Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Minneapolis fire chief to leave her post
  Minneapolis Fire Chief Bonnie Bleskachek could be gone from that post by the end of the week. Bleskachek's lawyer says he and the city have been in discussions with the city on her future, after a series of discrimination lawsuits was filed against her.5:19 p.m.
• Searchers stumped by boys' disappearance
  Residents and authorities on the Red Lake Indian Reservation have had no luck finding two young brothers who've been missing since last Wednesday. So far there's no clear evidence pointing to what happened.5:23 p.m.
• Warming trend especially hard on northern hardwood forests
  Recent warming trends have been especially harmful to the northern forests of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Professor Lee Frelich, director of the University of Minnesota Center for Hardwood Ecology, will speak tonight at the Science Museum of Minnesota on that subject. MPR's Tom Crann spoke with Frelich about what makes the BWCAW so vulnerable to climate change.5:48 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• Will More Meetings Solve the Middle East Impasse?
  The current situation in the Middle East is bad on a number of fronts, says NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr. And President Bush is having lots of discussions -- but doing very little to make things better.
• Polonium 210 and the Litvinenko Case
  Robert Siegel talks with John Emsley, author of The Elements of Murder: A History of Poison, about the poisoning of Russian-spy-turned-Kremlin-critic Alexander Litvinenko. Litvinenko died last Thursday after being poisoned with radioactive Polonium-210.
• Police Find Traces of Radiation Across London
  Authorities investigating the poisoning death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko say traces of radiation have been found at several more sites in London.
• New York Mayor Tries to Quell Outrage over Killing
  New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly meet with community leaders upset by an the shooting death of an unarmed African-American man by police over the weekend. Police fired more than 50 shots into the vehicle driven by Sean Bell after it crashed into an unmarked police car.
• Expert: Cheney's Saudi Talks Centered on Iraq, Iran
  When Vice President Cheney met with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on Saturday, the pair likely discussed Iraq, Iran, Israel and terrorism, says Rachel Bronson, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Robert Siegel talks with Bronson, who is the author of Thicker Than Oil: America's Uneasy Partnership with Saudi Arabia.
• NBC Is Latest to Deem Iraq to Be in Civil War
  This morning on NBC's The Today Show, Matt Lauer said his network would begin calling the situation in Iraq a civil war. NBC is joining The Los Angeles Times and the McClatchy papers in using the term. But the White House insists that the situation in Iraq still falls short of a civil war.
• Academics Get Exemption from DVD Copyright Law
  Three professors from the University of Pennsylvania asked for an academic exemption to a law that makes it illegal to reproduce copyrighted material from DVDs -- even short excerpts. The professors' request was granted.
• New Limits on King Crabs Cut Size of Fishing Fleet
  Every October for the past 30 years, Bering Sea fishermen have raced to bring in the fishery-wide quota of king crab in what was popularly known as "the derby," a mad dash that made boat owners fortunes in less than a week and supplied restaurants from Tokyo to New York. But changes have reduced the fleet to one-third its size in 2004.
• Pope to Visit Turkey, Despite Large Protests
  Pope Benedict will visit Turkey's prime minister, as planned. The visit has sparked protests from Muslims angered by the pope's reference to a Byzantine emperor who said some of Islam's Prophet Muhammad's teachings were "evil and inhuman."
• The Challenge Facing L.A.'s Public-School Chief
  Retired Admiral David Brewer takes the reins of the massive Los Angeles public schools. Brewer says he's ready to build skyscrapers on the foundation left by his predecessor. But he faces some unique challenges as he tries to fix what's wrong and strengthen what's right with a troubled school district of more than 700,000 students.
• Author Bebe Moore Campbell Dies at 56
  Michele Norris talks with Marita Golden about author Bebe Moore Campbell. Campbell died today of complications from brain cancer at her home in Los Angeles. She was 56. In addition to being an author, Campbell was an NPR commentator and an advocate for the mentally ill. She is survived by her mother, husband, daughter and two grandchildren.
• For U.S., Iraq War Is Now Longer than World War II
  Monday Nov. 27 marks the day when the Iraq war becomes longer than World War II. Retired Maj. Gen. Robert Scales says he is surprised that the U.S. military has held out this long, considering that it is an all-volunteer army. He credits the sergeants for holding things together.
• Iraqi Curfew Is Lifted; Talabani Pays Visit to Iran
  Residents of Baghdad venture tentatively back onto the streets after a near-total curfew, prompted by a surge in sectarian violence, was lifted. North of the capital, a mortar attack was launched on an oil facility Monday. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is talking with Iranian leaders about how to stem the bloodshed in Iraq.
• Build Your Own Universe
  Physicists agree, one day it may be possible for a person to create a universe. It won't happen tomorrow, but the idea is in the works. There's already one problem with the idea: If a universe is created, physicists say they wouldn't know how to communicate with it.
• Ten Die in Fire at Home for Mentally Ill, Elderly
  A fire in a Missouri group home for the elderly and mentally ill kills at least 10 people. Another two dozen victims were injured. The blaze destroyed nearly all of the Anderson Group Home, where investigators had been looking into a smaller fire that broke out on Saturday.

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