National News from NPR

Pages

Election 2012
3:00 am
Tue January 24, 2012

Romney Campaign Finally Releases His Tax Returns

Originally published on Tue January 24, 2012 9:00 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

All right, so Romney has gone on the attack in Florida, and he'll also be answering a lot of questions today about those taxes that he is releasing. As we heard from Mara, it turns out over the last few years, the effective tax rate Romney has paid is just under 15 percent.

Now, Newt Gingrich has been pressing Romney to publicly disclose the documents. And the former House speaker released his own tax returns, to dramatic effect, during a debate last Thursday.

Read more
Election 2012
3:00 am
Tue January 24, 2012

Housing Woes Affect Florida's GOP Primary

One of the biggest issues in the Florida GOP primary race is housing. Mitt Romney is attacking Newt Gingrich's work for the housing giant Freddie Mac. This issue is not just a political talking point though. Three years after the economic collapse, foreclosures continue to affect real people every day in an extremely personal way.

Around the Nation
2:49 am
Tue January 24, 2012

Online Lottery Could Be Coming To A State Near You

Credit iStockphoto.com
Several states — including Illinois and New York — are now pushing forward with plans to offer lotteries on the Internet.

Several states — including Illinois and New York — are now pushing forward with plans to offer lotteries on the Internet. That's in the aftermath of an opinion from the Justice Department, which reverses a long-standing policy and says states are free to conduct online gambling within their borders.

Read more
It's All Politics
12:34 am
Tue January 24, 2012

Romney Redux: Did the Frontrunner Find A Way Back In?

Credit Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich debate at the University of South Florida in Tampa on Monday.

Originally published on Wed January 25, 2012 8:35 am

On Tuesday, it is likely the presidential campaign's focus will shift to Mitt Romney's tax returns, which show him making $42.5 million in 2010 and 2011. That number may be bigger than he can finesse by saying in essence: Don't hate me because I'm successful.

Read more
It's All Politics
11:26 pm
Mon January 23, 2012

Romney Attacks, Gingrich Doesn't As Both Give GOP Voters Reasons To Doubt

After Newt Gingrich's bravura performance in the final South Carolina debate and his drubbing of Mitt Romney on primary day, the former speaker's challenge in Monday night's debate in Tampa, Fla., was to maintain if not increase his momentum eight days before the Florida Republican presidential primary.

Meanwhile, Romney's challenge was to give his supporters who were shell-shocked by the Palmetto State results reasons to believe he had it in him to turn it around, to stand to do what needed to be done to beat Gingrich in Florida.

Read more
Around the Nation
11:01 pm
Mon January 23, 2012

In Conn., Tribes Hope To Win Big With Online Poker

Credit Mario Tama / Getty Images
Gamblers play on some of the more than 6,000 slot machines at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. The casino is owned and operated by the Mohegan Tribe.

Connecticut has two casinos that generate millions of dollars a year for the state. Following a recent change in the interpretation of regulations against online gambling, casino operators and state officials are closely watching to see what kind of impact online poker will have on their revenue.

Even though it's a weekday, there are plenty of people are sitting at slot machines or playing table games at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Read more
Setting Out: New Grads' Quest For Work
11:01 pm
Mon January 23, 2012

Landing A Job After A Year Of Rejection

Students graduating from college are entering perhaps the toughest, most uncertain job market in generations. In our series, we met recent grads who shared the frustrations and fears they faced as they set out in search of work. In this installment, we follow-up with one of our previous grads who has now landed a job after a yearlong search.

Read more
Books
11:01 pm
Mon January 23, 2012

How Dr. Seuss Got His Start 'On Mulberry Street'

Seventy five years ago, before Theodor Geisel rocked the culinary world with green eggs and ham or put a red-and-white striped top hat on a talking cat, Geisel (who you probably know better as Dr. Seuss) was stuck on a boat, returning from a trip to Europe.

For eight days, he listened to the ship's engine chug away. The sound got stuck in his head and he started writing to the rhythm. Eventually, those rhythmic lines in his head turned into his first children's book: It was called And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.

Read more
The Picture Show
7:07 pm
Mon January 23, 2012

One Man's Quest To Capture America's Endangered Zoo Animals (With A Camera)

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 10:06 am

To spend a day in the life of National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore, there are a few things you have to get used to. Really long drives, for one. Tigers charging at you. And, of course ... well ... messes.

"I'm the only studio portrait photographer I know whose subjects routinely poop and pee on the background right in front of me," he says from behind the lens.

Read more
A Blog Supreme
6:29 pm
Mon January 23, 2012

The Extraordinary Career Of A Man Who Managed Jazz Musicians

Credit Tom Pich / NEA
John Levy.

Originally published on Tue September 18, 2012 5:13 pm

This post was originally published shortly after John Levy's death late last week. Click the audio link above to hear a remembrance of Levy by NPR's Sami Yenigun.

This weekend, we learned that the jazz businessman John Levy died on Friday. His wife, Devra Hall Levy, announced the news on Saturday in a press release available on John Levy's website, Lushlife. He was nearly 100 years old.

Read more

Pages