life."

His lawyer has said that he's been injured twice and that this Afghanistan deployment was his fourth tour and he was adamant about going.

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Election 2012
5:55 pm
Fri March 16, 2012

Incumbents Face Off In Illinois After Redistricting

Originally published on Fri March 16, 2012 11:20 pm

Redistricting is forcing a handful of congressional incumbents of the same party to run against each other in primaries. On March 6, Rep. Marcy Kaptur defeated fellow liberal Democrat Rep. Dennis Kucinich in Ohio.

And next Tuesday, two conservative Republicans square off in Illinois.

The scene is the newly drawn 16th Congressional District, which covers mostly rural territory in the northern part of the state, curving around the suburbs and exurbs of Chicago, from the Wisconsin border north of Rockford to the Indiana border east of Kankakee.

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The Two-Way
5:54 pm
Fri March 16, 2012

'Invisible Children' Co-Founder Arrested In San Diego

Originally published on Fri March 16, 2012 6:09 pm

Over the past couple of weeks, Invisible Children has been in the news quite a bit. First because a video produced by the organization acheived viral success and shone a spotlight on the Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony.

Then, because the video caused controversy when some said it glossed over a complex issue.

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Economy
4:51 pm
Fri March 16, 2012

The Market's Finally Looking Up: Will It Last?

Credit Richard Drew / AP
Trader Peter Tuchman reacts on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on March 13. That same day, the Dow Jones industrial average had its highest close since 2007.

Originally published on Fri March 16, 2012 11:03 pm

The stock market hit some major milestones this week: The Standard & Poor's 500 index reached its highest level in more than three years, the Dow Jones industrial average settled in above 13,000 — up about 24 percent since early October — and the Nasdaq rose to its highest level in 11 years. Still, the Federal Reserve has been warning not to get too excited about where the economy is headed next.

David Kotok, chairman and chief investment officer at Cumberland Advisors, says there are a bunch of reason for stocks to be rising.

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The Two-Way
4:33 pm
Fri March 16, 2012

Egyptians Rally In Cairo To Protest Acquittal Over 'Virginity Tests'

Credit Amr Nabil / AP
An Egyptian woman shouts anti-military Supreme Council slogans during a demonstration in front of Cairo's high court on Friday.

Hundreds of Egyptians rallied in Cairo today to protest the recent acquittal of a military doctor charged with forcing "virginity tests" on female activists.

The AP reports:

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