State and National News

When you're young, there's just so much to misunderstand about the world. And isn't that kind of what makes it such fun?

Hirokazu Kore-eda's film I Wish is designed to make us long for the misadventures of childhood by giving us another set of ups and downs to follow: the tribulations of Koichi Osako, a 12-year-old Japanese boy with a plan to reunite his family.

By now, most news organizations and the Twitter world are debating whether President Obama's endorsement of gay marriage will turn off African-Americans — his most loyal supporters.

It's a legitimate question because blacks, compared with other groups that make up the Democratic political base, have been the most resistant to an expansion of gay rights.

Earlier this week, James Cameron made a rather bold statement in the New York Times, effectively swearing off any and all non-documentary filmmaking that doesn't take place within the fictional world he invented in 2009's Avatar. Here is the quote:

Caroline Aiken makes her first appearance on Mountain Stage, recorded live on the campus of the University of Georgia in Athens. Born and raised on the Georgia Sea Island of St. Simons, Aiken grew up under the influence of local musicians like the Georgia Sea Island Singers.

Spain nationalized its largest real estate lender Wednesday night and plans to announce an overhaul of the country's entire banking system Friday.

The country is scrambling to prevent its troubled banks — weighed down by property debts — from sabotaging the whole economy. The Spanish government has only to look northward to Ireland to see what could happen if it fails.

Lessons From Ireland

Though still only 22, Laura Marling is both an accomplished performer and one of the U.K.'s brightest up-and-coming songwriters. Her first two records were each nominated for the Mercury Prize, and last year she won a Brit Award for best female solo artist. Those are high-profile awards for an artist whose songs unfold in quiet ways, with lyrical depth that rewards repeat listening and a clear alto that gives her songs gravity.

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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

In Greece, economic and political turmoil have left Greeks feeling divided and deflated. The talk in Athens today was all about new elections and an uncertain future, but it was a different scene in the southern town of Olympia. That's where, earlier today, the Olympic flame was lit for the London games and, as Joanna Kakissis reports, people were able to forget, for just a moment, their many troubles.

The undercover agent who helped thwart the latest underwear bomb plot was a British citizen, NPR's Dina Temple-Raston has learned.

"The undercover operation was being directed by British intelligence with help from other international intelligence agencies," Dina tells us. "The British had put some pressure on the Obama administration not to reveal their role in the secret mission."

Who's really hooked on tanning beds?

Odds are she's young, white and lives in the Midwest.

Figures just published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report paint a detailed picture of indoor tanning habits across the country.

Overall, in 2010 about 5.6 percent of adults used a tanning bed, or other device that blasts UV rays at skin to darken it. Tanning sprays didn't count.