Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Speech may provide clues to missing Somalis' motivation
  A fiery speech given by a visiting Somali opposition leader in Minneapolis may provide some clues as to what motivated some Somali-American men to take up arms in their homeland.5:20 p.m.
• Minneapolis mayor among the Facebook millions
  R.T. Rybak says Twitter and Facebook help him stay connected with his constituents.5:25 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Google's Operating System Challenges Microsoft
  Google has surprised the tech world with an announcement that it will launch its own operating system, aimed initially at the cheap, portable computers known as netbooks. It's the first-time Google has ventured into operating systems, a market dominated by Microsoft.
• 16 People, 8 Kidneys, One 'Domino' Transplant
  Doctors completed the first ever eight-way "domino" kidney transplant — involving eight donors and eight recipients — this week. The surgeries were performed in four hospitals over three weeks, and the surgeon who coordinated the exchange says the patients are all doing well.
• Russian Writer Vasily Aksyonov Remembered
  Book reviewer Alan Cheuse remembers Russian author Vasily Pavlovich Aksyonov, who died earlier this week. Aksyonov is known in the West as the author of Generations of Winter, a family saga depicting three generations of the Gradov family between 1925 and 1953.
• U.S.-Russia Relations Blow Hot And Cold
  This week, President Obama met with Russian leaders Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin. NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says Russia and the United States have attempted a closer friendship many times, but have never quite succeeded.
• A Shorter Route To Communication
  Commentator Mark Allen gets a text message from his boss in response to something Allen texted to him: "shorter" was all it said. Since then, Allen has been using that single word to get people to use fewer words in real life.
• Pickens Still Gung-Ho On Wind Farm Despite Delay
  Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens joined lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to propose legislation that would double tax breaks for buying cars that run on natural gas. The move comes a day after Pickens postponed a plan to create the world's largest wind farm in Texas.
• Obama Defends Stimulus Amid Calls For Round Two
  As the unemployment rate rises, there have been calls for another stimulus package — even though there are few visible signs that the last injection of funds has had an effect. And while voters are increasingly unhappy about unemployment, they are also increasingly concerned about rising deficits.
• Report: Holes Found In Federal Security
  Federal investigators easily smuggled bomb-making materials past guards at federal buildings, a new report from the Government Accountability Office says. Mark Goldstein, the GAO's director for physical infrastructure issues, testified before a Senate panel Wednesday on the report's findings. He offers his insight.
• Obama Joins Global Warming Deal
  President Obama and other world agreed Wednesday to back new targets to combat global warming. The leaders are supporting a goal to prevent the world's average temperature from rising more than 3.6 degrees.
• Letters: Jackson, IOUs
  Robert Siegel and Melissa Block read from listeners' comments about our coverage of Michael Jackson and the interest on California IOUs.
• Attacks Highlight Flaws In U.S. Cyberdefenses
  The coordinated attacks that swamped Web sites in the U.S. and South Korea in the past several days may be a harbinger of things to come, cybersecurity experts say. The incident highlights the ease of launching such crippling attacks — and the lack of preparedness at some U.S. agencies.
• Tornado Potato Taking Boardwalks By Storm
  There are few things more appealing than french fries — unless you count food on a stick. Combine the two, and you get the artery-clogging, mouth-watering Tornado Potato, the hit of fairs nationwide. Richard Crossley, co-owner of Tornado Fries in Wildwood, N.J., says one of the beauties of the dish is that you can take your time munching it.
• Oumou Sangare: Sonic And Political Muscle
  Critic Robert Christgau is impressed by the new album from the Malian vocalist, whom he calls Africa's most important female singer. Seya is her first release after a 12-year absence from recording, spent raising a son and running a hotel, farm and other businesses.
• Maia Sharp: A Songwriter Set To Arrive
  Los Angeles-based singer Maia Sharp may be on her fourth album, Echo, but she's mostly made her living writing songs for other performers, including Cher, Dixie Chicks and Bonnie Raitt. After a few brushes with success, this time around, Sharp feels like she's ready to break through.
• Customers Eat Up Fresh Fish Buying Programs
  You probably know about produce "clubs" where farmers sell boxes of local produce to members. Picture that arrangement, but inside the basket are 2-foot-long cod. Fish-buying programs called community supported fishery have become popular in New England.

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