NPR News

Sylvia Woods, known as the Queen of Soul Food, died yesterday at age 86. She opened the legendary Sylvia's restaurant in Harlem 50 years ago, around the corner from the Apollo Theater, and it soon became a gathering place for prominent African Americans, politicians, and foodies of all ages and races.

(Updated @ 1:11 pm ET)

As deeply as the mass shootings in Aurora, Colo., shocked the national conscience, they also quickly affected the U.S. political scene, with both major party presidential campaigns ripping up their scripts for Friday, and the mayor of the nation's largest city using the issue to put the candidates on the spot on gun control.

At the core of the Israel-Iran dispute is the latter's nuclear program. But it's been playing out in a strange way, in a shadow war that stretches across continents.

Almost immediately after a bomb killed several Israeli tourists and wounded more than 30 on a Bulgarian bus Wednesday, Israel blamed Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

Mitt Romney, under attack over taxes, Bain and outsourcing, is having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad month. But he's still tied with President Obama in nearly every poll. Plus, we weigh in on potential veeps, Ron Paul and Sarah Palin await their convention invites, Harry Reid complains, and Anthony Weiner mulls a comeback. Really.

Join NPR's Ken Rudin and Ron Elving in the latest installment of the It's All Politics podcast.

Authorities have identified 24-year-old James Holmes as the suspect in the mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.

According to witnesses, the gunman showed up at a midnight screening of the new Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises and opened fire. Quoting a federal law enforcement official, the AP reports the gunman had an assault rifle, a shotgun and two pistols."

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Eight hours ago, a gunman burst into a packed movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, tossed in a can of tear gas, and then opened fire. Those in the audience had lined up hours in advance to get seats for the world premier of the Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises." Many were dressed festively, in costume, but the movie and the evening ended in horror.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Police soon arrested a suspect, and they were still searching suspect's apartment when President Obama stepped before a crowd this morning in Fort Myers, Florida. It was a political campaign event. It was supposed to be, but the president said it was not a day for campaigning.

(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)

Pianist Eddie Palmieri has been given many nicknames. He's been called The Latin Monk because of his Thelonious Monk-inspired dissonances. He's been called The Piano Breaker Man, because he hits the keys so hard. He's even been called the 'madman of Latin music.' He's taken many of the innovations of modern jazz pianists and brought them into his Latin bands. But he's never stopped playing good dance music.

In 1994, Palmieri's lobbying culminated in the announcement of a new Grammy Award category for Afro-Caribbean Jazz.

Many cities around the country are faced with growing costs and shrinking revenue. Despite making sweeping cuts, Stockton, California recently became the largest city to file for bankruptcy. Host Michel Martin talks with Stockton Mayor Ann Johnston about how she's managing a city that's operating in the red.