Search results for

In January, a federal circuit court in Washington, D.C., ruled that a Federal Communications Commission order requiring broadcasters to conduct broad community outreach before making hiring decisions was unconsitutional race discrimination. Today the FCC decided to rehear the case, and commentator David Cole says this is a good thing.

Robert Siegel talks with NPR's Chris Arnold, who's in the courtroom in San Francisco where a judge is hearing arguments on whether the online music service Napster should be shut down. A lawyer for Napster said today that the company will voluntarily introduce a screening system this weekend, which could block Napster users from trading nearly a million titles of pirated music. The company says instead of being forced to shut down, it should be allowed to police its system -- and it offered the screening method today as a way in which it will do that.

Seventy-five years ago this week, William Faulkner's first novel was published, called Soldier's Pay. It was inspired by his World War I service in the Royal Canadian Air Force. But it was another war that brought commentator Fred Woodress to Oxford, Miss., and an afternoon with Faulkner. Having learned about Faulkner in the Army's college program at Ole Miss, he asked a waitress about him in a local restaurant. She was Faulkner's wife, and told Woodress to go see him. He describes the afternoon smoking and rocking on the the Faulkners' front porch, and another visit several years later.

NPR's Guy Raz in Ankara reports on the financial crisis that has gripped Turkey ever since a public spat between the president and the prime minister sparked fears of a government collapse. Underlying the crisis is Turkey's endemic corruption.

Alix Spiegel reports on a phenomenon happening in the backyards of teenage boys around the country -- wrestling. They are re-enacting the wrestling they see on TV, that strange mix of violence and theatre and sport. Spiegel visits Littleferry, N.J., where a group of high school students have put together a backyard stage with rope and plywood and mattresses. They videotape the event, where they kick, slam and bruise each other; occasionally they draw blood. The boys say most matches are choreographed so no one gets seriously hurt, but they say the pain they inflict actually bonds them to one another.

Robert Siegel speaks with Imam Kamad Ahmad Chebly. Chebly is an American Muslim cleric who is now in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, preparing for the Islamic pilgrimage, the Hajj. The Hajj officially begins tomorrow.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service has granted asylum to a severely disabled boy from Pakistan on grounds he would face persecution because of his autism if he returned home. NPR's Mary Ann Akers reports that some say this Chicago case will not ease asylum claims for other disabled people.

NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from London that new cases of foot-and-mouth disease have been reported throughout Britain. Ireland is throwing up its defense against the spread, deploying troops along the border with Northern Ireland, where cases have turned up.

NPR's Kathleen Schalch reports the Bush administration's plan to do away with the estate tax is worrying many in the philanthropic community. They are concerned that charitable giving will fall dramatically without the estate tax. Others argue that getting rid of the tax could prompt more philanthropy, not less.

Linda Wertheimer speaks with Stefan Fatsis of the Wall Street Journal about the financial juggling that takes place every year in the National Football League. NFL payrolls are subject to mandated salary caps, resulting -- this year -- in a purge of veteran football stars. They also discuss how pro-baseball player salaries have become the story at this year's spring training.