National and World News from NPR

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters at a recent film premiere that she'd told Aung San Suu Kyi that she was moving from being an icon to being a politician.

The film Clinton saw is The Lady, starring Michelle Yeoh as the pro-democracy activist who spent 15 years under house arrest in Myanmar (also known as Burma), and who won the Nobel Peace Prize before being freed in 2010.

The guilty verdict against former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who was convicted of aiding and abetting war crimes in Sierra Leone this week, is sinking in across West Africa. The historic judgment of the first African president to be prosecuted in an international court leaves Taylor facing a lengthy sentence in a British prison.

Fresh Air Weekend highlights some of the best interviews and reviews from past weeks, and new program elements specially paced for weekends. Our weekend show emphasizes interviews with writers, filmmakers, actors, and musicians, and often includes excerpts from live in-studio concerts. This week:

The general election campaign for president is springing to life, now that Mitt Romney is all but certain to be President Obama's Republican opponent next fall. On Capitol Hill, though, the battle over who will sign or veto Congress' bills next year is already blazing.

In two key votes this past week, many Republicans fell in step with candidate Romney and his quest for more support from younger voters and women.

Transcript

CARL KASELL: From NPR and WBEZ-Chicago, this is WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME!, the NPR News quiz. I'm Carl Kasell, and here's your host at the Chase Bank Auditorium in downtown Chicago, Peter Sagal.

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Thank you, Carl. Thank you so much.

(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE)

Transcript

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Right now, panel, as traditional, time for you to answer some questions about the week's news. Tom, this week a cow escaped a Colorado farm and fled right to where?

TOM BODETT: This wasn't the mad cow.

SAGAL: No.

BODETT: OK.

PAULA POUNDSTONE: It was annoyed.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: I would say it became a horrified cow.

BODETT: Oh, to the slaughterhouse.

SAGAL: No.

BODETT: Oh. Worse?

SAGAL: Further down the chain.

Transcript

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Coming up, it's Lightning Fill in the Blank. But first, it's the game where you have to listen for the rhyme. If you'd like to play on air, call or leave a message at 1-888--Wait-Wait, that's 1-888-924-8924.

Transcript

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Now, onto our final game, Lightning Fill in the Blank. Each of our players will have sixty seconds in which to answer as many fill in the blank questions as he or she can. Each correct answer now worth two points. Carl, can you give us the scores?

CARL KASELL: Tom Bodett has the lead, Peter. He has four points. Amy Dickinson and Paula Poundstone are tied for second. They both have two points each.