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Around the Nation
4:16 am
Thu June 28, 2012

Colorado Using Half Of U.S. Wildfire Fighting Resources

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Originally published on Thu June 28, 2012 11:34 am

A massive wildfire near Colorado Springs is threatening thousands of homes and the nearby Air Force Academy. Fire management officials have issued mandatory evacuation orders for more than 30,000 homes. New students are set to arrive at the Air Force Academy on Thursday.

Business
4:16 am
Thu June 28, 2012

The Last Word In Business

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By editor

Originally published on Thu June 28, 2012 11:34 am

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And you may want to Google our last word in business today. That word is foie-kage. It's kind of like corkage, the fee restaurants charge to open a bottle of wine that you've brought in with you.

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Foie-kage is the fee that Californians will have to pay if they want to eat foie gras - fatty goose or duck liver. They'll have to bring their own because starting thanks week, restaurants will be banned from serving the delicacy.

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Television
4:09 am
Thu June 28, 2012

FX Welcomes Sheen Back To TV, But Will Viewers?

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Originally published on Thu June 28, 2012 11:34 am

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Tonight, one of the most famously dysfunctional Hollywood stars is coming back to television. Charlie Sheen's new sitcom on FX is called "Anger Management." Last year he was the star of "Two and a Half Men," but his erratic behavior led CBS to fire him. TV critic Eric Deggans says the big question is whether people really want to watch more Charlie Sheen on the small screen.

ERIC DEGGANS: My best tip for enjoying Charlie Sheen's new show?

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "ANGER MANAGEMENT")

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Law
4:09 am
Thu June 28, 2012

Common Law Marriage Suit Could Alter Canadian Law

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Originally published on Thu June 28, 2012 11:34 am

A Canadian Supreme Court case has the potential to change marriage across the country. In the province of Quebec, partners in a common-law marriage have no legal obligation to support each other if they separate. But that law's validity came into question when the long time de-facto spouse of a Canadian billionaire demanded alimony payments.

Business
4:09 am
Thu June 28, 2012

Business News

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Originally published on Thu June 28, 2012 11:34 am

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with a possible deeper debt for JPMorgan.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

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Music
2:26 am
Thu June 28, 2012

The Bajo Quinto: The Instrument That Will Not Go Gently

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Credit Courtesy of Ruben Luengas
Don Telesforo next to a bajo quinto, holding a jarana mixteca.
Credit Courtesy of Ruben Luengas
Don Telesforo with Ruben Luengas.
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Originally published on Thu June 28, 2012 11:34 am

Almost 20 years ago, a young student at the National University of Mexico went in search of a very old instrument in the mountains of the southern state of Oaxaca. Today, he has become a leading force in the revival of the instrument called the bajo quinto and the music played on it.

Ruben Luengas was working on a research project at the National School of Music in Mexico City in 1995. He wanted to focus on the music of his hometown, in the Mixtec region of Oaxaca, so he asked his 97-year-old grandmother to tell him about the music played at her wedding.

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The Salt
2:25 am
Thu June 28, 2012

Unlike Chicken And Pork, Beef Still Begins With Small Family Ranches

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Credit Peggy Lowe / Harvest Public Media
Barbara and Norman Roux stand in front of cattle pens on their farm outside of Moundridge, Kan., where she has raised cattle for nearly 70 years.
Credit iStockphoto.com
The cattle industry is shaped like a bottle — wider at the bottom with lots of ranchers, smaller at the top with just four meatpacking companies.
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Originally published on Thu June 28, 2012 6:47 pm

In the chicken and pork industries, nearly every aspect of the animals' raising has long been controlled by just a handful of agriculture conglomerates. But the cattle industry is still populated by mom-and-pop operations, at least at the calf-raising level.

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Middle East
2:17 am
Thu June 28, 2012

In A Syrian Souk, Support For The Regime Falters

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Credit Bassem Tellawi / AP
People walk through Hamidiyah market in Damascus, Syria, Feb. 28. The merchants of this landmark bazaar were once ardent supporters of President Bashar Assad. That's no longer the case.
Credit Joseph Eid / AFP/Getty Images
Assad supporters chant pro-government slogans as they rally in Hamidiyah Jan. 10. But that support is crumbling, evidenced by a strike by the market's merchants to protest killings in Houla, Syria.
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Originally published on Thu June 28, 2012 7:25 pm

In Syria's capital, Damascus, the Hamidiyah souk is a landmark — a centuries-old covered market linked to a maze of alleyways in the heart of the capital. Over the 15-month uprising, Syria's merchants have supported the regime of President Bashar Assad. But that support is crumbling.

Shops selling everything from cold drinks, ice cream and spices to wedding dresses and electric guitars line Hamidiyah's cobblestone streets.

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Asia
2:17 am
Thu June 28, 2012

Amid Fierce Debate, Japan To Restart Nuclear Plants

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Credit Rie Ishii / AFP/Getty Images
Anti-nuclear activists in front of the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, June 22. Some 20,000 demonstrators protested against the Japanese government's decision to restart two idle nuclear reactors in western Japan, ending a brief period without any nuclear power generation.
Credit Kyodo/Landov
The Japanese government may restart one of the two nuclear reactors at the Oi power plant (shown here June 15) in Fukui prefecture as early as July 1. Public concern forced the shutdown of the country's 50 nuclear reactors after the Fukushima disaster last year.
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Originally published on Thu June 28, 2012 11:34 am

After taking all 50 of its nuclear reactors offline following a devastating accident last year, Japan is planning to restart the first of two of them in western Fukui prefecture as early as Sunday.

The catastrophe at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in March 2011 forced Japan to scale back plans to aggressively expand its nuclear energy sector. But the highly controversial move to restart the two reactors on the other side of the country is a sign that the nuclear power lobby isn't throwing in the towel yet.

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Planet Money
2:16 am
Thu June 28, 2012

Going Public Is A Hassle

Credit Richard Drew / AP
Meh.
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Originally published on Wed July 11, 2012 4:09 pm

Here's a classic story of how a multimillion-dollar company gets started.

A young guy named Seung Bak is on a trip to China. He gets back to his hotel room late one night and turns on the TV.

"I'm flipping through channels, and in the middle of China they are showing Korean dramas all around the clock," Bak says.

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