NPR News

The Boston Globe reports this morning that Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was baptized posthumously in a Mormon temple in Idaho last year.

Pearl was Jewish and was captured and killed by terrorists while reporting in Pakistan in 2002.

Reuters and The Associated Press are reporting that Egyptian authorities have decided that seven Americans who it has accused of engaging in illegal "political activity" may now leave the country.

Presidential debates can provide a boost to a candidate, thwart a lead in polls or prompt a decision to leave the race. NPR's Ken Rudin and Alan Schroeder, author of Presidential Debates: 40 Years of High-Risk TV, look at game-changing moments in the 2012 election cycle.

After U.S. military officers in Afghanistan accidentally burned Qurans while disposing of other Islamic texts, two American military officers were killed and protests broke out throughout the country. The violent responses have raised concerns about the U.S. strategy.

Industry analysts say oil prices rose ten dollars a gallon in February, driving up gas prices at the pump. Washington Post columnist Charles Lane argues that though gas prices have long been a political issue, gas prices are largely determined by global crude oil prices.

Writer Sandra Tsing Loh loves her 91-year-old father. As he lost his independence, she began caring for him and has encountered frustration that many children of aging baby boomers may face. In a piece in The Atlantic, she confesses that there are moments when she wishes he would die.

An ominous excerpt from the latest BBC News report on what's happening in Syria:

"The Syrian army is advancing on opposition positions in Homs, which has been under artillery bombardment for nearly a month, reports say. Security officials said the city's besieged district of Baba Amr would be 'cleaned' within the next few hours."

One week after saying "you'll have to ask President Obama" when asked if he believes the president is a Christian, Rev. Franklin Graham has issued an apology for "any comments I have ever made which may have cast any doubt on the personal faith of our president, Mr. Obama."