Search results for

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Adrian Ma of the The Indicator from Planet Money podcast about the "billionaire tax" being proposed by Democrats to help fund the Build Back Better legislation.

Robert talks with David Stempler of AirTrav Advisors about the corporate differences between airlines. With the exception of airlines such as Southwest, the flying experience for the customer has pretty much been the same across the board, and that airline customers probably won't notice much difference when they fly, he says.

NPR's Jim Zarroli reports that American Airlines made it official today. It will acquire financially-troubled TWA. In a separate deal, American also announced that it is buying some of US Airways assets and will take a major stake in a startup airline, DC Air. American's parent corporation, AMR, gets TWA's 190 planes and 175 gates at airports around the country. American has also agreed to provide employment to almost all of TWA's 20,000 employees.

A note on some of the milestones in the history of Trans World Airlines.

NPR's Mary Ann Akers reports on the public debut of the National Zoo's new pandas. The pandas arrived from China on December sixth, but their keepers gave the animals a few weeks to get used to their new surroundings before opening the exhibit to the public. The National Zoo paid China ten million dollars for a ten year loan of the pandas.

NPR's Guy Raz reports from Pristina on the reaction of NATO-led peacekeepers and the United Nations administration in Kosovo to reports that peacekeepers in the Balkans have become ill, because of contact with depleted uranium weapons. Spokespeople for the peacekeepers and U.N. say that until now, troops have not roped off sites where the weapons were used. They note a lack of resources and say there is still no proof that residue from the depleted uranium weapons poses a health risk. Kosovar Albanians are skeptical of the reports about high cancer rates among peacekeepers, suggesting the claims are intended to undermine international support for the Kosovo peacekeeping operation.

California and federal officials met until late last night in Washington in hopes of solving the state's bedeviling electricity crisis. California Governor Gray Davis has proposed a variety of tactics to deal with the double threat of potential blackouts and high prices. But one town isn't waiting for the bigwigs to act. West Hollywood is looking for a cheaper and better way of keeping the lights on. NPR's Ina Jaffe has the story.

NPR's Rob Gifford reports that China today announced the launch of an unmanned rocket it hopes eventually will carry astronauts into space. Currently, only Russia and the U.S. are capable of manned space flight. China says three or four more test flights will be needed before it attempts a manned flight. The Long March rocket blasted off from a launch center in the Gobi Desert and Chinese officials say it will be used to conduct experiments on the effects of space on life forms.

NPR's David Welna reports on how well President-elect Bush's nominee for Education Secretary did on his first big test today. At his Senate confirmation hearing, Rod Paige got high marks from Senators in both parties. He called for more testing for students and teachers, and stuck by his support for Bush's voucher plan.

NPR's Patricia Neighmond reports on a new study showing that HMOs and other health plans save money when they provide comprehensive treatment to diabetics. The study, published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association, supports closely monitoring diabetics' blood sugar and aggressively controlling it with insulin or other drugs.