1:00am

Wed April 4, 2012
Business

James Murdoch Resigns From British Satellite TV Giant

Originally published on Wed April 4, 2012 11:47 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

After many months of bad new and devastation to its stock price, the British satellite TV giant BSkyB will try to move forward under new leadership.

NPR's Philip Reeves says this follows the resignation yesterday of its chairman, Rupert Murdoch's son, James.

PHILIP REEVES, BYLINE: James Murdoch announced his departure, acknowledging he's worried his role in Britain's phone-hacking scandal was threatening to hurt BSkyB. He doesn't want to be a lightening rod in a storm. That storm shows no sign of passing any time soon.

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1:00am

Wed April 4, 2012
NPR Story

Alaska Legal Program Resolves Divorces Quickly, Amicably

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Alaska is trying to limit the pain of divorce. A program called Early Resolution aims to help couples settle their cases quickly and amicably. Alaska Public Radio Network's Annie Feidt attended an Early Resolution session.

ANNIE FEIDT, BYLINE: This is a serious story about the legal system and divorce. And one thing you do not expect to hear during an afternoon in court is laughter.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: So I just started recording, if that's okay.

JACOB CARPENTER: Yeah.

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1:00am

Wed April 4, 2012
NPR Story

After Dismal Primary Day, Santorum Retreats To Pa.

Transcript

DAVID WELNA, BYLINE: I'm David Welna in Mars, Pennsylvania. If there was bad news for Rick Santorum last night from the primary results, his supporters who flocked to a suburban hotel ballroom didn't want to know about it.

(SOUNDBITE OF RALLY)

WELNA: Santorum told them only half the game has been played so far, and that it was good to be back in this stronghold of conservative voters, just 20 miles from where he grew up.

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1:00am

Wed April 4, 2012
NPR Story

The Last Word In Business

The New York Times reports that Williams-Sonoma, the maker of cooking pots and appliances, now wants to get you out of the kitchen and into the backyard. The Agrarian Collection includes everything you need to grow your own food.

12:19am

Wed April 4, 2012
Law

Gay Marriage Lawsuit Presses For Survivor Benefits

Herbert Burtis met the person he wanted to marry in college, in 1948. But since the object of his affection was another man, they had to wait until 2004 for the ceremony, when Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriages.

"It's a long engagement," Burtis says, laughing. "We thought it was time that we made each other honest people."

His spouse, John Ferris, died four years ago. When Burtis went to the Social Security office to apply for survivor benefits, the clerk told him the federal government did not recognize his marriage.

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12:18am

Wed April 4, 2012
Around the Nation

College Student Pieces His Way To Lego Mastery

12:06am

Wed April 4, 2012
Europe

The Secret To Germany's Low Youth Unemployment

Originally published on Wed April 4, 2012 11:47 am

For as long as he can remember, German teenager Robin Dittmar has been obsessed with airplanes. As a little boy, the sound of a plane overhead would send him into the backyard to peer into the sky. Toys had to have wings. Even today, Dittmar sees his car as a kind of ersatz Boeing.

"I've got the number 747 as the number plate of my car. I'm really in love with this airplane," the 18-year-old says.

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12:05am

Wed April 4, 2012
U.S.

Activist Puts Albany Neighborhood On The Bus Map

Originally published on Wed April 4, 2012 11:47 am

Credit Marie Cusick for NPR

The New York state capital, Albany, is a gathering place for the state's most powerful people.

But in the city's poor and predominately black South End neighborhood, many residents once felt powerless.

They had repeatedly asked for better public transit for South End, an area plagued with poverty and crime not far from New York's gated governor's mansion.

Today, the city's Route 100 bus glides easily up Morton Avenue, a steep hill in the South End neighborhood. Many feel there would be no Route 100 if not for the efforts of local resident Willie White.

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12:04am

Wed April 4, 2012

12:03am

Wed April 4, 2012
Latin America

An Upgrade, And Bigger Ships, For The Panama Canal

Originally published on Wed April 4, 2012 5:17 pm

Two giant ships move through the Panama Canal's two parallel channels at the Miraflores locks, heading toward the Pacific Ocean.

The orange and white Bow Summer is a tanker. The deck of the Ever Dynamic is stacked high with burgundy and blue shipping containers. More boats like these are backed up in both the Pacific and the Atlantic waiting to enter the narrow waterway.

Global trade has grown dramatically, but the Panama Canal — one of the most vital transit routes — hasn't changed its basic structure since it opened in 1914.

But that is about to change.

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