National News

India's Kumbh Mela festival is considered the largest religious gathering in the world, and it can be completely disorienting for an outsider. An NPR reporter found an expert guide.

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India's Kumbh Mela festival is considered the largest religious gathering in the world, and it can be completely disorienting for an outsider. An NPR reporter found an expert guide.

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The "night stalker" stayed at the Cecil Hotel in the '80s. So did an Austrian man who killed at least 11 prostitutes in three countries. This week, a woman's body was found in a rooftop water tank.

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How many movies do you see in the theater a year? Two per month, maybe? At that rate, that’s 75 hours you’re spending in the theater each year, if every movie lasts three hours.

But stats show that Americans on average spend a lot more time -- 142 hours a year -- playing video games. That’s why Sony’s PS4 announcement last night is a big deal, even though company didn’t necessarily unveil its new gaming console.

"The biggest surprise of last night was the fact that there wasn't even a console in the house," says CNET's Jeff Bakalar, who covered the event in New York.

Though they lacked hardware, Bakalar says Sony did promote new console features, such as social gaming and Internet connectivity.

To hear more about Sony's PlayStation plans, click on the audio player above.

Republican Governor Rick Scott of Florida has been one of the fiercest critics of President Obama's Affordable Care Act. But yesterday, Scott reversed course on a big part of the new law, dropping his opposition to expanding health care for the poor in his state. Scott said he'll expand medicaid for three years -- that's when federal startup funding expires. While the announcement is sure to make political ripples, it is also a big win for Florida hospitals – who currently absorb most of the costs that uninsured patients incur.

Payday lenders are often blamed for taking advantage of the little guy. But that's something that Justin Davis, a payday lender in Kansas City, Missouri, takes issue with. "For me and my business, I try to treat my customers right," says Davis. "As long as people do the math, then they are not doing something stupid."

Walmart beat expectations in its latest earnings report, but offered a wary outlook for the first part of this year. Safeway also reports earnings on Thursday. The two companies have more in common than one might think. Groceries now make up more than half Walmart’s American sales. Today’s numbers look back, but the worry is about what’s ahead. There’s been a lot of speculation about how this year’s increase in the payroll tax will impact consumer spending, but other factors will also come into play.

And finally, to Russia where a woman was looking for an address on the Russian alternative to Google Maps when she made a shocking discovery. In the streetview of the address, she saw a picture of her fiance, Sasha, with another woman. She knew when the picture was taken because Sasha had a cast on his arm. A confession soon followed.

A broad array of medical groups has agreed on an expanded list of things doctors shouldn't do. The idea is to curb unnecessary, wasteful and often harmful care, the sponsors say.

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Global markets were down this morning over concerns about the U.S. Federal Reserve’s attitude toward monetary policy. On Wednesday, the central bank released meeting minutes which showed division over how long it should continue its stimulative policy of quantitative easing.

"We've had such a strong run that the market used that as a pivot-point," says Susan Schmidt, head of U.S. equities at Mesirow Financial, who says that investors are now moving funds out of stocks.

According to Schmidt, there is little chance the Fed will abandon quantitative easing anytime in the next year. “The market is using this as an excuse to have people move to the sidelines and take a breather," she says.

Global markets were down this morning over concerns about the U.S. Federal Reserve’s attitude toward monetary policy. On Wednesday, the central bank released meeting minutes which showed division over how long it should continue its stimulative policy of quantitative easing.

"We've had such a strong run that the market used that as a pivot-point," says Susan Schmidt, head of U.S. equities at Mesirow Financial, who says that investors are now moving funds out of stocks.

According to Schmidt, there is little chance the Fed will abandon quantitative easing anytime in the next year. “The market is using this as an excuse to have people move to the sidelines and take a breather," she says.

The storm that has already dusted parts of New Mexico and Oklahoma is expected to move through the Midwest, dumping as much as a foot and a half of snow.

