World

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

We turn now to the Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain. For the past 22 months, protestors have taken to the streets there demanding reform. For the most part, the demonstrations have been peaceful, but amid greater repression by the security forces, some of the younger protestors have turned to violence, and that has prompted a rift in the ranks of the opposition. Independent producer Reese Erlich paid a visit to Bahrain's capital, Manama.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: (Foreign language spoken)

Editor's Note: Throughout the Syrian uprising, the government has allowed few foreign journalists and other outsiders into the country. In this report, a Syrian citizen describes life in the capital, Damascus. For security reasons, NPR is not identifying the author.

As the Syrian military struggles against rebel fighters, it seems the army has not been paying a lot of attention to winning the hearts and minds of civilians.

The earthy smell of a fresh beet may spark delicious thoughts for us, but for a fruit fly, that smell screams danger.

Geosmin, a naturally occurring chemical that gives beets, fresh soil and corked wine their distinctive smell, is also cranked out by bacteria deadly to fruit flies. And it turns out that the tiny flies have a direct pathway from nose to brain made just to detect that smell — and avoid the toxic microbes that produce it.

It's no surprise that how much a person eats determines how full they feel right after a meal. But it's the memory of that meal, and not the meal itself, that matters a couple of hours later. So does this mean you trick yourself into thinness? Probably not. But it does tell us something about the role that manipulating memory may play in calorie intake.

In one of the sharpest warnings so far to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said today "the whole world is watching" and that if Assad uses chemical weapons against his people, "there will be consequences."

Without saying specifically that the U.S. and its allies would take military action, Panetta said it is "fair enough to say that their use of those weapons would cross a red line."

When you crack open a pizza box, the heat's released and you get that scent from the dough and cheese and sauce. Pizza Hut in Canada has released that scent in a bottle of perfume. The company made 110 bottles and distributed them to its Facebook followers.

The Pentagon's top lawyer has talked about how the U.S. would deal with terrorism after al-Qaida's core was defeated. But experts say the talk is premature. The Arab Spring has helped al-Qaida affiliates proliferate over the past year. And while they might not be able to pull off large scale attacks, they are still a very real threat.

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm David Greene. Good morning.

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST: