News

Tennis Fans: A Stadium Roof Is Coming. So Is Regis Philbin

12:03pm August 21, 2013

by Frank Deford

The centerpiece of Fox's new all-sports network is a talk show hosted by Regis Philbin, who says his credentials for the job are that he's a fan. Poor Fox. Poor Regis Philbin. This is no way to start a sports network.

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World News

Syrian Government Accused In Gas Attacks On Civilians

12:03pm August 21, 2013

Renee Montagne speaks with Los Angeles Times Beirut bureau chief Patrick McDonnell about allegations that the Syrian government used gas attacks on civilians near the capital, Damascus. The Syrian government has strongly denied the accusation.

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Microwave pralines are easier to make than stovetop pralines, and just as tasty.

'Treme' Cookbook Captures The Flavor Of A Show And A City

11:34am August 21, 2013

by Melissa Block

Melissa Block talks with Lolis Eric Elie, a writer and editor behind the HBO series Treme about a new cookbook written in the voices of the show's characters. Elie says it reflects both old New Orleans traditions and more recent influences.

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About a year since launching, Vine says it has more than 40 million registered users.

National

How Vine Settled On 6 Seconds

8:53pm August 20, 2013

by Laura Sydell

According to numbers released Tuesday, Twitter's one-year-old video-sharing app Vine now has about 40 million registered users. The app lets users shoot a maximum of six seconds per Vine, so we wanted to know why the limit's set at six seconds and not a second longer.

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Teenagers turn to their phones and social media to find rides.

Teens Use Twitter To Thumb Rides

5:25pm August 20, 2013

by Bianca Brooks

Need a ride to the party or the concert? Instead of making endless phone calls, these days teens turn to social media to arrange transportation. It's called ridesharing, a form of cyber-hitchhiking used by a generation that isn't rushing to get a driver's license or dream car.

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Mingma Tshering helps care for his nephew, whose father died on Everest in 2006. Mingma worked on Everest for the first time this past spring.

World News

On Mount Everest, Sherpa Guides Bear The Brunt Of The Danger

1:46pm August 20, 2013

Sherpa guides are 10 times more likely to die than commercial fishermen, the most dangerous, nonmilitary occupation in the U.S. But they're offered little financial protection by companies who charge Western climbers thousands of dollars for a trip up the mountain.

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Heavy rains in Australia in 2010 and 2011 flooded farmland and homes, like these in the Queensland state town of St. George, seen here on Feb. 7. 2011.

How Extreme Australian Rains Made Global Sea Levels Drop

9:19am August 20, 2013

by Richard Harris

Sea level has been rising steadily as a result of global warming. But in 2010 and 2011, levels dropped sharply by a quarter of an inch. A new analysis says that's because extraordinarily heavy rainfall got trapped in inland Australia.

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National

One By One, California Agents Track Down Illegally Owned Guns

8:57am August 20, 2013

by Richard Gonzales

California is currently the only state with a program to confiscate guns from residents prohibited from owning firearms. To find them, agents comb through a database of people who legally owned a gun until mental illness or a brush with the law rendered them no longer eligible for gun ownership.

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BlackBerry smartphones on a table during a "BlackBerry Brunch" in June in Berlin.

The End Of Buttons: The New Gesture-Control Era

6:58pm August 19, 2013

by Elise Hu

The newest smartphones are abandoning both physical and on-screen buttons in favor of gestures. As with so much behavior change ushered in by technology, the change happens before we take wider notice.

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NPR CEO Gary Knell Announces He's Leaving

6:58pm August 19, 2013

by Mark Memmott

Knell joined NPR in December 2011. He came after the resignation of Vivian Schiller, who left after two high-profile controversies. Now he's moving to National Geographic for what he says is an opportunity "I could not turn down."

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