Remembrances
4:18 am
Mon August 27, 2012

Remembering Astronaut Neil Armstrong

Originally published on Mon August 27, 2012 9:56 am

Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, died over the weekend at the age of 82. Steve Inskeep talks to Neil Degrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, about Armstrong's impact on space exploration.

Europe
3:56 am
Mon August 27, 2012

2 Pussy Riot Members Flee Russia

Originally published on Mon August 27, 2012 4:39 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

In Russia, three members of a feminist punk band are preparing to appeal their two-year prison sentences. The young women were convicted 10 days ago of hooliganism after staging a protest in Moscow's main Orthodox cathedral. The group, Pussy Riot, also announced on Twitter yesterday that two other members who took part in that protest have fled the country to avoid being arrested. The tweet came after police said they were still searching for the activists, who are part of a broader opposition to Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

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Around the Nation
3:56 am
Mon August 27, 2012

Gulf Coast States Brace For Isaac's Fury

Originally published on Mon August 27, 2012 4:18 am

Tropical Storm Isaac is expected to strengthen into a hurricane as it churns through the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. While its exact track is still uncertain, parts of Florida are being hit by the storms outer bands. Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana are preparing as well.

Margot Williams is a NPR News Investigations database correspondent. Along with her reporting, Williams works behind the scenes compiling, mining and analyzing data for investigative reports, ferreting for information, and connecting the dots.

Since joining NPR in October 2010, Williams has helped examine the massive trove of secret documents about the Guantanamo Bay detainees. Williams and NPR collaborated with The New York Times to provide an assessment of the reports which were leaked to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. In addition, Williams worked with NPR Justice Correspondent Carrie Johnson to investigate the U.S. Bureau of Prisons Communications Management Unit for convicted terrorists. The NPR Investigation identified 86 of the more than 100 men for the first time; most are Muslims and have lived in the special units often called "Guantanamo North."

For five years prior to NPR, Williams worked as the database research editor and on the computer assisted reporting team at The New York Times. She spent 14 years at The Washington Post in several different positions including: research editor, library director, metro news resource director, and wrote for The Post's "Networkings" column. From 1998-90, Williams was the library director for the Poughkeepsie Journal.

Over the course of her career Williams has received a number of accolades and honors. In 2004, she was awarded first place for Explanatory Journalism on Major League Baseball from the Associated Press Sports Editors. Williams worked on the team that earned the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for National Affairs for The Washington Post's coverage of 9/11 aftermath and terrorism. She contributed to The Post's 1999 Pulitzer Prize Public Service Award for work on the investigative project "Deadly Force". In 1999, she was awarded Best of Show from the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association. Williams was awarded first place in Business/Economics from the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association in 1989.

A frequent speaker and educator at journalism conferences, seminars and graduate programs, Williams has participated in Global Investigative Journalism, Investigative Reporters & Editor and the Poynter Institute, among many others. Williams first book, Cuba from Columbus to Castro, was released in 1981 by Simon & Schuster. Most recently, in 1999, she co-wrote with Nora Paul, Great Scouts! CyberGuides for Subject Searching on the Web, published by Cyberage books.

Williams earned a Master of Science degree in library and information science from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Asian studies from The City College of New York.

Law
3:01 am
Mon August 27, 2012

John Walker Lindh Sues For Prison Prayer Group

Credit File Photo / AP
John Walker Lindh was captured in Afghanistan in 2002 after fighting with the Taliban.

Originally published on Mon August 27, 2012 12:34 pm

John Walker Lindh was a middle-class kid in Northern California who converted to Islam and went to travel the world. U.S. authorities eventually captured him in Afghanistan after Sept. 11, when he was allegedly fighting alongside the Taliban.

His story was the focus of a Law and Order episode, and a song called "John Walker's Blues" by Steve Earle.

For the past five years, Lindh has been living in a secret prison facility in Indiana with convicted terrorists, neo-Nazis and other inmates who get special monitoring.

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Middle East
2:28 am
Mon August 27, 2012

Conflict Of Cultures Brews In A Distressed Syria

Credit Muhammed Muheisen / AP
Syrian children, who fled their home with their family, take refuge at the Bab Al-Salameh border crossing, in hopes of entering one of the refugee camps in Turkey on Sunday.

Originally published on Mon August 27, 2012 10:31 pm

After a month-long offensive in Aleppo, Syria's largest city, rebels are struggling under a fierce counter offensive by the Syrian military and the outcome is far from clear. But the future of Aleppo, the country's financial hub, is already under discussion in secret meetings on the Turkish border.

Over cups of sweat tea in a Turkish border hotel, Moeihmen Abdul Rahman, a lawyer from Aleppo, sits down for his first meeting with Abu Riad, a commander from the Al Tawheed brigade, a coalition of rebel militias leading the assault on Aleppo.

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Shots - Health Blog
2:26 am
Mon August 27, 2012

Pediatricians Decide Boys Are Better Off Circumcised Than Not

Credit Matt Rourke / AP
Social worker Shannon Coyne and her husband decided against circumcision for their son, now 11 months old. The nation's most influential pediatricians group says the health benefits of circumcision in newborn boys outweigh any risks and that insurance companies should pay for it.

Originally published on Fri August 31, 2012 11:35 am

The American Academy of Pediatrics on Monday announced its first major shift on circumcision in more than a decade, concluding that the health benefits of the procedure clearly outweigh any risks.

"There is clear evidence that supports the health benefits of circumcision," said Susan Blank, who led the 14-member task force that formulated the new policy being published in the journal Pediatrics.

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It's All Politics
2:25 am
Mon August 27, 2012

Romney's Plan To Broaden Tax Base Finds Critics

Credit Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks at a town hall meeting in Grand Junction, Colo., on July 10. Romney says he wants to sharply cut income tax rates, but that those cuts would be revenue-neutral.

Originally published on Mon August 27, 2012 12:22 pm

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says he favors keeping all of the Bush-era tax cuts and then adding some more. To pay for these cuts, he would reduce or eliminate some of the tax deductions that many Americans have come to rely on. But his proposals are already facing a lot of resistance.

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Shots - Health Blog
2:24 am
Mon August 27, 2012

Sleepless Nights May Put The Aging Brain At Risk Of Dementia

Credit mrsmuckers / iStockphoto.com
If you're having trouble sleeping, researchers say you should resist the urge to keep checking the time.

Originally published on Mon August 27, 2012 9:55 am

As we age, our sleep patterns change. We've all heard the complaints: "I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep!"

Some sleep experts estimate that as many as 40 percent of older adults suffer sleeping problems such as sleep apnea and insomnia. Now, researchers have found a link between disrupted sleep and cognitive decline.

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Crime In The City
2:24 am
Mon August 27, 2012

Michigan Author Dreams Up A Deadlier Ann Arbor

Originally published on Mon August 27, 2012 10:32 pm

Ask Harry Dolan to take you for lunch at a restaurant he's written about, and he won't disappoint. In downtown Ann Arbor, Mich., on Liberty Street, the vegetarian restaurant Seva serves mushroom sliders and yam fries that both the crime writer and his characters are quite fond of. With any luck, you'll also catch the perfect song playing in the background — "Psycho Killer" by the Talking Heads.

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