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Shots - Health Blog
3:14 pm
Fri August 17, 2012

WHO Calls For Emergency Stockpile Of Cholera Vaccine

Credit John Poole / NPR
Thousands of doses of cholera vaccine sit in a refrigerated trailer in a United Nations compound in Saint-Marc, Haiti, in March. After some delays, a vaccination project proved successful.

Originally published on Fri August 17, 2012 4:11 pm

A month ago the results of a successful cholera vaccine project in Haiti became available. Now the World Health Organization is calling for the establishment of a global stockpile of the vaccine to respond to outbreaks like Haiti's.

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Author Interviews
3:13 pm
Fri August 17, 2012

3 Celebrity Friendships That Weren't Meant To Be

Originally published on Sun September 2, 2012 10:32 am

Years ago, when NPR's Susan Stamberg was working for the wife of an American ambassador in New Delhi, she answered the door to the ambassador's home to find the maharajah of Jaipur standing outside.

"Your highness," she said, "what gorgeous pearls you're wearing."

"Oh, thank you," the maharaja replied. "On Tuesdays I wear pearls; on Wednesdays it's emeralds; Thursday, rubies."

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Law
3:12 pm
Fri August 17, 2012

Jailed Young, Inmates Seek A New Day In Court

Credit Emma Lee for NPR
Ruth "Margo" Gee (left) is hopeful that her brother, Tyrone Jones, convicted of murder as a juvenile, will soon be freed from prison. Lawyer Charlotte Whitmore is helping her.

Originally published on Fri August 17, 2012 5:03 pm

A recent Supreme Court decision striking down mandatory life terms for juveniles has touched off a flurry of activity across the country, especially in Pennsylvania, where lawyers are advising about 500 prisoners to file requests for new sentencing hearings before the end of next week.

Bradley Bridge with the Defender Association of Philadelphia has received more than 200 letters from prisoners in the past two months asking about the Supreme Court ruling.

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All Tech Considered
3:12 pm
Fri August 17, 2012

At DefCon Kids Camp, Young Hackers Learn To Pop Locks And Drop It

Credit Steve Henn / NPR
DefCon Kids camp co-founder Chris Hoff, with Conner Gilliam (from left), Conner Fine and Ethan Lai, work on a machine that draws designs on ping-pong balls. The camp is held in Las Vegas.

Originally published on Fri August 17, 2012 6:54 pm

Some kids go to band camp; others go to swim camp. But for the children of the world's digital rabble-rousers, there is hacking camp. It's called DefCon Kids.

This camp, held in Las Vegas, encourages kids to take a hard, skeptical look at the machines that surround them, and teaches them to hack apart everything they can lay their hands on.

One of the most popular activities is lock-picking.

"I had fun with some of the harder locks," says 16-year-old Alaetheia Garrison Stuber.

But did she learn any new tricks?

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Afghanistan
3:12 pm
Fri August 17, 2012

Afghan Attacks On Western Partners Rising Sharply

Credit David Gilkey / NPR
Afghan soldiers (right) patrol with U.S. troops in the Panjwai district of southern Afghanistan in May. The two armies have been working together for years, but Afghan attacks against U.S. and NATO forces have been rising recently.

Originally published on Fri August 17, 2012 5:03 pm

In the past two weeks, seven Afghans in uniform have opened fire on Western forces. The most recent incidents occurred Friday. First, a newly recruited policeman in western Afghanistan turned his gun on U.S. military trainers, killing two and wounding a third. A short time later in southern Kandahar province, an Afghan soldier shot and wounded two foreign troops.

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Economy
3:12 pm
Fri August 17, 2012

New Terms Set For Frannie And Freddie

Originally published on Fri August 17, 2012 5:03 pm

The Treasury Department Friday changed the terms of its bailout agreement with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The mortgage giants often had to pay the government back more in interest than it earned in profits, a system at odds with the goal of eventually dismantling the companies. The move appears aimed at calming financial markets.

Around the Nation
3:12 pm
Fri August 17, 2012

Dallas Turns To Aerial Spraying To Control West Nile

Originally published on Fri August 17, 2012 5:03 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block. Texas can't catch a break. First, a bitter drought, now officials in Dallas are fighting a nasty outbreak of West Nile virus. A quarter of the nation's current confirmed West Nile cases are in Dallas County. There, 10 people have died, and hundreds more have been sickened from mosquitoes carrying the virus.

For the first time in nearly half a century, much of the county has begun aerial spraying to control the pests. NPR's Wade Goodwyn has our story.

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Around the Nation
3:12 pm
Fri August 17, 2012

Killing Off West Nile Virus: Bad For More Than Bugs?

Originally published on Fri August 17, 2012 5:03 pm

As communities, such as Dallas, Texas, contemplate doing aerial spraying to control mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus, many people are expressing concerns about how the pesticides will affect their health, and the health of their environments. Melissa Blocks speaks to Dr. Robert Peterson, professor of Entomology at Montana State University.

Law
3:12 pm
Fri August 17, 2012

When Pronouncing A Case Is Harder Than 'Roe V. Wade'

Originally published on Fri August 17, 2012 5:03 pm

A law professor and his students have put together a dictionary of Supreme Court pronouncers. It details how to pronounce the sometimes obscure or ambiguous names of cases going back to the beginning of the republic.

Africa
3:12 pm
Fri August 17, 2012

In S. Africa Protest Shooting, An Echo Of The Past?

Originally published on Fri August 17, 2012 5:03 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

It has become the deadliest protest in South Africa since the end of apartheid: 34 people dead and more than 78 wounded after police opened fire yesterday on striking workers at a platinum mine northwest of Johannesburg. The miners had walked off the job a week ago, demanding an increase in wages double to triple what they were making. Today, South Africa's National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega said officers were acting in self-defense after armed miners charged their position.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

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