Morning Edition on 90.5 WKAR

Tens of thousands of people are attending the Jaipur Literature Festival in India — including many international literary stars and Oprah Winfrey. Author Salman Rushdie was invited but decided not to attend after a warning that hit men would be after him. Rushdie wrote The Satanic Verses which has been banned in India for more than 20 years.

David Greene checks in with Jennifer Gibbons, editor of "The Cordova Times" in Cordova, Alaska. We last heard from her two weeks ago when her community had declared an emergency during its efforts to dig out of record amounts of snow.

Over the past half-century more than 20 million acres of U.S. farmland were transformed into housing developments. With new home construction all but stopped, farmers in many areas are buying or leasing land once slated for development and planting crops on it.

The two men who helped turn the BlackBerry into a device many people can't live without have stepped aside. Research in Motion is the company behind the BlackBerry and Sunday its co-CEOs resigned. They were under a lot of pressure as investors wonder whether the Canadian firm can turn itself around and compete better with flashier phones like the iPhone.

The fraud trial of Texas financier R. Allen Stanford is scheduled to begin Monday morning in Houston. Stanford is charged with running a $7 billion Ponzi scheme. Stanford's trial has been delayed repeatedly, in part because he's fired his legal teams multiple times.

Steve Inskeep has the Last Word in Business.

First Aid Kit is two sisters, ages 18 and 21, from Sweden. But their music sounds like a slice of Americana: acoustic guitar, autoharp and lots of vocal harmony.

Klara and Johanna Soderberg wrote the songs for their new album, The Lion's Roar, while on their last tour. Many started with ideas, short riffs, recorded on a cellphone.

Booksellers and publishers are worried that Amazon is going to devour their industry. The giant online retailer seems to have its hands in all aspects of the business, from publishing books to selling them — and that has some in the book world wondering if there is any end to Amazon's influence.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement faced accusations that a breathalyzer was giving inaccurate readings. So it commissioned a study. Fifteen employees consumed more than $300 worth of whiskey, mixers and Doritos, and then used the breathalyzer. Judges are considering whether the study was legitimate.

A frustrated judge in London recently exercised a little-known power: sending police into the street to rustle up jurors. The London Free Press reports lawyers in the case had questioned 130 potential jurors, and were still short. So unsuspecting pedestrians were hauled into court.

Saturday is South Carolina's Republican presidential primary. It's also the second anniversary of the Supreme Court's famous Citizens United decision.

That's the case that allows corporations to explicitly support or attack specific candidates. The day will be marked with attack ads — and protests.

The Republican presidential race has covered just three states so far. And superPACs linked to candidates Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul have spent a total of $20 million. They're feeding voters a heavy diet of negativity.

The Iowa Republican Party has certified the results of its caucuses earlier this month. Rick Santorum is 34 votes ahead, but the party will not declare a winner because there are missing results in eight precincts. Before the certification process, Mitt Romney had been declared the winner.

David Greene has business news.

Renee Montagne has the Last Word in business.

On the campaign trail, GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum often discusses his opposition to abortion rights and gay marriage. That message served him well in Iowa with its large contingent of evangelical voters. Christian conservatives are also dominant in South Carolina, which votes Saturday. Santorum hopes to repeat his Iowa performance, but he's been struggling to keep pace in polls.

GOP presidential campaigns and superPACs have been spending millions of dollars on TV and radio advertising ahead of Saturday's South Carolina primary. While the negative superPAC ads air, the candidates are delivering a more positive message.

Newt Gingrich's swift rise has been fueled by one thing above all — his forceful performances in the debates. And Thursday night, Gingrich was dominant from the start when he got the first question. It was about an explosive television interview with his ex-wife Marianne.

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

As Mara just mentioned, the debate last night opened with a question about a claim made by Gingrich's ex-wife. Well, Marianne Gingrich gave her exclusive interview to ABC's "Nightline," putting the candidate's personal life in the spotlight once again. NPR's Tamara Keith has more.

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: The interview was incredibly hyped, in part because Marianne Gingrich has been silent so far on her ex-husband's presidential candidacy. This was her first television interview since their 1999 divorce.