In Haiti, two different humanitarian groups have built new factories to make this product, which is used to treat severe malnutrition and maybe someday prevent it. The problem is, Haiti doesn't appear to need two of them. Each factory, all by itself, could satisfy Haiti's current demand.
Originally published on Thu October 4, 2012 12:16 pm
With the first presidential debate now behind us, what's the next big item on the campaign calendar?
It's Friday's 8:30 a.m. ET release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics about the September unemployment rate and how many jobs were added to payrolls last month.
Originally published on Thu October 4, 2012 11:54 am
Google and a group of book publishers have settled a seven-year-old dispute that would allow the search giant to continue in its quest to digitize all the world's books.
This is only a step in that direction because Google still has an outstanding lawsuit with authors.
How much extra would you pay for local food? It's a familiar question. We face it practically every time we shop for groceries, either at the store or at the farmers market. But what about food that can save the lives of severely malnourished children?
Ben Blier (left) and his friend Jesse Bleckner hang out in their Yoda T-shirts. On his first day of kindergarten, Ben wore a Yoda T-shirt with "Go to Kindergarten I Must" printed on the front and "Learn Things I Will" on the back.
Credit Courtesy of Nancy Edson
On his first day of kindergarten, 5-year-old Ben Blier sported a Yoda T-shirt declaring "Go to Kindergarten I Must" on the front and "Learn Things I Will" on the back.
Credit Courtesy of Nancy Edson
Ben Blier, 5, of Washington, D.C., is obsessed with Star Wars, especially the books and Legos, according to his mom, Nancy.
Credit Courtesy of Chronicle Books
"I don't know why I didn't expect this, but kids really like the book, maybe even more than the adult audience," says Jeffrey Brown, author of Darth Vader and Son, a best-selling panel book about Vader's frustrations raising a 4-year-old Luke Skywalker. "A lot of people have said their kids want it as their bedtime book just again and again and again."
Originally published on Thu October 4, 2012 7:48 am
Facebook hit a major milestone today: The biggest social network in the world now has 1 billion active users each month. That means that one in seven people in the world are Facebook users.
As you might have expected, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement on his Facebook account.
The milestone, he said, means Facebook has joined the pantheon of things that help connect humans.
The bottom line: This doesn't mark any significant change in the jobs market, especially considering the "4-week moving average was 375,000, unchanged from the previous week's revised average." That figure is a better measure of labor market trends.
NPR's business news starts with rough times at HP.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
INSKEEP: Hewlett Packard was once a giant among the tech firms of Silicon Valley and now it is struggling. The company's latest CEO says profits at HP will continue to plummet.
NPR's Steve Henn reports that HP's stock now trading near its lowest price in a decade.
A demonstrator reacts after Pakistani policemen fire tear gas during a protest against power cuts in Karachi in June. Pakistan suffers from a massive energy crisis, one of several factors contributing to the country's severe economic troubles.
If you want to gain a good insight into Pakistan's economic situation, just look at a few of the country's newspaper headlines on any given day. The language says it all: prices soar, stocks plunge, budget deficit swells, foreign investment evaporates — and the list goes on.
Now, analysts are increasingly worried that the faltering economy could join Pakistan's pervasive insurgency and repeated political upheavals as another serious threat to the country's stability.
Nicole Kotovos was searching for a way to start a new life when the idea struck her: She would go to her ancestral homeland of Greece and open an American-style bakery cafe. She would bring the cupcake fad to Athens.
What she didn't figure on was the historic downturn in the Greek economy.
The former New York TV producer arrived in 2008, just as the country's debt-mired economy was falling into a deep recession it still hasn't emerged from.
If buying a local wine just isn't local enough for you, then you might consider joining the growing ranks of people making homemade wine this fall.
Some home winemakers make wine with friends for fun, some make wine with family for tradition; some make it "old school," adding nothing, and drink it by Christmas; others do it "new school," adding preservatives, and wait a year or more to bottle.
Originally published on Wed October 3, 2012 4:07 pm
It's harvest time in the heartland, but not just for apples and squash. In small, back-lot ponds on farms across the Midwest, a different crop has been growing all summer. They're substantial, slightly sweet and a revelation to the land-locked palate, not to mention worth top dollar. Yep, it's shrimp season in Ohio.
But don't ask for any Midwestern shrimp at your local fishmonger. There aren't enough yet to make it to the store.
Originally published on Wed October 3, 2012 6:56 am
In their first debate Wednesday night, the two presidential candidates will explain their plans for fixing the U.S. economy.
Good luck.
The problems are complicated and long-standing, so the solutions may not be easy to spell out in the two minutes allowed for each answer under the debate rules.
But President Obama, the Democratic incumbent, and former Gov. Mitt Romney, his Republican challenger, will try, and about 60 million people are expected to tune in. This first debate will focus on domestic issues, with the economy topping the list of homefront problems.
There's a neighborhood in New York City that has always been a mystery to us. Smack dab in the middle of Manhattan, around 29th street, is the wholesale district. There you can find rows of narrow storefronts packed to the ceiling with trinkets. Racks and racks of fake gold chains. Acres of souvenir lighters and walls of belt buckles. Plastic, plastic, plastic toys.
