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Afghanistan
3:00 am
Tue March 13, 2012

Shooting In Kandahar Further Alienates Afghans

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

When an American soldier reportedly walked through two villages in southern Afghanistan and methodically killed 16 civilians, including children, it caused an uproar from Kabul to Washington, D.C. Now, let's get a view from where the killings happened - Kandahar. I first met Ehsan Ullah two years ago when I reported on a Canadian-funded girls' school that he runs in that city.

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Afghanistan
3:00 am
Tue March 13, 2012

How Will Kandahar Shooting Affect Afghan Policy?

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

One analyst calls last weekend's massacre in Afghanistan an enormous gift to the Taliban. It is the latest of several incidents that amount to lost battles in a political war.

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Election 2012
3:00 am
Tue March 13, 2012

Romney's Rivals Try Woo Undecided Southern Voters

Mississippi and Alabama hold Republican primaries Tuesday. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has campaigned lightly in the two states. But former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and former House Speaker have both campaigned aggressively there.

Around the Nation
3:00 am
Tue March 13, 2012

Lewis-McChord Soldiers Generate Disturbing Headlines

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

The American soldier who allegedly shot and killed 16 men, women and children in two Afghan villages was from an Army base outside Tacoma, Washington. The Army/Air Force installation, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, is one of the biggest in the military.

It's also, as NPR's Martin Kaste reports, one of the most troubled.

(SOUNDBITE OF AIRCRAFT)

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Business
3:00 am
Tue March 13, 2012

The Last Word In business

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And today's last word in business is 50-50.

Those are the odds you'll ever see your lost cell phone again. That's according to a study by a security firm, the people behind the Norton AntiVirus software. The company set up an experiment where they purposely lost smartphones in public areas, you know, elevators, shopping centers, airports, places you may have left your phone at some point.

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Business
3:00 am
Tue March 13, 2012

U.S. Pressures China To Ease Mineral Restrictions

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with trade moves against China.

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Business
3:00 am
Tue March 13, 2012

U.S. Treasury Raises $32 Billion In Bond Auction

What is remarkable is that those who bought bonds will get a tiny rate of return. Renee Montagne talks to David Wessel, economics editor of The Wall Street Journal, about what the results mean, who's buying Treasuries and how the borrowed funds are being spent.

Afghanistan
11:01 pm
Mon March 12, 2012

Killings A Blow To U.S. Strategy In Afghanistan

Credit Allauddin Khan / AP
A U.S. soldier, part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, stands outside a military base in Panjwai, Kandahar province, south of Kabul, on Sunday.

The killings of some 16 civilians in Afghanistan on Sunday allegedly by a U.S. soldier are raising new questions about U.S. military strategy: whether the surge of American troops worked, and whether the U.S. troops have won over the Afghan people or alienated them.

The place where the killings happened was a "no-go zone" for American and even Afghan troops as recently as two years ago — it was Taliban country.

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Looking Up: Pockets of Economic Strength
11:01 pm
Mon March 12, 2012

Record-High Food Prices Boost Farmers' Bottom Lines

Part of a series

Thanks to high commodity prices and surging productivity, U.S. farmers earned a net income of nearly $98 billion last year — a record, according to the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute.

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Shots - Health Blog
11:01 pm
Mon March 12, 2012

As Cholera Season Bears Down On Haiti, Vaccination Program Stalls

Credit John Poole / NPR
Thousands of doses of cholera vaccine sit in a refrigerated trailer in a United Nations compound in Saint-Marc, Haiti. Vaccination was supposed to begin last week, but bureaucratic problems have delayed the start. April is the beginning of Haiti's rainy season, which will likely intensify Haiti's cholera outbreak.

Originally published on Wed March 14, 2012 1:07 pm

The vaccine — $417,000 worth of it — is stacked high in refrigerated containers to protect it from the Haitian heat.

Hundreds of health workers are trained and ready to give the vaccine. They're armed with programmed smartphones and tablet computers to keep track of who has been vaccinated and who needs a second dose.

And 100,000 eager Haitians, from the teeming slums of Port-au-Prince to tiny hamlets in Haiti's rice bowl, have signed up to get the vaccine.

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