More than half a billion dollars, billion with a B, could be yours if you have a ticket for Friday night's Mega Millions Lottery. Again, that's $540 million. It's believed to be the largest lottery jackpot ever anywhere. And all that's standing between you and that prize is, first of all, a ticket. You have to buy one. And second, the odds. This is a littler harder.
This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
And I'm Robert Siegel.
We begin this hour by exploring two questions that arise from the killing of Treyvon Martin. He's the 17-year-old shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer last month in Sanford, Florida. In a few minutes, we'll hear from two parents whose children were killed and how they coped with the sudden media spotlight.
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
And I'm Robert Siegel.
All over Spain today people did not show up for work. A general strike stalled public transportation, interrupted TV broadcasts, and shuttered factories and schools. The strikers are protesting sharp government cutbacks and big changes to labor laws; changes that are intended to jumpstart Spain's stagnant economy.
To say that people in China eat dogs is something of a stereotype.
Sure, some still do, but these days, more and more Chinese are buying dogs as pets and treating them like beloved family members.
In the last year, that growing affection has taken a radical turn. Activists have begun stopping trucks along the highway carrying dogs to slaughter and then negotiating their release.
A funny thing happened on the way to the Supreme Court and during the three days the court heard oral arguments on the Affordable Care Act. Democrats embraced the "Obamacare" name the law's foes had used as an epithet for two years to deride the law.
In the political equivalent of what happens in battle when the enemy's captured artillery piece is turned around and the opponent's own shells are fired back at them, Democrats decided to take ownership of a word they once seemed to avoid at all costs.
Community supported agriculture sounds so simple. Support a local farm, get to know your farmer, enjoy weekly deliveries of fresh produce, and rest easy knowing that you've voted for the local economy with your food dollars.
The number of children diagnosed with autism jumped 23 percent between 2006 and 2008, according to the latest federal estimate.
Now, 1 in 88 children has been diagnosed with autism, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The rapid rise prompted calls to declare the developmental disorder an epidemic. "This is a national emergency in need of a national plan," Mark Roithmayr, president of the advocacy group Autism Speaks, said at a CDC media briefing Thursday.
At first, his family wanted the body of Mohamed Merah sent back to Algeria. Then after the country refused Merah's body, French authorities settled on burying him in Toulouse, where he was suspected of killing seven before he was shot and killed after a two-day siege of his apartment.
What moved Trayvon Martin's Feb. 26 death from a local story to a national tale that has sparked a discussion about racial profiling and race relations?
Social media played a critical role. And there were key moments along the way.
Banjo player Earl Scruggs, who helped shape the sound of American bluegrass music, died Wednesday. He was 88 years old.
Scruggs' name is almost synonymous with the banjo — and for good reason. He helped pioneer bluegrass music with his three-finger style of banjo picking, a technique now known as "Scruggs style."
