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Weekend Edition Saturday

Saturday, 7am - 9am
Scott Simon

Whether revealing events in small-town America or overseas, or profiling notable personalities, Weekend Edition from NPR News appreciates the extraordinary details that make up every story.  This two-hour morning newsmagazine covers hard news, a wide variety of newsmakers, and cultural stories with care, accuracy, and a wink of humor.  On Saturdays, host Scott Simon's award-winning commentaries sum up an idea or event related to the week's news.  There are fresh reports from a cross-section of NPR correspondents on topics from religion to health to food to politics.  Simon's interviews with key artists, authors, performers and personalities are always memorable.

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Around the Nation
5:03 am
Sat June 23, 2012

On This Stage, Jesus Is A Robber; The Devil's A Rapist

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Credit Deborah Luster / for NPR
David Sonnier Jr., from Jeanerette, La., plays the Devil in Angola Prison's production of The Life of Jesus Christ. He was convicted of aggravated rape and is serving a life sentence.
Credit Deborah Luster / for NPR
Terrence Williams plays a Roman soldier in The Life Of Jesus Christ, a play at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.
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Originally published on Sat June 23, 2012 10:07 am

There are more than 5,300 inmates at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. Nearly 4,000 of them are serving life without parole. Last month, the Angola Prison Drama Club staged a play unlike any other in the prison's experience.

The Life of Jesus Christ featured 70 inmates, men and women acting together for the first time — in costume, with a real camel, performing for the general public. For the untrained actors, this production held special meaning as they saw pieces of their own lives revealed in the characters they played.

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Middle East
7:33 am
Sat June 16, 2012

Violence Forces U.N. To Halt Mission In Syria

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Originally published on Sat June 16, 2012 1:22 pm

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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The United Nations is suspending its observer mission in Syria because of growing violence there. The official announcement came today from the head of the mission, General Robert Mood. The statement released from U.N. headquarters in Damascus cited rising violence over the past 10 days, and charged that both parties - the Syrian military and the armed rebels, known as the Free Syrian Army - are putting civilians lives at risk - and the lives of their monitors. NPR's Deborah Amos is in Damascus. Deborah, thanks for being with us.

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Politics
6:48 am
Sat June 16, 2012

McConnell Argues Against Requiring Donor Disclosure

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Friday Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said it's time to roll back the Watergate-era requirement for public disclosure of campaign donors. He accused President Obama and liberals of trying to stifle the First Amendment rights of conservative donors.

Asia
6:48 am
Sat June 16, 2012

Suu Kyi To Accept Nobel Peace Prize, Decades Late

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Originally published on Sat June 16, 2012 1:22 pm

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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. Aung San Suu Kyi has delivered a speech in Norway to formally accept the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. The opposition leader of Myanmar, also known as Burma, was delayed giving that speech for 21 years because the country's then ruling military junta had put her under house arrest. In her speech, Aung San Suu Kyi urged the world not to forget prisoners of conscious who, unlike herself, are not free.

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Europe
6:48 am
Sat June 16, 2012

Greece Prepares To Give Elections Another Go

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Credit Sylvia Poggioli / NPR
Street art by Bleeps.gr are allegories of the effects of the economic crisis on ordinary Greeks.
Credit Sylvia Poggioli / NPR
Graffiti in the rundown Athens neighborhood of Psiri depicts a woman clutching a sack of euros, a golden halo on her head and the title, "40 Years of Debt-ocracy." The street artist goes by the tag Bleeps.gr.
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Originally published on Sat June 16, 2012 6:53 pm

Debt-burdened Greeks go to the polls Sunday to choose between an establishment party, and continuing harsh austerity measures, or a leftist party that vows to replace the current bailout deal with less punishing conditions.

But many Greeks are aware that whatever the outcome, they face years of hardship in a rapidly unraveling society.

A recent TV news report on medicine shortages illustrated the anguish rippling through the country. The piercing screams of a woman in a pharmacy can be heard as she shouts, "Where am I going to find my medication?"

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