Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Hatch renews call for embryonic stem cell research
  DFL candidate for governor Mike Hatch is trying to make embryonic stem cell research a key issue in this year's campaign. For the second time in a month, Hatch held a news conference to propose a $100 million state investment in stem cell research.5:19 p.m.
• Remembering Bill Norris
  William C. Norris, founder of Control Data Corp. died today at age 95, following a long battle with Parkinson's disease. Fred Zimmerman, a retired University of St. Thomas expert on engineering and management, remembers working with Norris at Control Data in the 1960s and '70s.5:24 p.m.
• Eagle center gets infusion of cash
  Bald eagles have been drawing people to the banks of the Mississippi River near Wabasha for years. But community leaders are hoping to attract many more tourists in the years to come. City officials and residents have broken ground on a new 14,000-square-foot expansion of Wabasha's National Eagle Center.5:49 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• States Try Out Courts Tailored for Mentally Ill
  In an effort to stop the repeated cycling of mentally ill people through courts and prisons, some states are setting up special courts for the mentally ill. The goal of judges, prosecutors and attorneys is to get treatment, housing and other kinds of support for defendants. Proponents say it's more effective -- and cheaper -- than jail.
• Lost Jazz Treasures Live on in Clarinetist's Music
  Clarinetist and music historian Michael White lost a treasury of New Orleans jazz artifacts in the Katrina flood. The 30 years of collected knowledge now resides in his memory and his music -- which reflects the passion of his loss and recovery.
• Alaska's Murkowski Faces Challenging Primary
  Alaska's Gov. Frank Murkowski faces a primary election for his second term Tuesday. Polls show the former senator with a positive rating of only about 20 percent in his own party. Murkowski has been criticized by many as being too close to the oil industry, and his primary challengers say they would renegotiate unpopular deals.
• Views of Iraq from Indiana
  What do voters deep in the heartland of the United States think of the war in Iraq? Many U.S. military recruits come from rural areas -- but is popular sentiment behind the conflict they're signing up to fight in? NPR's Linda Wertheimer reports from Indiana.
• The Minds Behind 'Brothers of the Head'
  The new film Brothers of the Head tells the story of conjoined twins who become rock stars in mid-1970's England. The faux-documentary project is the work of Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe, the two directors who made Lost in La Mancha, the acclaimed documentary about Terry Gilliam's failed attempt to film, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.
• Bush Defends Iraq Strategy, Resists Call to Leave
  President Bush defends the U.S. mission in Iraq, saying that calls for American troops to leave the country are premature. The president warned that the situation would only worsen without U.S. troops -- and that "chaos in Iraq would be very unsettling in the region."
• Iran's Khamenei: Nuclear Program to Continue
  Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, says that Iran has no intention of stopping its uranium enrichment program, despite a U.N. incentives package to contain its nuclear goals. Iran's self-imposed deadline to respond to the offer arrives Tuesday.
• Saddam Refuses to Plead in Genocide Trial
  Unseated Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein refuses to answer charges connected to the infamous Anfal campaign. In the case, Hussein and six co-defendants are accused of orchestrating the killings of tens of thousands of Iraqi Kurds during the late 1980s.
• Palestinians Look to Lebanon for Lessons
  With the end of the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, Palestinians are hoping that the world's attention will return to their cause. Most Palestinians believe Hezbollah won the war just by surviving -- and piercing the myth that Israel's army can't be challenged. Some Palestinians say more resistance to Israel is the answer; others hope an international force like the one that will be deployed in Lebanon could be placed in the West Bank and Gaza. Many Palestinians say the war in Lebanon offers a new chance for a solution.
• Cricket Flap Erupts Between England, Pakistan
  A heated dispute stemming from a cricket match between England and Pakistan has resulted in headlines in both countries. After the Pakistan team was accused of having scuffing the ball, it didn't emerge from its clubhouse before an Australian referee forfeited the match to England. Robert Siegel talks with Simon Barnes, chief sportswriter for the Times of London.
• Business in Russia: Like Pulling Teeth
  In post-Communist Russia, foreigners who try to run their own small businesses face many challenges. Once an inviting destination for American entrepreneurs, Russia has proved to be a tough place to do business. It is an environment rife with government corruption, crooked business partners and gangsters.
• Hooked on Fishing: Misadventure in Montana
  Commentator Dick George remembers a recent fishing expedition that didn't turn out quite like he planned. George is a communications executive who lives in Baldwin, Md. He has fished six times since his trip to Montana and has caught things other than himself.
• Deciphering the Matter of Dark Matter
  Astronomers say they have proven that a mysterious material that fills our universe, called dark matter, actually exists. Dark matter is dark, so it can't be seen directly. But it is thought to account for 90 percent of the matter in our universe. Now, astronomers studying the collision of two galaxies say that cosmic crash reveals the presence of dark matter. But what the matter is actually composed of remains one of the biggest mysteries in our universe.
• Congolese Woman Gets New Chance at Asylum
  A Congolese woman is getting another chance at asylum in the United States. A federal appeals court had ruled that the woman did not fit the legal categories for asylum. The woman had been raped repeatedly by Congolese government agents investigating the death of the president. Human rights activists were worried that the decision to deny her asylum would lead to rape being accepted as an investigative method.
• U.N. Issues New Warning on Darfur Violence
  The United Nations is raising alarms about the situation in western Sudan, where fighting continues despite a peace deal signed in May. Violence is rampant and aid workers have had their most difficult month to date.

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