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Consumer prices were flat in January. But since then, gas prices have risen sharply. So upcoming inflation reports may not be as positive.

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As news continues to come in about evidence of hack attacks from China, more companies and agencies are stepping forward to say they were targets of such snooping. Chinese authorities continue to say the state is not behind the attacks.

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11 scientists are each $3 million richer than they were earlier this week thanks to the "Breakthrough Prize" that was launched Wednesday by a group of tech-lebrities including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and tech investor Yuri Milner. It’s the latest in a trend of business leaders offering big science prizes. But how do prizes like these actually impact research?

The theory behind the prize goes something like this: As Zuckerberg and friends know all too well, in the world of computer science and information technology, if you make a breakthrough, you can make a lot of money. But not so in other branches of science -- things like cancer research, neurology, or the genetics of disease.

“We think that's a market failure,” Zuckerberg told the BBC. And that’s where the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences comes in. Zuckerberg hopes the prize will be an incentive to pursue a career in what have long been "less lucrative" branches of science.

“If you're a young kid growing up, you're going to look to what the market says about where you can make money” Zuckerberg says, “to inform what you dream about being when you grow up.”

But prizes like this one and the Nobel, known as “recognition prizes” because they reward people after a long career of success, have limited impact, says Stian Westlake, head of research at Nesta, a non-profit Innovation Lab based in Britain.

“The reward is such a long way off that it makes it harder to mobilize other resources, and it makes it less motivational,” Westlake says.

David Shaywitz, Director of Strategic and Commercial Planning at pharmaceutical company Theravance, agrees.

“They're rewarding the folks who are already the superheros and rock stars of science. Within science, they're the ones everyone already, desperately wants to be,” he wrote in an email. “There's already a perception that science is pretty great at the top. The real challenge is funding limitations along the way, and how many highly talented young scientists scramble for traction.”

Shaywitz and Westlake say what’s more effective for stimulating innovation are prizes with precise goals that people can accomplish in order to win.

The Olympic and Paralympic sprinter is accused of murdering his girlfriend. In a court Thursday, it was revealed that the lead investigator himself had been accused of attempted murder in an unrelated case. That added to questions about the prosecution's case against Pistorius.

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Republican Governor Rick Scott of Florida has been one of the fiercest critics of President Obama's Affordable Care Act. But yesterday, Scott reversed course on a big part of the new law, dropping his opposition to expanding health care for the poor in his state. Scott said he'll expand medicaid for three years -- that's when federal startup funding expires.

While the announcement is sure to make political ripples, it is also a big win for Florida hospitals – who currently absorb most of the costs that uninsured patients incur.

Yesterday, the Department of Health and Human services granted Florida a waiver to allow the state to expand its pilot Medicaid privatization program. Florida will seek a third-party vendor to manage the program. Governor Scott has argued privatization will help control Medicaid costs, which make up about a quarter of the state's budget.

To hear more about Florida's new health reforms, click on the audio player above.

The latest episode of Diary of an Internet Phenom involves a Boston-based company, Kickstarter, and a new invention the whole family can enjoy.

WobbleWorks, a Boston-area toy company that needed funding, went onto Kickstarter at the beginning of this week with a total goal of raising $30,000. As of last evening, people had pledged $900,000 and counting. What could be that compelling? How about a two foot, plastic Eiffel Tower drawn with what's called "3Doodler," a new pen that's a 3D printer.

Imagine a magic marker with an electric cord. Press the button and out comes, not ink, but a thin stream of melted plastic that solidifies. Ever see people build little models with toothpicks? It's like that, but no toothpicks, instead you doodle it free-hand in plastic.

"The same way that you use a pen, you can use a 3Doodler, except that when you lift the 3Doodler off the paper, the pen keeps spilling out ink, so you can write in the air," says Max Bogue, co-founder of the company that invented the 3Doodler.

The 3Doodler uses biodegradable plastic as ink, which instantly cools and hardens as you draw. That may sound neat, but Bogue thinks the real advantage of the 3Doodler is its simplicity.

