State and National News

Spain's Beloved Four-Day Weekends Are At Risk

Credit Manu Fernandez / AP

People relax at a beach in Barcelona, Spain, on a Monday last summer. Many Spanish workers are upset that some traditional four-day holiday weekends might be scaled back to just three days.

By Lauren Frayer

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 4:36 am

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One of the perks of living in Europe is the generous vacation schedule. But the austerity moves across the continent could be changing that, at least in some places. Portugal, for example, recently cut four of its 14 annual holidays.

And Spain is shuffling its calendar to shorten extended weekends — something the prime minister says it can no longer afford. The change could mean the loss of a celebrated tradition: the four-day weekend.

A Holiday For Bullfighting

2:23 am

Tue May 22, 2012

Next Goal For Egypt's Islamists Is The Presidency

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Credit Fredrik Persson / AP

Mohammed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood's presidential candidate, appears at a rally in Cairo. Morsi is one of 12 candidates in this week's election and has the full backing of the powerful Islamist group.

Credit Amr Nabil / AP

Mohammed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood's presidential candidate, waves to his supporters during a campaigning conference in Cairo last month.

Credit Fredrik Persson / AP

Several hundreds imams listen to Morsi at a rally in Cairo on Sunday.

By Kimberly Adams

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 7:28 am

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The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party was the big winner in Egypt's parliamentary elections, and now the group has its sights set on the presidential election, with voting set for Wednesday and Thursday.

The Brotherhood had initially said it wasn't going to field a candidate for president. But what is arguably Egypt's most powerful and social organization changed its mind at the last minute.

2:21 am

Tue May 22, 2012

Mongolia's Dilemma: Who Gets The Water?

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Credit John Poole / NPR

Amin-Erdene Galkhuu pumps well water to her family's Bactrian camels in Mongolia's South Gobi region. Herders and mining firms both need water in this arid area.

Credit John W. Poole / NPR

South Gobi is made up mostly of herders who graze their animals in this arid land. The herders fear too much water will be lost to mining.

Credit John W. Poole / NPR

Mijiddorj Ayur (right) sits with his extended family outside his house in South Gobi. He wears traditional clothes, including boots with curled-up toes.

Credit John W. Poole / NPR

A construction crew works on a section of an underground water pipe and wellhead the Oyu Tolgoi mine is building along the dirt "highway" in South Gobi.

Credit John W. Poole / NPR

Ex-herders work at a makeshift truck stop for mining trucks. Most say their water supply dried up, leaving them no choice but to sell their animals.

Credit John W. Poole / NPR

These roads lead to Oyu Tolgoi's mine (visible in the distance). Within five years, the gold and copper mine is expected to be the third-largest in the world.

Credit John W. Poole / NPR

Khishigdelger Adiya surveys the land around her home. She stands near what she described as a "sacred well" that has recently gone dry.

Credit John W. Poole / NPR

A camel stands at a dried-up sacred well near the house of herder Khishigdelger Adiya. There's white salt where water used to flow.

Credit John W. Poole / NPR

This small lake, which has recently receded, is one of the few permanent bodies of water in South Gobi. The government recently reversed a ban on using the aquifer underneath.

Credit John W. Poole / NPR

Herder Bat-Erdene Badam's mother. Khishigdelger Adiya, surveys the land around her home. She stands near what she described as a "sacred well" that has recently gone dry.

Credit John W. Poole / NPR

Amin-Erdene Galkhuu pumps well water to her family's Bactrian camels in Mongolia's South Gobi region. Herders and mining firms both need water in this arid area.

Credit John W. Poole / NPR

Once a wetland — one of the very few in the Gobi — this area has been drying up over the past several years, thanks to rising temperatures and lower rainfall.

Credit John W. Poole / NPR

Herder Mijiddorj Ayur, 76, stands outside his home in South Gobi, Mongolia. He worries about the effects a local mine will have on his livelihood.

By Frank Langfitt

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 9:47 am

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Mongolia, the land of Genghis Khan and nomadic herders, is in the midst of a remarkable transition. Rich in coal, gold and copper, this country of fewer than 3 million people in Central Asia is riding a mineral boom that is expected to more than double its GDP within a decade. The rapid changes simultaneously excite and unnerve many Mongolians, who hope mining can help pull many out of poverty, but worry it will ravage the environment and further erode the nation's distinctive, nomadic identity.

