2:51am

Thu May 23, 2013
Movie Interviews

Director Lin Shifts The Identity Of 'Fast & Furious'

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 10:54 am

The movie Fast & Furious 6 hits theaters tomorrow. It is director Justin Lin's fourth film in the franchise, and is far different from his very first film, Shopping for Fangs, which starred a young John Cho and became a cult classic among Asian-American indie film fans.

Or is it so different?

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2:44am

Thu May 23, 2013
National Security

Obama Speech Expected To Touch On Drones, Guantanamo

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 10:54 am

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And I'm David Greene.

For months now, the Obama administration has promised to reveal more about America's secret drone program, and today could be the day. The president will speak this afternoon at the National Defense University, and he's planning to discuss America's fight against terrorism. He is expected to address everything from drones to the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

NPR's Dina Temple-Raston has this preview.

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2:38am

Thu May 23, 2013
Politics

IRS Official's Silence Riles House Committee Members

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 10:54 am

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

The IRS has admitted to targeting conservative groups seeking tax exempt status. And yesterday at a House hearing the IRS director of exempt organizations said, quote: "I have not done anything wrong." She then declined to testify. Lois Lerner's brief appearance at the committee was just the beginning of a stormy, five-hour session filled with angry outbursts and allegations of political motives.

NPR's Peter Overby reports.

PETER OVERBY, BYLINE: Lois Lerner did read a statement that she had done her job properly.

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1:06am

Thu May 23, 2013
It's All Politics

Obama Group's Climate Push Puts President Under Scrutiny

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 10:54 am

Credit Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images

1:05am

Thu May 23, 2013
Law

Sick Inmates Dying Behind Bars Despite Release Program

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 10:54 am

Credit iStockphoto.com

Prison is a tough place, but Congress made an exception nearly 30 years ago, giving terminally ill inmates and prisoners with extraordinary family circumstances an early way out. It's called compassionate release.

But a recent investigation found that many federal inmates actually die while their requests drift through the system.

One of them was Clarence Allen Rice.

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1:05am

Thu May 23, 2013
The Race Card Project: Six-Word Essays

Living In Two Worlds, But With Just One Language

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 2:23 pm

NPR continues its conversations about The Race Card Project, where NPR Host/Special Correspondent Michele Norris asks people to send in six-word stories about race and culture. The submissions are personal, provocative and often quite candid.

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5:47pm

Wed May 22, 2013
Shots - Health News

Scientific Tooth Fairies Investigate Neanderthal Breast-Feeding

Originally published on Fri May 24, 2013 10:54 am

When it comes to weaning, humans are weird.

Our closest relatives, chimpanzees and gorillas, breast-feed their offspring for several years. Some baby orangutans nurse until they are 7 years old.

But modern humans wean much earlier. In preindustrial societies, babies stop nursing after about two years. Which raises the question: How did we get that way? When did we make the evolutionary shift from apelike parenting to the short breast-feeding period of humans?

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4:40pm

Wed May 22, 2013
From Our Listeners

Letters: Stories From Moore, Okla.

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

It's time now for your letters, and we got many about our coverage of the tornado that devastated Moore, Oklahoma. Several were praise for our story yesterday about survivors who lost most of their possessions but considered themselves lucky.

CHRISTINE PARRISH: They were digging her out while we were looking through our stuff. And we thought they were looking for their dogs, and it was her. And they found her, and she was passed.

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3:40pm

Wed May 22, 2013
Parallels

A Decade In The Making, West Bank Barrier Is Nearly Complete

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 10:16 am

Israeli army Capt. Barak Raz climbs a metal staircase to the top of a high concrete wall that is part of Israel's West Bank barrier. From his perch, he overlooks both the Palestinian village of Bil'in and Modin Illit, the largest Jewish settlement in the West Bank, with some 50,000 residents.

The barrier here used to be a fence. After many confrontations with Israeli soldiers, Palestinian villagers won a court case, and the fence was moved off some of their land. But since the barrier was moved closer to an Israeli settlement, it was rebuilt as a wall.

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3:37pm

Wed May 22, 2013
The Salt

Could African Crops Be Improved With Private Biotech Data?

Originally published on Wed May 22, 2013 3:44 pm

"I'm shocked by the optimism here," Howard Yana-Shapiro, the chief agricultural officer for Mars Inc. said Tuesday to the audience of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs' Global Food Security Symposium in Washington, D.C.

Seated there before him were some of the leaders from the wealthiest international organizations and multinational companies of the fight to end hunger. And Shapiro told them they weren't even close.

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