Search results for

NPR's Margot Adler begins Morning Edition's four-part series on literacy by trying to define it. Educators struggle about whether to focus on fact-based knowledge or on critical thinking skills in the classroom.

NPR's Martin Kaste reports on the success of Brazil's AIDS program. Alone among developing nations, Brazil has provided AIDS drugs to nearly all who need them. That's cut the death rate from AIDS in half. The success is due to the country's aggressive policies on allowing generic copies of expensive brand name drugs. The international pharmaceutical industry has tolerated the situation until recently. Now the country faces a major trade dispute over its policy on AIDS drugs.

NPR's Guy Raz in Ankara reports many Turks are questioning their government's dealings with the International Monetary Fund. They say the recent financial crisis would not have occurred if the government had refused to implement IMF-backed economic reforms.

Chicago Public Radio's Shirley Jahad caught up with elderly walkers who are back making the rounds of their local mall. They took on the managers who wanted to shut them out.

NPR's Richard Knox reports from Boston on two new medical studies of AIDS treatment in the United States. In today's New England Journal of Medicine the studies conclude that AIDS drugs in the U.S. are cost effective, but many who need the drugs, are not getting them. Knox's report is a follow-up to the NPR series on AIDS drugs in developing nations that ran last week.

Former Chicago policewoman Gina Gallo. While she was part of the force, she also wrote about her work in columns for NYCop online magazine and Blue Murders online magazine. They were collected in the book Crime Scenes (Blue Murder Press). She has a new memoir, Armed & Dangerous: Memoirs of a Chicago Policewoman. (

NPR's Sarah Chayes reports from Paris that a high-profile French corruption trial was thrown into disarray today when a key defendant refused to testify. The defendant -- former oil executive Alfred Sirvan -- once boasted he had enough compromising information about former government officials "to blow the republic sky high." But when he appeared in court, he refused to answer any questions. Sirven's lawyers said he will talk -- but only after all related investigations into the corruption scandal are completed. Among the Sirven's co-defendants is former French foreign minister Roland Dumas.

A senior Pacific Fleet captain who was on board the U.S. submarine Greeneville the day it sank a Japanese fishing trawler off the shore of Hawaii was back on the stand today in the Navy's court of inquiry into the incident. The captain was expected to say the civilians on board did not interfere with the sub's crew and procedures. Noah Adams talks with NPR's Andy Bowers, who is covering the trial.

Janet Heimlich reports that even though foot-and-mouth disease has not appeared in the United States since 1929, many livestock-producing states are telling ranchers to take precautions. Texas animal health officials are worried that the disease could be brought in by travelers, particularly in contaminated meat. They are telling ranchers to isolate new animals for a few days, disinfect the boots of visitors from abroad, and watch their animals for symptoms. Not all ranchers are paying attention.

Allison Aubrey reports that Coca-Cola made a very public announcement today that it is changing the way its flagship product is marketed in the nation's schools. The Atlanta-based company says it will urge its bottlers to end the practice of negotiating "exclusive" contracts with school districts. The company also promised to give school kids more choice by stocking vending machines with healthier options. Many parent groups have criticized the exclusive contract arrangement.