NPR News

More questions for the panel: Sweet and Really Low, Lean On Me, and Where to Have the Best of Times.

Carl reads three news-related limericks: An Excuse Not to Buy Flowers, Two Great Tastes That Taste Great Together, and An Icelandic Problem.

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

In January of last year, snow blanketed more than 42 percent of the country. Last month, it was just under 13 percent. The warm weather has lowered our heating bills and created a bit of an economic boost.

After two brutally long winters, the temperatures this year have been positively balmy. In the Washington, D.C., area, they've hovered in the 50s for much of the past two and a half months. Area landscapers, whose schedules are usually pretty lean this time of year, are busier. Take Chuck Dod Landscaping, which is building a stone wall in the backyard of a home in Mclean, Va.

Britons are in an uproar over a judge's decision to release a Muslim preacher suspected of al-Qaida links. The British government wanted to deport him to Jordan, where he's been convicted on terrorism charges, but European courts won't allow that because the convictions were based on evidence obtained by torture. NPR's Phil Reeves tells host Scott Simon that the case has stirred up resentment.

Lin-sanity grips basketball! Gripes and second-guesses grip Pats fans! And what do we owe great four-legged athletes when they go past their prime? Host Scott Simon talks with NPR sports correspondent Tom Goldman about the sports of the week.

Saturday marks the first anniversary of the fall of Hosni Mubarak. Last February, millions of jubilant Egyptians poured out onto the streets across the Arab country. That mood has given way to widespread frustration. Host Scott Simon talks to NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson about the state in Egypt.

Syria's state-run news agency says a high-ranking military officer has been assassinated. NPR's Kelly McEvers reports the attack comes as violence in Syria is quickly escalating.

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The Archdiocese of Boston is taking a business approach to its problem of too many parishes, too few priests and not enough parishioners. It plans to merge parishes into clusters and placing them under one pastor. It will eliminate dozens of parish jobs for lay people and take away local control of a church's budget and religious education program. The plan is being met with considerable pushback from priests and parishioners. Monica Brady-Myerov of member station WBUR reports.