8:16am

Sat May 19, 2012
Business

What To Expect In Facebook's Future

Originally published on Sat May 19, 2012 11:19 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. Stock in Facebook went on sale for the first time yesterday, the largest initial public offering of stock for an Internet company, and the sale instantly created scores of millionaires in Silicon Valley, about half a dozen or so billionaires. NPR's technology correspondent Steven Henn joins us. He's followed it all from Silicon Valley. Steve, thanks for being with us.

STEVE HENN, BYLINE: Sure, my pleasure.

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8:16am

Sat May 19, 2012
Business

Average Investors Share Facebook Feelings

Originally published on Sat May 19, 2012 11:19 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The Facebook IPO hasn't just sent a jolt of excitement through Silicon Valley, there are many average individual investors who are also thrilled. NPR's Sonari Glinton has more.

SONARI GLINTON, BYLINE: All right. It's a little after 9:30 on Friday. The bell just rang on the NASDAQ, and I'm gonna check in with some regular investors. I'm gonna start with Nelly Sai-Palm. She's a student at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, and I'm going to give her a call.

(SOUNDBITE OF TELEPHONE RINGING)

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8:16am

Sat May 19, 2012
Asia

Chen Guangcheng Flies To U.S.

Originally published on Sat May 19, 2012 11:19 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon.

Chen Guangcheng, the blind, Chinese human rights lawyer, is on a plane headed for America right now, according to his friends and supporters. Chinese authorities gave Mr. Chen a passport today and drove him to an airport in Beijing. His departure caps a remarkable few weeks that included a daring escape from house arrest and high-stakes, diplomatic negotiations.

NPR's Frank Langfitt has been following the story from Shanghai. Frank, thanks for being with us.

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5:57am

Sat May 19, 2012
Million-Dollar Donors

With Eye On Future, Billionaire Investor Bets On Paul

Originally published on Sat May 19, 2012 11:19 am

Credit Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

In the race for the Republican presidential nomination, only one candidate remains to challenge presumptive nominee Mitt Romney: Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

Even Paul has said he will no longer campaign in states that have yet to hold their primaries. And Paul has always been considered a long shot to win. But that hasn't deterred many of his hard-core supporters, including the Silicon Valley billionaire who has bankrolled the superPAC backing Paul.

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5:56am

Sat May 19, 2012
Europe

In Turkey, Debating A Women's Right To Bear Arms

Originally published on Sat May 19, 2012 11:09 pm

In Turkey, hundreds of women die each year at the hands of a husband or family member, in a society that critics say too often ignores violence against women. After years of frustration, one organization has shaken up the debate with a controversial proposal: arming women and training them to defend themselves.

Looking back, Yagmur Askin thinks perhaps she should have paid more attention on her wedding day, when her husband's family welcomed her by saying, "You enter this house in a bridal gown, and you'll leave it in a coffin."

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5:55am

Sat May 19, 2012
Politics

Are 8 Heads Better Than One At Fixing Europe's Debt?

Originally published on Sat May 19, 2012 12:20 pm

Credit Getty Images

Camp David, in the Maryland hills outside Washington, D.C., is usually a place for the president and his family to get away from work, a wooded refuge with a swimming pool, tennis courts and a putting green.

This weekend, though, President Obama is bringing work with him to the camp — along with the leaders from most of the countries with the world's largest economies.

The Group of Eight is meeting in the rustic setting, but the agenda will be all business.

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1:58am

Sat May 19, 2012
The Two-Way

In Historic Space Mission, Launch Is Only The First Test

Originally published on Sat May 19, 2012 1:43 pm

Credit Roberto Gonzalez / Getty Images

Moments after ignition, a privately funded spacecraft aborted its liftoff, delaying its mission to the International Space Station.

SpaceX's unmanned rocket had a one-second window to take off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Saturday morning, and the failed launch means the next opportunity won't be until early Tuesday morning.

The founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk, had been tweeting from the company's California headquarters leading up to the scheduled launch time of 4:55 a.m. ET.

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6:20pm

Fri May 18, 2012
Shots - Health Blog

Hepatitis C Cases In Rural Wisconsin Underscore Drug Link

Credit iStockphoto.com

Yes, hepatitis C is big among baby boomers. And the feds are moving toward a recommendation that all of them get tested at least once for the infection.

But new hepatitis C cases are cropping up in young people, too, and some of them live in out-of-the-way places that haven't been hotbeds for the illness.

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6:19pm

Fri May 18, 2012
The Two-Way

Fungus, Fruit Flies, Old Age: It's The End Times For NPR's AntCam

Originally published on Sat May 19, 2012 12:17 am

Credit iStockphoto.com

Back in 1969, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon, there were no guarantees. There were no guarantees that they'd make it there and there were no guarantees that they could make it back home.

President Richard Nixon and his speech writer William Safire knew that. So, imagining a situation in which the American astronauts were doomed in an alien land, Safire drew up a plan to mark their inevitable demise in a dignified way.

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6:06pm

Fri May 18, 2012
WVAS Local

WVAS Local News

Alabama's unemployment rate continues to improve. 

The State Department of Industrial Relations announced that the April jobless rate was 7.2 percent. 

In March, the rate was 7.4 percent. 

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in Alabama. 

The Alabama Department of Public Health has awarded $55,000 dollars in grants to hospitals in Montgomery,

Prattville, and Andalusia to create a Telestroke Pilot project. 

Alabama democrats are finding it difficult to have their requests honored during the legislative redistricting

process. 

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