NPR 2010-04-04

Several Afghan soldiers are dead as a result of friendly fire by German forces in Afghanistan. Brigadier-General Eric Tremblay says the troops were mistaken for insurgents 2. “A German patrol became under contact, probably under a very complex attack by the insurgent 1 and got fixed 3 on the ground with the improvised 4 explosive devices, small arms fire, and RPG fire.” Last September, German forces were heavily criticized for ordering an air strike on the Taliban that ended up killing 5 more than 140 people, many of them civilians 6.

A high school football player from Ohio, who was going to play for Notre Dame 7, died yesterday in Florida. Maryanne Zeleznik from member station WVXU in Cincinnati says the up-and-coming athlete was on spring break in Panama City Beach when he died.

Matt James played football at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati. School spokesman Mark Motz says James died after falling from a hotel balcony in Panama City Beach, Florida. Police told the television station the 17-year-old apparently 8 died instantly after he fell from the third floor of the Days Inn Motel. A forensic 9 investigator 10 with the Florida State Medical Examiners District 14 Office says the fall was being investigated. And officials plan to do toxicology tests. James is not the first spring breaker to die from a balcony fall. A 19-year-old from Georgia died last month when he fell from a fifth-floor balcony at the Holiday Terrace Motel, also in Panama City Beach. More than 2,000 people have already signed on as fans to a Facebook page remembering James. For NPR News, I’m Maryanne Zeleznik.

NASA’s mission managers are giving the go-ahead for shuttle Discovery’s lift-off Monday for a 13-day mission in space. It’s heading back to the International Space Station.

A crowd counts down to an Apple store’s opening in Manhattan, waiting for the iPad. Apple stores across the country began selling the much-hyped tablet computer today. It’s calling it a revolutionary new category of device, but the jury’s still out on whether most consumers will really want it. NPR’s Laura Sydell reports.

The iPad looks like an oversized Ipod Touch. It brings movies, music, television and now e-books to its 9.7-inch screen. While the computer industry's tried to get consumers interested in this kind of tablet computer for decades, this is the first time that such a device has generated so much interest. Analysts 11 say Apple received hundreds of thousands of pre-orders for the iPad. But many analysts are uncertain that this new category of device, which in some ways mimics 12 a netbook, will really catch on, especially since it doesn’t have a physical keyboard. Reviews of the iPad have been generally positive, but with the extraordinary success of the iPhone and iPod, Apple has set a very high bar for itself. Laura Sydell, NPR News.

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In Iraq, authorities are reporting execution-style attacks on a Sunni village outside Baghdad. At least 25 people were killed. Authorities say gunmen dressed in military uniforms raided the village, apparently targeting Sunnis that revolted against al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The International Organization for Migration 13 will assist some 650 vulnerable and needy 14 women who suffered rape 15 and other forms of sexual violence during Sierra Leone’s long-running civil war. The IOM program is part of a larger reparation effort recommended by the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation 16 Commission. Lisa Schlein has details from Geneva.

This is the first time that war reparations are specifically tailored to address the needs of victims of sexual violence. IOM legal officer Heike Niebergall says tens of thousands of women in Sierra Leone who were raped 17 and forced into sexual slavery are stigmatized 18 and often blamed for what happened to them. “They are abandoned by their families, by their husbands, and are often left totally to themselves, and are not integrated into the society.” Over the next six months, the 650 women in the program will receive training and cash allowance to help them set up small businesses or seek additional education. The women also will receive regular trauma 19 counseling. For NPR New, I’m Lisa Schlein in Geneva.

Thousands of rescuers in China are still working to free more than 150 miners who've been trapped underground for more than five days. Yesterday, rescuers knocked on a pipe leading down to the flooded mine and they heard a response and cheered, however, today no new signs of life.