Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Errol Morris examines the pictures of Abu Ghraib
  Documentary film director Errol Morris says he's always been fascinated by photographs, and has long wanted to do a film about how they can shape history.4:50 p.m.
• Report says money worries led to bridge decisions
  A new report on the 35W bridge collapse said the Minnesota Department of Transportation did not always follow its own maintenance policies, due in part to financial restraints.5:16 p.m.
• Fired workers challenge restaurant chain
  A Minneapolis-based restaurant chain and catering company faces fallout from its decision to fire a group of workers earlier this spring.5:22 p.m.
• Touring the 35W bridge construction site
  About 600 workers are working 12-hour shifts, 24 hours a day, seven days a week on both sides of the Mississippi River to get the I-35W bridge rebuilt in the shortest amount of time possible.5:50 p.m.
• The MIA hails the RNC
  The Minneapolis Institute of Arts has announced it will mount a special exhibition later this summer design to draw in attendees to the Republican National Convention.6:20 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Seismologist Says Aftershocks Impossible to Predict
  Walter Mooney, a research seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, Calif., says the aftershocks following the earthquake in China are typical so far, but there's no real way to predict them. Mooney tells Melissa Block his Chinese counterparts are surprised by the extent of the damage and loss of life after the quake.
• Astronomers Capture Star Exploding
  Astronomers have witnessed for the first time a star at the very moment it exploded as a supernova. This supernova, in a nearby galaxy, produced a burst of X-rays that lasted 10 minutes and signaled the death of the star. Soon, telescopes around the world focused in on this event to capture X-rays, radio waves and visible light from the dying star.
• Dissecting What Went Wrong for Clinton
  Sen. Hillary Clinton has gone from front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination to likely runner-up. Democratic strategists say her campaign wasn't flexible enough and failed to focus enough on the right message of "change."
• No Home Away from Home for Quake Evacuees
  A thousand evacuees are living in 60 emergency housing units and 20 tents in a public park in Chengdu, China. They are living 10 and 12 to a room. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with various evacuees, some of whom are from the worst-hit mountain towns.
• Lebanon Takes Steps to End Political Stalemate
  The pro-western government in Lebanon has struck a deal with the opposition, 18 months after the Hezbollah led-leadership resigned from the cabinet. Paul Salem, the director of the Carnegie Endowment's Middle East Center in Beruit, talks with Michele Norris about key parts of the deal.
• Narrow Alley: What's Old Is New Again in Chengdu
  An old street in Chengdu, China, Narrow Alley was once filled with beautiful old courtyard residences. Now, those homes have been torn down and replaced by new buildings in the traditional style, most of which will be stores and restaurants.
• Obama Camp: Deal on Delegates Possible
  Barack Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, says the campaign is ready to compromise on counting delegates from Florida and Michigan. Axelrod says he's "willing to go halfway" in allowing these discounted delegates apply toward Hillary Clinton's total.
• Appalachia the Scapegoat for America's Racism
  Ada Smith is one of thousands who voted in Kentucky's primary on Tuesday. She's 21 years old and a new voter. With all the talk about race in the presidential campaign, Smith wants to set the record straight when it comes to voter stereotypes.
• Diehard Supporters Not Giving Up on Clinton
  Even as the clock runs down on the Clinton campaign, women's groups and others are throwing money into the race. Their message, as one ad puts it: "Not so fast."
• Afghan Girl Has Surgery for Heart Defect
  Adila, a 6-year-old Afghan girl with a congenital heart defect, had life-saving surgery in Karachi, Pakistan, on Friday. She's in the cardiac intensive care unit, but is stable.
• American Airlines to Charge for Checked Bags
  Crude oil shot up again as the price in New York trading surpassed $131 a barrel. American Airlines responded to soaring oil prices Wednesday by cutting capacity — that's the number of passengers it plans to fly this year — by as much as 12 percent. The company also said it would impose new fees — including a charge for checking a bad — in order to offset increased fuel costs.
• Bush Tests Cuba's Willingness to Loosen Rules
  President Bush marks what the White House is calling "Cuba Solidarity Day," a commemoration of Cuba gaining its independence on May 20, 1902. Since taking over from his brother Fidel three months ago, Raul Castro has introduced some modest reforms — allowing Cubans to have cell phones, for example. Bush said Wednesday he will now allow Americans to send cell phones to Cubans, and he challenged the Cuban government not to stand in the way.
• Fatih Akin, Crossing Borders and Boundaries on Film
  Turkish-German filmmaker, 34, drew an Oscar nomination and a Cannes screenwriting award for his hot-ticket movie The Edge of Heaven. Critics say it's his breakthrough as a leading light of the new global cinema.
• Villagers Fight for Land in Rapidly Developing China
  As Chinese peasants move to cities in search of opportunity, cities expand into what used to be the country. The case of a group of peasants on the outskirts of Chengdu in southwestern China illustrates the often devastating results.
• Parents Blame Chinese Officials for School Collapse
  At least 127 primary-school students in Wufu, China, died last week when their three-story school collapsed on them during the Sichuan earthquake. The parents say it wasn't the quake that caused the destruction — it was the shoddy structure.

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