NPR News

Pages

Europe
12:01 am
Wed February 29, 2012

For Leap Day Only, A Rare Newspaper Goes To Print

Credit Patrick Hertzog / AFP/Getty Images
A man reads a copy of the satirical newspaper La Bougie du Sapeur (The Sapper's Candle), published every leap day, in a Parisian cafe on Feb. 29, 2008. The paper's tagline is "without reproach."

Originally published on Wed February 29, 2012 11:02 am

At newsstands across France on Wednesday, readers will delight to a humorous broadsheet published every four years on leap day.

At news shops in Paris and around France, readers look forward to their copy of La Bougie du Sapeur every Feb. 29. Published since 1980, the satirical journal is now in its ninth edition. Its title, which translates as "sapper's candle," is taken from an old French comic-book figure who was born on that fateful last day of February.

Read more
All Tech Considered
12:01 am
Wed February 29, 2012

Nailing Down The Appeal Of Pinterest

Credit Pinterest
A visit to the Pinterest home page reveals images of what some say are stereotypically female interests, from women's fashions to recipes.

To the list of weird-sounding hybrid words of the digital age, like Googling and tweeting, we can now add "pinning." As in Pinterest. It's sort of an online scrapbook or bulletin board, and it's one of the fastest-growing websites in history.

Last month, more than 10 million unique visitors signed on to Pinterest. But some of them, like Billy Winburn, are still trying to get the hang of it. At an office in Alexandria, Va., Jennifer Folsom, who works a few desks away, is walking him through the process.

Read more
Election 2012
6:36 pm
Tue February 28, 2012

'Real Jump Ball' In Romney's Native State Of Michigan

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 10:59 am

Mitt Romney won both states that held primaries on Tuesday. But his margin in his home state of Michigan appears narrow enough to keep the GOP nominating contest lively for some time to come.

NPR projected wins for the former Massachusetts governor in both Arizona, where he won comfortably, and in Michigan, where he led Rick Santorum, 41 to 38 percent, with 99 percent of precincts counted.

Read more
The Two-Way
6:20 pm
Tue February 28, 2012

Leap Day: Any Plans?

Something that only comes around once every four years and doesn't involve either politics or Olympic competition deserves its own mention:

Wednesday is Feb. 29.

Leap day, that is.

Our friend Linton Weeks has put together a handy list of 24 things you could do with the extra 24 hours. (And yes, we know that some of you have already started your day; but, hey, we're an East Coast-based blog.)

Read more
Shots - Health Blog
6:15 pm
Tue February 28, 2012

Dental Visits To ERs Are On The Rise

Credit istockphoto.com
Toothache? The ER doctor will see you now.

Originally published on Tue February 28, 2012 6:18 pm

Americans who turn up in the emergency room to get dental care aren't lost, they're probably just running out of options.

According to a new report from the Pew Center on the States, more than 800,000 visits to the ER in 2009 were for toothaches and other avoidable dental ailments.

Read more
Politics
6:05 pm
Tue February 28, 2012

Found Time: How To Spend The 24 Hours Of Leap Day

Found time! An extra day. How will you use it? Here are 24 ideas. None of them takes longer than an hour. Because time is tight, time is of the essence, time is money. And if you don't have time to get to everything on the list, don't worry. Maybe in 2016.

Feb. 29, 2012 Hour By Hour:

Read more
It's All Politics
6:03 pm
Tue February 28, 2012

Senate's Snowe To Retire, Boosting Democrats' Bid To Keep Control

Credit Joel Page / AP
Sen. Olympia Snowe in Augusta, Maine, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012.

Originally published on Tue February 28, 2012 6:43 pm

Virtually everyone expected Tuesday's big political news to come blowing out of Michigan, the big industrial state, where Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum were vying to win that state's GOP presidential primary.

But little Maine managed a national political bombshell of its own with the surprising news that Sen. Olympia Snowe, the 65-year old, three-term moderate Republican senator, won't seek re-election.

From a statement she issued, it appears Washington's partisan bickering just got kind of old for the senator.

Read more
The Two-Way
5:45 pm
Tue February 28, 2012

Join Us For Live Blogging Of Today's Republican Primaries

Another Tuesday, another critical day for the 2012 Republican presidential contenders.

This time the locations are Michigan, where most polls close at 8 p.m. ET, and Arizona, where voting ends at 9 p.m. ET. The story political junkies are watching closest: Will former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Michigan native, hold off a strong challenge there from former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum?

Also on the ballots, of course: former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas.

Read more
The Two-Way
5:25 pm
Tue February 28, 2012

Gay Marine's Kiss Was 'Four Years Of Pent-Up Emotion And Secret Love'

Credit Gay Marines on Facebook
The kiss. That's Sgt. Brandon Morgan on the right. Dalan Wells on the left.

When he returned from Afghanistan and saw his partner waiting to welcome him home, "four years of pent-up emotion and secret love" just seemed to naturally lead to "what felt like an eternity kiss," Marine Sgt. Brandon Morgan told NPR this afternoon.

Read more
Shots - Health Blog
4:58 pm
Tue February 28, 2012

Popular Cholesterol Drugs Get New Warnings About Memory, Blood Sugar

Credit Paul Sakuma / AP
Lipitor, and other cholesterol-fighting drugs like it, will carry new instructions about risks.

If you take a cholesterol-lowering drug called a statin, there's some new safety information you should know about.

A statin might be why you're having trouble remembering things or have been feeling confused, or at least that's what quite a few people taking the drugs have been saying.

Read more

Pages