National News

Former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who died last month, is supporting Nicolas Maduro in Sunday's presidential election. How do we know? Maduro says Chavez came to him, as a bird, in a dream. For some Venezuelans, that's enough: Maduro leads the race by a considerable margin.

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Countless movies were filmed there, including Tarzan and Creature From the Black Lagoon. With its wildlife and freshwater springs, Silver Springs in Central Florida was one of the state's most popular tourist destinations. Those waters have receded now as the delicate ecosystem suffers from problems that threaten the entire state.

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Both President Obama and Republican lawmakers say they're willing to close loopholes in the individual tax code. The argument is over what should be done with the money after that.

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The United Farm Workers seemed to be all over Washington this week — lobbying members of Congress and gathering for a big immigration rally outside the Capitol. The union has gotten "a huge injection of leverage" from its role in the immigration debate, one analyst says.

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The Immigration and Customs Enforcement union is concerned the bipartisan group working on immigration legislation is putting a path to citizenship ahead of border security. Florida Republican Marco Rubio is seen as key for garnering conservative support.

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Guan made the cut despite receiving a rare penalty for playing too slow. The Chinese 8th-grader will get to finish the tournament this weekend.

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An American Avalanche Association database counts only two other American forecasters killed while at work on snow.

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Tallchief was choreographer George Balanchine's muse and a crucial part of the rise of the New York City Ballet.

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In the surreptitious recording, the top Republican and his aides disparage actress Ashley Judd. The liberal SuperPAC Progress Kentucky was created in December 2012 and, according to records, raised just $1,005 last year. It spent only $18.

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At 17, Daniel Hodd was starting a promising career as a concert pianist, but he decided to become a Marine instead. Before his second deployment, he broke a finger and was given a choice: Treat it and stay, or cut it off and deploy.

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This week marked a new step in Michelle Obama's evolution as first lady. In her hometown of Chicago, she delivered one of the most emotional speeches of her career. Obama almost never ventures into the top political controversy of the day, but her role may be changing.

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The House and Senate acted quietly without a vote. Instead, they sent the measure to the president's desk by unanimous consent.

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Amid tense talk about renovating Wrigley Field, the grisly delivery has inspired talk of curses and threats in Chicago. When the head arrived, politicos immediately suspected the rough-and-tumble mayor. But his spokesman said Rahm Emanuel only sends dead fish.

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The aftermath of office vending machine binges can be unpleasant, psychologically and physically. So we're glad to be sitting far from the vending machine in NPR's new building, where we'll be moving on Monday.

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Popular culture and celebrities have shown us all sorts of motivations for code-switching. Here are some of the highlights.

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In many states the deadlines for companies to file their insurance for sale on new exchanges aren't until late May. Some states with early deadlines have no plans to disclose the rates anytime soon.

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A secret report leaked to the Greek press suggested that with one bound, Greece could be free of all its debts. The report, compiled on the orders of the Greek Ministry of Finance, argued the country has a valid claim for war reparations from Germany.

How much is that claim worth? In the neighborhood of $210 billion.

“This is a huge amount of money," says Gerasimos Georgatos of the Democratic Left, one of the governing parties in Greece. “This is almost 80 percent of our GDP. That means we have no more problem with the debt if we get this money. It’s very big money."

Georgatos thinks the figure is unrealistic, but a panel of experts came up with it after poring over thousands of pages of documents from government archives. The experts concluded Germany still owes Greece compensation for the havoc wreaked during the Nazi occupation from 1941 to 1944. More than 300,000 people died — many through starvation. Fifty percent of Greece's infrastructure and 75 percent of its industry were destroyed.

The German Finance Ministry has cried foul on the reparations claim, pointing out that compensation was paid to Greece in the 1960s. Hans Olaf Henkel, a leading German industrialist, says Germany is no longer liable for war damage to Greece, at least financially.

“Morally you will — as a German — never be able to say: we completed our obligations. Never, ever,” Henkel says. “But financially, I think everything has been settled."

Henkel, who is an arch opponent of the euro, says dragging up the reparations claim underscores how much the single currency has backfired. The euro was supposed to promote peace and  harmony in Europe but, Henkel argues, it is souring relations between member states.

The reparations claim is straining relations between Greece and its paymaster Germany and could further erode the German public’s support for bailing out Greece. For that reason, the report could be shelved.

A Greek government official was quoted saying: “This is no time to pick a fight with Berlin.”

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced the launch of FWD.us, an organization promoting immigration and education reform. But he's been politically active before, dining with politicians and donating millions to public education.

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North Korea's recent threats to test launch medium-range missiles and pursue its nuclear ambitions is alarming the U.S. and many other countries. Marketplace’s partner organization, the BBC, has reporters in a number of countries surrounding North Korea. We have their reports on the mood in three economically significant nearby locations: Beijing, China; Tokyo, Japan; and Seoul, South Korea.

Celia Hatton in Beijing
Chinese diplomats have their hands full dealing with rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula but so far, business people in China are carrying on as normal. The customs office in Dandong, the Chinese city that lies on the North Korean border, confirms trade is unaffected, except for the suspension of Chinese tourist visits to North Korea. Chinese businessmen were even invited to Pyongyang this week to celebrate the birthday of North Korea’s founder, Kim Il Sung.

Some believe Chinese leaders have already decided North Korea is becoming a strategic liability and they’re predicting a change to China’s North Korea policy but others are pressuring Beijing to maintain the status quo with Pyongyang.

North Korea accounts for just 1 percent of Chinese trade -- a drop in the bucket for China but a lifeline for people living in China’s poor Northeastern provinces along the North Korean border. They are hoping China’s leaders will continue to support the regime of Kim Jong Un.

Martin Patience in Tokyo
Japan is taking no chances. The government has placed Patriot missiles at three locations in the capital with orders to shoot down any North Korean missiles heading towards the country. Out at sea, Japanese warships have been rigged out with missile defense equipment.

Despite this, the mood in Tokyo is relaxed. There’s certainly no sense of panic. Japan has been in this situation before. Most believe that Japan and U.S. bases in the country will not be targeted but North Korea is an unpredictable regime and nobody is sure what it will do next.

As for Japan’s economy, there have been no jitters so far but that could well change if tensions escalate further. Most Japanese believe that this crisis will blow over, just as past crises have. Even so, the batteries of Patriot missiles stationed around Tokyo stand as a stark reminder of North Korea’s threats.

John Sudworth in Seoul, South Korea
So far, as with previous crises, there is no sign of panic in South Korea. Seoul is as busy and bustling as ever. People are going to work. Cafes, bars and restaurants are full. The stock exchange is also largely unaffected. It priced in the threat from North Korea long ago.

That threat is seen as minimal. North Korea, most believe, has no interest in starting a war it knows it would lose and lose and lose quickly.

There is a sense of watchfulness from the South Korean government and perhaps, an added frisson of uncertainty given that North Korea now has a young, inexperienced leader at the helm, who is an unknown quantity.

One commentator pondering the recent international news coverage of the situation observed: “the level of alarm grows greater the further from Korea you get.”

As the start of Coachella this weekend reminds us, tis the season for outdoor music festivals. But great bands aren't the only things these massive, multiday gatherings can foster. Two recent studies document how such events can be breeding grounds for foodborne illnesses that rock your belly.

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