Search results for

The high-tech boom that transformed Ireland from one of Europe's poorest countries into the feisty Celtic tiger has begun to show some rough side effects. Dublin residents talk about assaults, congestion and a heightened sense of aggressiveness in the streets. The gap between rich and poor is rising, and heart disease is up. All of this worries public health specialists who see their mission as addressing the social conditions underlying today's chronic diseases. One growing approach in Europe began in the mid-1980s with the support of the World Health Organization. It engages citizens in examining their health concerns and helps them to find their own solutions. In his second report on European Health Promoting Schools, Frank Browning visits a working class school on the edge of Dublin where students identify rape, murder, and mugging as their biggest health worries.

Nancy Solomon, of member station KLCC in Oregon, reports on an extradition battle for 70-year-old Robert Lee Burns. He's been living in Oregon for 20 years, but now California says it wants him back, so he can complete his sentence for the 1963 murder of a highway patrolman.

Host Bob Edwards speaks with Susan Harmon, sports editor for the Tribune in Ames, Iowa, about the women's college basketball tournament. The teams in the semi-finals have faced each other in playoff action before and will provide each other stiff competition.

NPR's Elaine Korry reports that the nation's biggest online securities broker, Schwab corporations, announced it will lay off some 13-percent of its workforce.

Noah Adams speaks with Zoran Kusovac, Balkans correspondent for Jane's Defense Weekly. The army of Macedonia is fighting Albanians rebels in the hills above the town of Tetovo. Kusovac explains the inherent difficulty of defeating an insurgent rebel group -- particularly in this situation. The Macedonian army is an old vestige of the former Yugoslav military and depends on one-year conscripts (some of whom are Albanian) to fight the rebels. Kusovac says this kind of battle requires small, well-armed and trained mobile army units to penetrate guerilla territory.

Pat Dowell reports on Elmer Bernstein who, after composing scores for more than 200 movies, is moving to writing concert music. Bernstein regrets the state of film music today — which he says lacks emotion, and is included primarily to create an atmosphere, rather than impart a grand musical theme.

In a rare defection from China, a senior officer of the People's Liberation Army has taken refuge in the United States (as of December). He is said to know a lot about China's strategic plans regarding the United States and Taiwan. Beijing takes defections seriously but this case apparently has NOT disrupted U.S.-China relations too much. Both sides were aware of it this week as President Bush and his aides met with Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen. Those talks were regarded as successful.

Film critic Henry Sheehan reviews Enemy at the Gates starring Jude Law and Joseph Finnes.

NPR's Michele Kelemen reports from Moscow that Russia today declared four U.S. diplomats persona non grata and will ask another 46 more to leave the country by summer. This follow's Washington's announcement it is expelling four Russians linked to alleged U.S. spy Robert Hanssen and has ordered out an additional 46 diplomats. Both governments, however, are playing down the long-term impact of the spy dispute on U.S.-Russian relations.

PR's Steve Inskeep reports on the tenor of Senate campaign finance debate.