All Things Considered

Melissa Block and Robert Siegel

In-depth reporting and transformed the way listeners understand current events and view the world. Every weekday, hear two hours of breaking news mixed with compelling analysis, insightful commentaries, interviews, and special - sometimes quirky - features.Melissa Block and Robert Siegel

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Climate Change Gets Real For Americans

Originally published on Wed December 26, 2012 6:24 pm

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ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Now to a scientist looking back at the year that's about to end, commentator Adam Frank is an astrophysicist. And in the category of science, he is confident about the headline for 2012.

ADAM FRANK: Something remarkable has happened that may etch this year into history for centuries to come. Twenty-twelve's importance comes not through elections, economic shifts or the new movements in art. No, 2012 may well be remembered for something far more elemental.

This was the year that climate change got real for Americans.

2:22 pm

Wed December 26, 2012

Despite Uneven Results, Alzheimer's Research Suggests A Path For Treatment

Credit Slide courtesy of the journal Neurology

Brain scans using Amyvid dye to highlight beta-amyloid plaques in the brain. Clockwise from top left: a cognitively normal subject; an amyloid-positive patient with Alzheimer's disease; a patient with mild cognitive impairment who progressed to dementia during a study; and a patient with mild cognitive impairment.

By Jon Hamilton

Originally published on Wed December 26, 2012 6:24 pm

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It's been a mixed year for Alzheimer's research. Some promising drugs failed to stop or even slow the disease. But researchers also found reasons to think that treatments can work if they just start sooner.

Scientists who study Alzheimer's say they aren't discouraged by the drug failures. "I actually think it was a phenomenal year for research," says Bill Rebeck, a brain scientist at Georgetown University.

1:52 pm

Wed December 26, 2012

Brazil's Drug Epidemic: Welcome To 'Crackland'

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Credit Christophe Simon / AFP/Getty Images

A member of Rio de Janeiro's Social Work Department speaks with crack addicts in a slum area known as "Crackland," during a police operation in the city in November.

Credit Felipe Dana / AP

A suspected crack user is voluntarily removed from a local "Crackland" and carried by a social worker to a waiting van that will take her to a nearby shelter in Rio de Janeiro in November.

Credit Felipe Dana / AP

A man smokes crack near the Manguinhos slum in Rio de Janeiro in August.

Originally published on Tue January 8, 2013 1:19 pm

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Brazilian health officials say an epidemic is taking hold — an outbreak of crack cocaine use nationwide, from the major cities on the coast to places deep in the Amazon.

It's an image at odds with the one Brazil wants to project as the country prepares to host soccer's World Cup in 2014 and the Summer Olympics two years later. But the problem has become too big to ignore.

The Luz district of central Sao Paulo was once grand, with its old train station and opulent buildings. Now, this neighborhood is known as Cracolandia — Crackland.

11:54 am

Wed December 26, 2012

Syria's War Leaves Its Scars On The Children

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Credit Jodi Hilton for NPR

Maysam Selmo, 8, during her first week at Albashayer School for Syrian Refugee Children in Antakya, Turkey. She and her extended family fled their village in northwestern Syria, and now live in a crowded apartment.

Credit Jodi Hilton for NPR

Principal Sally Albunni enrolls Nureddin, 11, (right) who arrived in Antakya with his mother after his father was killed two weeks earlier in Syria.

Credit Jodi Hilton for NPR

Teacher Rahaf Al Tinawie sets up a DVD player to show a video-story to her students. Tinawie teaches human resources at Albashayer and tries to help the children overcome the trauma most have experienced.

Credit Jodi Hilton for NPR

Cousins Suleiman Selmo, 9, and Kawthar Selmo, 10, receive donated clothes on their second day at the school. Many Syrian children and families are in need of basic supplies.

Credit Jodi Hilton for NPR

Teacher Emine Kusa leads a Turkish class for eighth-graders. Albashayer opened nearly two years ago when refugees began arriving in southern Turkey. A second building was recently opened to accommodate the growing number of students.

Credit Jodi Hilton for NPR

Children often show signs of trauma from their experiences inside Syria. A U.N. team interviewing Syrian kids in a refugee camp found that most lost a loved one in the fighting, and almost half have post-traumatic stress disorder.

Credit Jodi Hilton for NPR

Teachers at the school are mostly devout Muslims. Between classes, teachers Rahaf Al Tinawie and Rola Kadi take a break to pray.

Credit Jodi Hilton for NPR

Children play during recess. The school is overcrowded with 500 students and new students constantly arriving. In one recent week, 115 new students enrolled.

Credit Jodi Hilton for NPR

Many children wrestle and participate in aggressive play during recess, while others eat snacks and socialize. This rough play can be common with traumatized children.

Credit Jodi Hilton for NPR

Rola Kadi, a Syrian-American from Michigan, has been volunteering as an art teacher at the school.

Credit Jodi Hilton for NPR

Children wait for minibuses to take them home after school. The school is free for Syrian children living in Turkey.

Credit Jodi Hilton for NPR

Maysam Selmo, 8, during her first week at Albashayer School for Syrian Refugee Children in Antakya, Turkey. She and her extended family fled their village in northwestern Syria and now live in a crowded apartment.

Credit Jodi Hilton for NPR

Some Syrian children play at wrestling and fighting during recess at the Albashayer School for Syrian Refugee Children. This type of play can be common among children who have witnessed traumatic events.

Credit Jodi Hilton for NPR

Teacher Rahaf Al Tinawie counsels a student outside class at the Albashayer School for Syrian Refugee Children. Al Tinawie says many children show signs of trauma and she sometimes meets with parents to discuss the problems the children are facing.

By Deborah Amos

Originally published on Wed December 26, 2012 6:57 pm

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The war in Syria is taking a huge toll on the children. An international team of researchers that interviewed Syrian kids in a refugee camp in Turkey found that 3 out of 4 have lost a loved one. Almost half have post-traumatic stress disorder and elevated levels of depression.

There are efforts to help, but it's challenging. In the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep, the bell rings at 8 a.m. at the Friendship Elementary School. Syrian kids, in fresh school uniforms, cram into desks, with more than 40 students in every classroom.

3:20 pm

Tue December 25, 2012

Study: Red Noses Help Reindeers Cope With Polar Air

By Sabri Ben-Achour

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Rudolph is of course known as the red-nosed reindeer, and scientists say they may know why that's the case.

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2:54 pm

Wed December 26, 2012