Search results for

Robert talks to Mimi Sheraton, author of The Bialy Eaters: The Story of the Lost Bread and a Lost World, about the book. It recounts her journey to Bialystok, Poland, where the bread rolls with roasted onions in the middle get their name. There she found the story of a Jewish community which numbered 50,000 before World War Two, and now is reduced to just five people. No bialys remain, either. She then went on a round the world journey to find Bialystok survivors. (6:00) The Bialy Eaters: The Story of the Lost Bread and a Lost World, by Mimi Sheraton, is published by Broadway Books, 9/12/00.

NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr wonders why America, so ready to help the world's poorest nations through food aid, is hesitant to help them through debt relief.

Robert speaks with Yevgenia Borisova, a staff writer for The Moscow Times about the sudden growth of the Russian electorate just in time for the Presidential election this past March. Borisova reports that Russia's election board added 1.3 million fictitious voters to its rolls -- with the apparent intention of assuring victory for Vladimir Putin.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden in Jerusalem reports three Israeli policemen are soon to stand trial for the brutal beating of three Palestinians at a checkpoint earlier this month. The incident gained international attention after photographs the Israelis took of themselves and of their victims were published in local newspapers.

Noah talks with BBC reporter Jacky Rowland about Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's campaign trip to Montengro today. Milosevic called pro-western leadership and Serbian opposition "rabbits, rats and even hyenas." Montenegro's leadership is boycotting the upcoming Yugoslav election.

Every Wednesday this election season, All Things Considered is airing excerpts of speeches by presidential candidates. Today we hear first from Republican candidate George W. Bush, in portion of a speech delivered Monday in Little Rock, Arkansas.

NPR's Brian Naylor talks to two House members who came to Washington as House revolutionaries -- and who are leaving, as promised, after three terms, honoring their campaign pledge.

Alan Cheuse reviews the latest book by Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood. It's called The Blind Assassin (1:45) The Blind Assassin is published by Bantam Doubleday.

Linda speaks with Rex Gephart, head of the Los Angeles MTA's "Metro Rapid" program, which aims to reduce bus travel times by 25 percent. As part of the plan, the MTA has equipped two of its major bus lines with a new device that hold a green lights for approaching buses. Gephart says ridership has increased significantly on the lines being tested. He says L.A. is the first city in the U.S. to implement so-called "signal priority" so extensively.

NPR's Tom Goldman reports on the Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. The event ceremony celebrated Australia's rich and strange history, with a lawnmower ballet, displays of horsemanship and tributes to the island nation's Aboriginal history. But it was the selection of Australian sprinter Cathy Freeman, an Aborigine and gold medal favorite, as the final torch bearer, that provided the emotional highlight of the 4-hour event.

NPR's Brian Naylor reports on the move by Republicans in the House to authorize the building of a monument to former president Ronald Reagan on the National Mall in Washington. It has already passed the House Resources Committee and is on the way to a full floor vote before Congress adjourns next month. Democrats say the move is less about honoring Reagan than it is about injecting him into the current presidential campaign. The move, if it passes, would circumvent a law that says no one can be honored with a memorial in the nation's capital until 25 years after the person's death.

NPR's Mike Shuster reports that US officials say a single Iraqi MIG-25 penetrated Saudi Arabian airspace on Labor Day, the first such incident since the Persian Gulf War. Officials say the incursion took place when several Iraqi warplanes flew into the "no-fly zone" in southern Iraq, a region the US has declared off limits to Iraqi overflights. According to one official, the US chose NOT to retaliate because the administration at the time did not consider the single Iraqi plane to be a threat. The US also suspected Iraq of trying to provoke a confrontation just before the UN millennium summit. Since the December 1998 bombing of Iraq, the administration has resisted engaging in military confrontations with Iraq.

Robert talks to Dan Carpenter, an Indianapolis Star op-ed columnist, about the demonstrations in support of fired Indiana University basketball coach Bobby Knight.

NPR's Peter Overby reports on the latest fund-raising investigation by the Justice Department that may have implications for the Gore campaign. The New York Times reported this morning of a 1995 discussion in which Vice President Gore was asked to make a fundraising call to a Texas trial lawyer -- around the time President Clinton was preparing to veto GOP-passed tort reform legislation that would limit lawsuit awards. The White House says Gore never made the call, but documents show a marked increase in contributions to the Democratic Party by the lawyer and his law firm since Mr. Clinton vetoed the bill. George W. Bush, campaigning in California, said Gore "may have crossed a serious line" with his actions.

Republican Presidential candidate George W. Bush has sharply criticized the Clinton administration's national defense policy. He says the Clinton White House has undermined the U.S. military and let the defense forces decline. Bush has promised to "re-build" the military. But there are questions about how the candidate would pay for it. Though he has talked about a major upgrade, his actual proposal only involves a very small spending increase. NPR Pentagon Correspondent Steve Inskeep reports.

NPR's Barbara Bradley reports on some unanswered questions from the Wen Ho Lee and Chinese espionage investigations. What is still unknown about the data Lee downloaded to tapes that are now missing? Was someone really spying for China, and is that person (or are those persons) still active?

NPR's Martin Kaste in Buenos Aires reports a bribery scandal in the Argentine Senate is threatening the ruling coalition of President Fernando de la Rua. So far, the president has not been hurt by the scandal, but members of his administration have been accused of bribing senators to secure passage of a labor reform bill.

For some time, scientists have generally agreed that carbon dioxide from tailpipes and smokestacks is the principal gas responsible for global warming. Now, some scientists are suggesting that more attention should be paid to other gases that contribute to climate change. A new study in Science magazine finds that farming practices that are supposedly environmentally friendly actually contribute greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. NPR's Richard Harris reports.

NPR's Ted Clark reports that India's prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today noted progress in US - India relations since the strains of the Cold War. He asked the US to understand India's decision to test nuclear weapons two years ago. In a speech to both Houses of Congress, Vajpayee said that India, like the US, has declared a voluntary moratorium on nuclear weapons testing and favors elimination of such weapons. The Indian Prime Minister defended 1998 weapons testing as necessary to India's security. In response to the nuclear tests, by India as well as its hostile neighbor Pakistan, the United States imposed sanctions on both countries. Tomorrow, Vajpayee meets with President Clinton, who visited India and Pakistan last March.

Last week All Things Considered asked listeners to call in with questions they'd like answered by the presidential candidates. We took your calls and played them for both the Bush and Gore campaigns, and they gave us their answers. We'll hear from the Gore Campaign's national spokesman Doug Hattaway, and Bush campaign press secretary, Mindy Tucker.