News

Getting Better At Predicting The Weather

9:18pm February 15, 2014

After a brutal week of winter storms, the meteorological community is trying to improve the way weather is studied, predicted and communicated to the public. Thomas Bogdan, president of University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, talks with NPR's Arun Rath about the innovations in weather reporting.

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Tenn. Workers Vote To Reject Union At VW Plant

1:13pm February 15, 2014

Workers at the VW plant in Chattanooga have dealt a blow to organized labor in the South. NPR's Scott Simon speaks to reporter Blake Farmer about the close vote.

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Kelly Mottershead and Louie Okamoto held a beach party last October for their wedding ceremony in Carmel, Calif.

National

Walking Down The Widening Aisle Of Interracial Marriages

1:13pm February 15, 2014

by Hansi Lo Wang

One in 10 opposite-sex marriages in the U.S. are between spouses of different races or ethnicities. At more than 5.3 million, their numbers have increased 28 percent since 2000, according to the Census Bureau.

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U.S. Men's Hockey Team Triumphs Over Russia In Shootout Ending

1:13pm February 15, 2014

The American and Russian men's ice hockey teams faced off at the Winter Olympics on Sunday, and it wasn't pretty. From Sochi, correspondent Robert Smith tells NPR's Scott Simon about the game that went into overtime.

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Indian activists from the student wing of Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party protest near the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi on May 25, 2010, against Wendy Doniger's The Hindus. Penguin Books, India, said this week that it would withdraw the book and pul

Author Of Book Yanked In India Says Move Has Backfired

8:09pm February 14, 2014

by Krishnadev Calamur

Penguin Books, India, withdrew Wendy Doniger's The Hindus: An Alternate History after a Hindu group's court challenge. The group said the book denigrated Hinduism. Doniger defended the publisher but said the Indian law that makes offending religious sentiment a crime should be changed.

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Muslim women line up at a Red Cross distribution outside the mosque in Bouar. United Nations peacekeepers guard the mosque, where thousands of Muslim residents gather each evening for safety.

World News

Will Helping Muslims Flee Central African Republic Aid 'Cleansing'?

7:58pm February 14, 2014

by Gregory Warner

Thousands of Muslims have resorted to hiding in mosques or even churches, afraid of being killed by Christian militias. Many are asking for help crossing the border, but the United Nations is hesitant to support the minority's exodus.

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Wiggle (don't jab) the knife in from the hinge of the shell.Turn it like a key. Once you have leverage, MJ says you can pop off the top shell. Make sure the cup-side of the shell is on the bottom.

For The Love Of Oysters: How A Kiss From The Sea Evokes Passion

7:58pm February 14, 2014

by Allison Aubrey

Scientists have made some attempts to link mollusks to increased libido. There's even evidence that consuming heavy doses of an amino acid found in oysters can increase sperm count – in rabbits. But do any of these findings actually prove that oysters can — ahem — amp up arousal? Not so much.

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TV producer Colleen Bell, shown here in a 2013 photo, was a big donor for President Obama before she was nominated to become ambassador to Hungary. Obama has chosen more political appointees than his predecessors.

Afghan Prisoner Release Promises To Inflame Tensions

7:58pm February 13, 2014

Strained relations between Afghanistan and the U.S. and NATO may only get worse this week. The Afghan government is releasing 65 prisoners, many of whom have been accused by the West of plotting and participating in terrorist activities. Robert Siegel speaks with Nathan Hodge of The Wall Street Journal to learn more about the rationale behind this release and what it might mean for Afghan security and diplomacy.

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Hannah Rood, 3, receives an H1N1 vaccine at a clinic in San Pablo, California, during the 2009 swine flu epidemic.

Health & Safety

Stopping Microbes Not Missiles: U.S. Plans For Next Global Threat

7:58pm February 13, 2014

by Jason Beaubien

The world is at greater risk than ever from pandemics and biological weapons, health officials said Thursday. In response, the U.S. government is spearheading a global effort to build an early warning system for infectious diseases, drug-resistant microbes and possible bioterror agents.

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