Renee Montagne talks to Michael Semple about negotiating with the Taliban. Semple is a fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School and has written an article on how to talk to the Taliban for "Foreign Affairs."
It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.
RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
And I'm Renee Montagne.
When President Obama met yesterday with the king of Jordan, much of their talk focused on Jordan's neighbor, Syria. Both governments are trying to figure out how to pressure Syria's president to step down. So far, 10 months of protest by Syria's own people hasn't convinced Bashar al-Assad to do that. Instead, he's cracked down.
It's the latest salvo in the two companies' global patent war, according to Bloomberg News. This time Apple is trying to ban sales of 10 Samsung smartphone models, claiming the Korean company copied Apple's design. It's also suing Samsung claiming it copied the iPad.
Let's stay with Internet news for a moment. Yahoo is undergoing another big management shakeup. Yesterday, Jerry Yang, the co-founder and former CEO, said he is stepping down from the company's board of directors.
NPR's Steve Henn has more from Silicon Valley.
STEVE HENN, BYLINE: For months late last year, Yahoo's board of directors was mulling a deal that could have sold the Internet company or broken it apart.
Even if Wikipedia was working, you couldn't use it to locate information about Mitt Romney's most recent tax filings. He has yet to make that tax information public.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Under pressure from his opponents, Romney says he will release information in April.
MONTAGNE: But yesterday, Romney did let slip a provocative tax detail. He acknowledged he's probably paying an effective tax rate of around 15 percent. And that's well below the rate that many middle-class families pay.
It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
And I'm Steve Inskeep. Good morning.
We should fully explain this next report, because if we miss something, you won't be able to find more information on Wikipedia. The online encyclopedia is blacked-out today, at least on personal computers. It's only available if you take extra steps or use a mobile device.
Today's last word in business comes from China, and the word is: Red Pad.
It's a device that looks a lot like an iPad, except it's red in color and in ideological purity.
The Wall Street Journal picked up on the device, which was advertised briefly in China's state media. It offered Web content for the party faithful, like quick access to the Communist Party's mouthpiece, the People's Daily. The device however, was apparently priced at more than $1,500 - good deal more than an iPad.
In his first year as Colorado's secretary of state, Republican Scott Gessler has been sued eight times.
He's outraged Democrats by rewriting the state's campaign finance rules, tangled with counties over which voters they can send mail-in ballots to, and attracted national attention for participating in a fundraiser to pay off a campaign finance fine levied by his office.
"We've definitely shaken up the status quo, and I think that's happened a bit in some other states too," he says.
GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich addresses the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday in Columbia, S.C. The state holds its primary on Saturday.
Old mattresses lie on the street outside abandoned homes in Las Vegas, in this 2010 photo. Used mattresses present a unique problem to landfills and recycling firms alike.
Credit Blake Farmer / WPLN
After months of practice, Ron Harness has the process of dismantling an old mattress down to a science.
Credit J. Michael Krouskop / Belmont University
Men dismantle a mattress into reusable parts at the Spring Back recycling project in Nashville, Tenn.
Old mattresses are among the worst kinds of household waste: Most recycling companies won't touch them, and landfills would rather not. But a new business in Nashville that started as a college project hopes to move mattress recycling into the mainstream — and employ former convicts in the process.
Oil storage tanks at the Chevron Burnaby Oil Refinery on the shores of Burrard Inlet, east of Vancouver, B.C.
President Obama is feeling election-year pressure on the pending decision over the Keystone XL pipeline. Republicans say the Canadian project would provide the U.S. with oil and new jobs, but environmentalists want him to block it. They say Alberta's oil sands generate more greenhouse gases than other kinds of oil, and Americans must not become dependent on such a dirty source of energy. But it may already be too late to change that.
The dramatic Costa Concordia accident off the coast of Italy is calling attention to the regulation of the cruise line industry. Experts say there are plenty of rules, but enforcement can be spotty.
Some of the survivors of last week's disaster described the rescue effort as chaotic and disorganized. The crew had not yet conducted a required emergency drill during the cruise.
A truck passes shipping containers at China Shipping at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the busiest port complex in the U.S., near Long Beach, Calif. Stricter emissions standards have cut down on air pollution from the trucks, which has been one of the most significant sources of air pollution in California for many years.
Credit David McNew / Getty Images
Trucks at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach often idle while they wait to be loaded and unloaded, adding to the pollution.
The twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are the busiest in the nation. They also have some of the dirtiest air, thanks to thousands of cargo trucks that pass through each day.
But this month marks the beginning of a new era, as tighter emissions standards go into effect.
'100 Percent Clean Energy'
A common trope in environmental stories is to put things in terms of jobs vs. the environment. But that's not what happened in the case of the ports.