Second of four parts

2:19 am

Tue May 22, 2012

Power Couple, Covering War (And Waging Their Own)

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Credit HBO

HBO's Hemingway & Gellhorn tracks the relationship between Ernest Hemingway (Clive Owen) and war correspondent Martha Gellhorn (Nicole Kidman) as Gellhorn begins to develop her voice as a war correspondent, beginning with the Spanish Civil War.

Credit Hulton Archive/Getty Images

1941: Hemingway and Gellhorn, married in 1940, stand on deck aboard a ship, wearing leis and holding cocktails. They divorced in 1945.

Credit Keystone / Getty Images

In Italy in 1944, Gellhorn talks to Indian soldiers of the British army on the 5th Army's Cassino front.

By Susan Stamberg

Originally published on Tue May 22, 2012 7:11 am

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Before Christiane Amanpour, before Ann Garrels, before Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, there was Martha Gellhorn, one of the first great female war correspondents.

From the Spanish Civil War through Vietnam, she covered every major conflict of the day. But Gellhorn's reputation as a journalist was sometimes overshadowed by her marriage to one of the great American writers, Ernest Hemingway.

2:16 am

Tue May 22, 2012

Time To Move Grandma: What To Do With Her Home?

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Credit Kainaz Amaria / NPR

Frank Christian takes a break from packing in the dining room of his home in Glen Allen, Va., which he co-owned with his mother. The family recently sold the home in order to free up money for Ida's care.

Credit Kainaz Amaria / NPR

Yolanda Hunter, Geneva's daughter, talks with Frank about Ida's doctor's appointments and upcoming caretaking needs.

Credit Kainaz Amaria / NPR

Frank stands outside his home in Glen Allen, Va., which he co-owned with his mother. The family recently sold the home in order to free up money for Ida's care.

Credit Kainaz Amaria / NPR

Frank looks on as his son Jonathan, 21, packs his belongings in preparation for their move. "I don't mind the change," Frank says. "I'm a lot like my mother."

Credit Kainaz Amaria / NPR

A "caring coupon" given by Shannon to her mother hangs on a bulletin board in Frank's home office.

Credit Kainaz Amaria / NPR

Frank has a laugh with Shannon after finding pictures of himself, taken in 1971, while cleaning out his roll-top desk.

Credit Kainaz Amaria / NPR

Frank's 1960 second-grade report card states that his work was "very good" and shows Ida's signature in the right-hand column.

Credit Kainaz Amaria / NPR

Jonathan plays Ida's piano, which he says she won in a raffle in 1976. Jonathan remembers Ida playing hymns and folk-type music. "I grew up with Ida," he says. "I used to drive her to church every Sunday. She was always laughing."

Credit Kainaz Amaria / NPR

Frank takes a break from packing in the family's dining room. He says the new homeowner bought their house because of the downstairs en suite bedroom and bathroom. "She is a single mom and will be taking care of her parents," he says.

Credit Kainaz Amaria / NPR

Since 2009, Ida has required full-time care as she fades in and out of awareness. "She was my buddy," says Frank of his mother. "I miss her, because there was always something to laugh about."

Credit Kainaz Amaria / NPR

Frank stands outside his home in Glen Allen, Va., which he co-owned with his mother, Ida. The family recently sold the home in order to free up money for Ida's care.

Credit Kainaz Amaria / NPR

Frank Christian asks his mother, Ida, if she recognizes his daughter, Shannon. Ida lived with Frank's family in Virginia from 2001 to 2009. After being diagnosed with dementia, Ida moved in with Frank's sister Geneva, who lives in Maryland.

By Marilyn Geewax

Originally published on Tue May 29, 2012 8:04 am

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Making the decision to move a parent out of the homestead can hurt.

The house may be full of good ghosts and happy memories. But it also has too many steps and too much lawn to mow. So the time comes to pack up and move on.

A decade ago, at least one part of that transition wasn't so tough. When the for-sale sign went up, an eager buyer was likely to show up with a good offer. But today, families are facing a much more difficult real estate environment.

7:21 pm

Mon May 21, 2012

All Routine PSA Tests For Prostate Cancer Should End, Task Force Says

Credit Jose Luis Magana / AP

Terry Dyroff, at home in Silver Spring, Md., got a PSA blood test that led to a prostate biopsy. The biopsy found no cancer, but it gave him a life-threatening infection.

By Richard Knox

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 1:33 pm

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There they go again — those 17 federally appointed experts at the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force are telling American doctors and patients to stop routinely doing lifesaving tests.

5:46 pm

Mon May 21, 2012

Carnegie Hall Live: The Cleveland Orchestra Plays Brahms, Shostakovich And Saariaho

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