Movie Reviews
3:03 pm
Thu May 23, 2013

To 'Fill The Void,' A Choice With A Personal Cost

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 5:51 pm

Driving home from a screening of the ravishing new Israeli film Fill the Void, I caught sight of a young man in full Hasidic garb, trying to coax his toddler son across a busy Los Angeles street. My first thought was, "He's a boy himself, barely old enough to be a father, and they both look so pale."

My second was, "I wonder what his life feels like?" This is the more open mindset that director Rama Burshtein asks from audiences going into her first feature, a love poem to the ultra-Orthodox world as seen from within.

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National Security
2:56 pm
Thu May 23, 2013

Breaking Down Obama's New Blueprint For Fighting Terrorism

Credit Larry Downing / Reuters/Landov
At the National Defense University in Washington on Thursday, President Obama outlined plans to limit the use of U.S. drone strikes, and pledged to shut down the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Ever since the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. search for a coherent counterterrorism strategy has revolved around three basic questions:

1. How do we locate suspected terrorists?

2. Once located, how do we go after them?

3. If captured, what do we do with them?

In a major speech at the National Defense University in Washington on Thursday, President Obama addressed all three questions that have been the source of shifting policies and fierce national debates for over a decade.

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The Two-Way
2:53 pm
Thu May 23, 2013

For Second Time, Moore Family Loses Home To A Tornado

Credit Steve Gooch / AP
An aerial photo shows destroyed houses in Moore, Okla., after Monday's tornado. Rena and Paul Phillips, who lost their home in the storm, also lost a house to a tornado in 1999.

The tornado that devastated Moore, Okla., Monday destroyed some 12,000 homes, according to Oklahoma City Police. And for one family, it was the second house they've lost to a tornado in the past 14 years. Rena and Paul Phillips say that the recent loss won't make them move.

The Phillipses told their story to Rachel Hubbard of Oklahoma member station KOSU, who reports on how they're coping with the loss — and the search for belongings in the rubble of their home — for Thursday's All Things Considered.

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The Salt
2:47 pm
Thu May 23, 2013

This 9-Year-Old Girl Told McDonald's CEO: Stop Tricking Kids

Credit Jamie Robertson / Courtesy Jamie Robertson
Hannah Robertson, 9, and her mom, blogger Kia Robertson — with the makings for kale chips, of course.

It's not every day that a 9-year-old girl chastises the CEO of one of the world's biggest fast-food chains.

Yet that's exactly what young Hannah Robertson did Thursday morning at McDonald's annual shareholders meeting in Chicago. When the meeting opened up to questions, Hannah was first up at the mic with a pointed criticism.

"It would be nice if you stopped trying to trick kids into wanting to eat your food all the time," she told McDonald's CEO Don Thompson.

Ouch.

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Around the Nation
2:44 pm
Thu May 23, 2013

Okla. Family Must Rebuild Tornado-Damaged Home A Second Time

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 6:23 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

Authorities in Moore, Oklahoma say that 12,000 homes were damaged in Monday's tornado. In this next story, we're going to meet one family that was affected, and not for the first time. The Phillips lost their home in a tornado that hit Moore on May 3rd, 1999. They loved the community and bought another house two miles away, a house flattened by Monday's tornado.

Rachel Hubbard, of member station KOSU, toured what's left of their home to try to understand how a family can cope with such a loss twice.

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National Security
2:44 pm
Thu May 23, 2013

Obama Pledges To Be More Transparent About Drone Program

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 6:23 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

In a speech today, President Obama laid out a new vision of the global war on terror. He said that more than a decade after the 9/11 attacks, the threat from terrorism has changed and U.S. policy must change with it.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: As our fight enters a new phase, America's legitimate claim of self defense cannot be the end of the discussion. To say a military tactic is legal or even effective is not to say it is wise or moral in every instance.

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Around the Nation
2:44 pm
Thu May 23, 2013

In La., Families Still Searching For Storm-Scattered Remains

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 6:23 pm

Lionel Alverez is in the Promised Land Cemetery again, taking inventory. He has been coming to this cemetery in Plaquemines Parish, La., all his life. The graveyard is hemmed in between the Mississippi River and the marsh on a lonely stretch of highway.

Promised Land has been the final resting place for the Alverezes for generations. Alverez, 61, points out several graves, one by one. "Albert Alverez. Huey Alverez and Harold Alverez. My brother Allen is near the rear, back there."

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Middle East
2:44 pm
Thu May 23, 2013

Syrian Rebels Continue To Clash With Hezbollah-Backed Forces

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 6:23 pm

Robert Siegel speaks with Anne Barnard, Beirut bureau chief for The New York Times, about clashes between Syrian rebels and government forces backed by Hezbollah fighters.

Europe
2:44 pm
Thu May 23, 2013

One Of London Attack Suspects Had Troubled Past

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 6:23 pm

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

For more on this story, we turn now to Sandra Laville, a reporter for The Guardian newspaper in London. Thanks for joining us today.

SANDRA LAVILLE: Hi.

SIEGEL: You've done quite a bit of reporting on at least one of the suspects, the young man in the now famous cell phone video. What can you tell us about him?

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Europe
2:44 pm
Thu May 23, 2013

Four Arrested After British Soldier Hacked To Death In London

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 6:23 pm

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And I'm Melissa Block. In London, authorities and the public are grappling with the brutal murder yesterday of a British soldier who was hacked to death on the street. All the evidence suggests this was a terrorist attack by Islamist extremists. Investigators moved quickly today, pursuing leads, making additional arrests and filling in the picture of what happened and who was involved.

Our coverage begins with NPR's Philip Reeves.

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