France's 35-hour work week has resulted in some workers accumulating vast amounts of overtime that they are required to use this year. The problem is particularly acute at some hospitals. Here a woman speaks with a doctor at the Conception Hospital in Marseille on Tuesday.
France's 35-hour work week has plenty of critics who say it has sapped the country of its competitiveness and is tying companies in knots. And to make their case, a leading example is the current state of overtime at French hospitals.
Along with five weeks of annual leave, French employees get time off if they work more than 35 hours in a week. At the Hopital Vaugirard, a public hospital in central Paris, employees have accumulated more than 2 million days off in the past decade.
People gather to protest against Hungary's new constitution outside the Opera House in Budapest on Jan. 2. Critics say the document curbs democracy.
Veteran Hungarian broadcaster Gyorgy Bolgar, who hosts a popular daily news-talk call in show on Klubradio, gets a daily earful from ordinary Hungarians upset with Prime Minister Victor Orban.
Many here fear Orban, a dissident during the communist era, and his conservative Fidesz party are pushing the country backward.
"It's not that I've fallen out of love; I've actually never liked sports, and I never understood how I became an athlete," Serena Williams said recently, according to TennisNow.com. "I don't like working out; I don't like anything that has to do with working physically."
Now that Tim Tebow is out of hearts and minds, and we can actually turn our attention to other things, let us go clear to the other side of the world. There, a short while ago, while preparing for the Australian Open, Serena Williams said: "I don't love tennis today, but ... I've actually never liked sports."
While her confession might have surprised some, I suspect that even more were irritated, actually angered, that an athlete — a great champion! — could utter such blasphemy.
There's a controversy brewing in India over an invitation extended to Booker Prize-winning novelist Salman Rushdie by the organizers of the Jaipur Literary Festival.
Rushdie, the author of Midnight's Children, angered Muslims with his 1988 novel Satanic Verses. The novel, which many Muslims say insults the Prophet Muhammad, led to Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declaring a fatwa against Rushdie. The writer spent much of the next few years in hiding.
Mark told you earlier that Wikipedia is going black for 24 hours beginning at midnight tonight. While Wikipedia's reason for shutting down is to protest anti-piracy legislation making its way through the United States Congress, another interesting question is going to be what happens to all those web surfers seeking answers to can't-wait questions?
The Costa Concordia lies stranded in the Giglio harbor on Tuesday.
Credit DigitalGlobe / AP
This satellite image taken Tuesday shows the hulk of the luxury ship.
Credit Laura Lezza / Getty Images
Workers prepare to recover fuel from the damaged ship on Wednesday. The ship was carrying about a half-million gallons of fuel. So far, there is no sign that it has leaked.
Credit Giacomo Aprili / AP
Coast Guard Capt. Gregorio De Falco (center) arrives Tuesday at the Grosseto court in Italy for a hearing. In a dramatic phone conversation, De Falco was heard ordering Francesco Schettino, the captain of the stricken cruise liner, to get back onboard and oversee the evacuation.
Credit Giacomo Aprili / AP
Capt. Francesco Schettino (right) is taken into custody by police in Porto Santo Stefano, Italy, on Jan. 14. Schettino was released Tuesday and is under house arrest in southern Italy. He is being investigated on possible manslaughter charges and abandoning his ship.
Credit Guardia di Finanza / AP
This photo, released by the Italian border police, shows the Costa Concordia last week, after it ran aground.
Credit Gregorio Borgia / AP
Survivors were transported by ferry to Porto Santo Stefano, Italy. At least two of the missing passengers are American.
Credit Gregorio Borgia / AP
Passengers disembark at a ferry in Porto Santo Stefano, Italy, on Saturday.
Credit Italian Coast Guard / AP
A scuba diver makes his way through floating pieces of furniture while searching for people inside the cruise ship.
Credit Gregorio Borgia / AP
A rope, a life vest, a helmet and other recovered items are displayed on an altar during Mass in Giglio on Sunday.
Credit Gregorio Borgia / AP
Rescuers exploded four holes in the hull of the ship to gain easier access to areas that had not yet been searched. Here, a scuba diver recovers a body Tuesday.
Credit Filippo Monteforte / AFP/Getty Images
The Costa Concordia lies stranded in the Giglio harbor on Sunday.
Credit AP
The Costa Concordia sails from Limassol, Cyprus, in April 2009. The ship ran aground off the coast of Giglio Island, Italy, on Saturday, forcing the 4,200 passengers onboard to evacuate.
Credit Laura Lezza / Getty Images
The search for survivors of the Costa Concordia disaster continues Thursday in Giglio Porto, Italy. At least 11 people were killed after the vessel ran aground last week. More than 20 people are still missing.
As the U.S. economy struggled to get back on its feet over the past few years, a lot of states found themselves contending with big budget deficits. They responded by firing workers, raising taxes and cutting spending. Now the fiscal picture for a lot of states is brightening a bit — but many still face enormous challenges.