"There is no software, there is nothing to learn, all you have to do is just draw with it," says Bogue.

Also: Bill O'Reilly has a new book; George Saunders g-chats The Paris Review; and Batwoman is getting married.

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Payday lenders are often blamed for taking advantage of the little guy. But that's something that Justin Davis, a payday lender in Kansas City, Missouri, takes issue with.

"For me and my business, I try to treat my customers right," says Davis. "As long as people do the math, then they are not doing something stupid."

A recent study from Pew reports that the average payday loan borrower ends up indebted for five months*, paying $520 in finance charges for loans averaging $375.

But Davis, who charges a 17 percent interest rate for a two-week loan, argues that his business can still be a good alternative for those who are trying to avoid even higher overdraft fees on late bills.

"My service is not only competitve with those fees, but in many instances, cheaper," Davis says. "Most banks will charge you a $4-a-day continuous overdraft fee."

*CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to the length of time a payday loan borrower remains in debt, according to a Pew study. According to the study, the average borrower is in debt for five months. The text has been corrected.

Sales are suffering as defense budgets are slashed all over the world, but the U.S. is a special case where over $40 billion in defense cuts are set to go into effect next month.

Francis Tusa, editor of Defence Analysis, says that will heavily impact on European defense suppliers.

"If sequestration goes ahead in the way we’re talking about it, they will see a rather heavy hit on turnover," says Tusa.

According to Tusa, that's because U.S. contracts are far more profitable than those in Europe.

The British defense contractor BAE Systems announced a fall in profits today. The company earns 40 percent of its revenue in the U.S. It says it may have to lay off 3,500 workers in its shipbuilding industry if Washington doesn’t stop the cuts.

Other European defense contractors, such as EADS, say as the American military’s budget shrinks, U.S. defense suppliers will vie for new contracts in Europe and elsewhere. In that case, the global defense industry could get a lot more competitive.

Sales are suffering as defense budgets are slashed all over the world, but the U.S. is a special case where over $40 billion in defense cuts are set to go into effect next month.

Francis Tusa, editor of Defence Analysis, says that will heavily impact on European defense suppliers.

"If sequestration goes ahead in the way we’re talking about it, they will see a rather heavy hit on turnover," says Tusa.

According to Tusa, that's because U.S. contracts are far more profitable than those in Europe.

The British defense contractor BAE Systems announced a fall in profits today. The company earns 40 percent of its revenue in the U.S. It says it may have to lay off 3,500 workers in its shipbuilding industry if Washington doesn’t stop the cuts.

Other European defense contractors, such as EADS, say as the American military’s budget shrinks, U.S. defense suppliers will vie for new contracts in Europe and elsewhere. In that case, the global defense industry could get a lot more competitive.

President Obama is trying to pressure Congress to avoid $85 billion in federal budget cuts set to take effect March first. The president gave interviews Wednesday to eight local TV stations in markets with a lot at stake in the fight over the so-called sequester cuts.

One of the president’s interviews was with WJZ-TV in Baltimore. He had this message for Maryland workers who could be forced to take unpaid leaves because of the budget cuts:

“There’s no reason they should be furloughed or layed off," he said. "This is a problem that Congress can solve.”

Almost all of stations the president talked to are in places with defense installations that play a large role in their economies.

Larry Sabato, who teaches political science at the University of Virginia, says the president is trying to bring the cuts, known in Washington as the sequester, home.

“He’s using local economics to show people that the sequester is not simply an odd word," he explains.  "It has real world consequences and could cost some of them their jobs.”

The strategy could succeed, in the short run, says Jack Pitney, who teaches government at Claremont McKenna College. But Pitney has a word of caution for the president.

"In the long run, if the economy suffers as a result of the sequester, he’s the one that’s going to suffer,” Pitney says.

Because voters tend to blame the White House for the state of the economy.