Search results for

NPR's Sunni Khalid reports from Cairo on the violence wracking the island of Bahrain, a strategic station for US military forces. Anti-government Shiites, reportedly with ties to Iran, have been waging a campaign of arson and bomb attacks, raising concern that Iran is helping destabilize the Gulf.

Dean Olsher has an appreciation of jazz artist Gerry Mulligan, a baritone saxophonist who died yesterday. He was 68.

On Tuesday, President Clinton delivers the state of the union address. Danny looks back at the history of the speech with Wayne Fields, author of a new book called "Union of Words: A History of Presidential Eloquence." We hear excerpts of past state of the union addresses by FDR, LBJ, Ronald Reagan, and Clinton.

Just a week ago political pundits were saying that the era of retail politics -- of candidates shaking hands and knocking on doors --- had been eclipsed once and for all by television advertising. But as the architect of the new model, Steve Forbes, stumbles out of Iowa, New Hampshire voters are questioning his decision to forgo a grassroots campaign. Leda Hartman of New Hampshire Public Radio reports.

Yasser Arafat has won yesterday's Palestinian elections, and Danny talks about the vote, and the future of relations between Palestinians and Israelis with former President Jimmy Carter. Carter headed a team of election observers who were in Israel for the balloting.

New York Times Sports and City columnist Robert Lipsyte comments on plans for inter-league professional baseball. He says the prospect of teams from the American and National leagues playing one another regularly will rekindle fans' waning love affair with the game.

Commentator Andrei Codrescu offers his thoughts on Harrah's Casino, now being built in the heart of New Orleans. Construction of the casino is snarling traffic, confounding politicians and, Andrei says, giving "the moralists among us a reason to shake our heads".

Reporter Chris Arnold visits the Pajaro Valley School District in California, where the white, wealthy town of Aptos (AP-toss) wants to set up a separate school district, which would leave out the poor, largely-Latino town of Watsonville. Aptos parents and some school officials say they could get better quality education for their students in a smaller, less bureaucratic setting, but many residents feel this split will tear their community in two at a point when Latino and white students should be encouraged to mix. The hurt feelings in the district is something many schools are going through in California and elsewhere as parents and educators look for avenues to improve education thru local control.

Robert talks with Youssef Ibrahim (YOO-seff EE-brah-heem), a correspondent in the Paris bureau of the New York Times, about the return today of two senior Iraqis to Baghdad from Amman, Jordan. Hussein Kamel Hassan (hoo-SANE KAH-mel HAH-sahn), his brother Saddam Kamel and their wives, who are daughters of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, defected to Jordan last August. Hussein Kamel ran Iraq's secret military program and called for the overthrow of the Iraqi government. President Saddam Hussein today pardoned the brothers upon their return to Iraq.

Former congressman Kweisi Mfume officially takes over as president of the NAACP (N-DOUBLE-A-C-P) today. He's being sworn-in in style, with President Clinton presiding, in the Great Hall of the Justice Department. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.