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Adam Lambert captivated America in 2009 when he almost won American Idol. Lambert was brash, likable and glamorous, but he soon became better known for being the first openly gay Idol contender.

Though Lambert finished as the runner-up, his popularity and talent won him a recording deal. He released his second studio album, Trespassing, this week — just a few months after his 30th birthday.

The former Libyan intelligence officer who was the only person ever convicted in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, has died.

Family members tell The Associated Press and Reuters that Abdel Baset al-Megrahi died at home after a long battle with prostate cancer. He was 60.

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RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Writer Paul Theroux can't shake Africa. Almost 50 years ago, he lived in the small central African nation of Malawi. Theroux was there for four years teaching English as a Peace Corps volunteer, and some of the most visceral details have stayed with him.

Many Egyptians believe Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister to be corrupt. Yet Ahmed Shafiq, who is running for president in Egypt's historic elections this month, has climbed to second in opinion polls. Experts say his growing popularity highlights many Egyptians' desires for stability, which, as NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reports, is something they believe the retired Air Force general can provide.