NPR News

Pages

Parallels
6:07 am
Sun May 19, 2013

Russian Lawmakers: Don't Criticize Soviet Actions In WWII

Credit Yuri Kadobnov / AFP/Getty Images
A column of Russia's T-90 tanks rumbles over the cobblestones in Moscow's Red Square on May 9 during the country's Victory Day parade celebrating the anniversary of its costly victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

World War II remains a monumental event in the collective Russian mind. It's known as the "Great Patriotic War," and Russians believe no one made greater sacrifices than the Soviet Union when it came to defeating Nazi Germany.

The end of the war is celebrated with a huge military parade in Moscow's Red Square on May 9, commemorating the millions of men and women, military and civilian, who died during the struggle.

Read more
Parallels
5:50 am
Sun May 19, 2013

Escape From An Eritrean Prison

Credit Stan Honda / AFP/Getty
Eritrea's human rights record has been widely criticized under President Isaias Afwerki, shown here speaking at the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 23, 2011.
Politics
5:41 am
Sun May 19, 2013

Nonconservative Groups Say IRS Scrutinized Them, Too

Credit Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images
Outgoing acting Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Steve Miller (right) and Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George are sworn before a full House Ways and Means Committee hearing Friday.

The IRS was in the hot seat Friday, with its outgoing acting commissioner testifying before a House committee. A Senate panel is scheduled for Tuesday. Congress is prodding to find out why the agency singled out conservative groups for special scrutiny.

Read more
Afghanistan
5:41 am
Sun May 19, 2013

Afghans With Disabilities Fight For The Right To Rights

Credit Sean Carberry / NPR
A technician shapes a cast mold for a prosthetic limb at the Red Cross orthopedic clinic in Kabul, Afghanistan. The clinic produces about 2,000 prosthetic limbs each year.

Climbing the rickety metal staircase is precarious enough if you aren't on crutches, but it's simply dangerous if you are. At the top is the office of Janbazan-e-Mayhan, one of many social councils for disabled Afghans. Men missing arms, legs or hands sit around the small room.

Afghanistan isn't an easy place for anyone to make a living. But for those with disabilities, it's a downright hostile environment. Tens of thousands have been maimed and disabled during decades of conflict. Jobs are scarce, and there's almost nothing that's handicapped-accessible.

Read more
Business
12:51 am
Sun May 19, 2013

Tesla Rides High, But Faces Formidable Foe: Car Dealers

Credit Stan Honda / AFP/Getty Images
The Tesla Model S, Motor Trend Car of the Year, is introduced at the 2013 North American International Auto Show, in Detroit in January. Tesla's attempts to sell its cars without going through dealerships is meeting resistance.

Tesla Motors, the American maker of luxury electric cars, has been riding a wave of good publicity.

Its Model S sedan (base priced at $62,400, after federal tax credits) was just named Motor Trend Car of the Year. Reviewers at Consumer Reports gave the lithium-ion battery powered vehicle a rave.

And the company, headed by billionaire innovator Elon Musk, 41, posted a profit for the first time in its 10-year history — powered in part by zero-emission environmental credits.

Read more
Mental Health
5:27 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

Alzheimer's Cases Rise, But Hope Remains

Credit Sarah Brodzinski
Amy Goyer moved back to Phoenix to look after her father, Robert, when he began to show signs of Alzheimer's. He is just one of 5 million Americans living with the disease.

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 7:47 pm

More than 5 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer's disease, and the National Institute on Aging estimates that that number is going to triple by 2050 — in part due to aging baby boomers.

The cost of coping with the disease — currently estimated at $215 billion — is projected to rise to half a trillion dollars by 2050. That amount will likely tax our overburdened health care system, the economy and the families of those affected.

Amy Goyer realized her 84-year-old father Robert's health was deteriorating one night while watching a movie with him.

Read more
The Two-Way
5:09 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

Prominent Pakistani Politician Shot, Killed On Re-Election Eve

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 3:25 am

On the eve of a re-vote, a prominent Pakistani politician was shot and killed on Saturday.

Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reports that Zahra Shahid Hussain, who was the senior vice president of Pakistan's Movement for Justice (PTI), was shot in the head during "an attempted robbery incident."

Read more
Around the Nation
4:42 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

Impossible Choice Faces America's First 'Climate Refugees'

Originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 5:59 am

Climate change is a stark reality in America's northernmost state. Nearly 90 percent of native Alaskan villages are on the coast, where dramatic erosion and floods have become a part of daily life.

Perched on the Ninglick River on the west coast of the state, the tiny town of Newtok may be the state's most vulnerable village. About 350 people live there, nearly all of them Yupik Eskimos. But the Ninglick is rapidly rising due to ice melt, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the highest point in the town — a school — could be underwater by 2017.

Read more
Business
4:41 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

Internships: Low-Paid, Unpaid Or Just Plain Illegal?

Credit Seth Perlman / AP
Students fill out applications during a job fair at the University of Illinois Springfield in February. Fed up with working for free, some interns are suing their employers.

Originally published on Sat May 18, 2013 7:47 pm

Summer is almost here, and with it comes the army of interns marching into countless American workplaces. Yet what was once an opportunity for the inexperienced is becoming a front-line labor issue.

More and more, unpaid and low-paid interns are feeling their labor is being exploited. Some are even willing to push back — with lawsuits.

Read more
Parallels
4:20 pm
Sat May 18, 2013

Spaniard's Song Brings YouTube Fame ... And Maybe A Job

Credit mrenzovic/youtube.com
Enzo Vizcaíno, a 24-year-old unemployed Spaniard, isn't singing for his supper. He just wants a job.

Pages