NPR News

The unrest in the Middle East and northern Africa has major implications for U.S. foreign policy. Former diplomat Ryan Crocker, who served as U.S. ambassador to Syria, Kuwait, and Lebanon, says the international community has denounced the violence in Libya. He tells Renee Montagne that steps beyond that are going to be difficult to implement. Crocker is now the dean at the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University.

Bahrain has met a demand of protesters by releasing more than 300 prisoners, including two dozen who had been accused of plotting to overthrow the government. Some activists said the government's good faith efforts have raised hopes for further victories. But others insisted that the fall of the absolute monarchy is the only satisfactory outcome.

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's control is being whittled away as major cities and towns closer to the capital fall to the rebellion against his rule. The east has all but broken away.

Four days after dismissing questions about another possible Olympic bidding scandal, the International Olympic Committee says it is seeking further details.

As NPR reported last week, a new book about last year's Vancouver Winter Olympics disclosed an alleged deal that promised Russia's three IOC votes to Vancouver during the 2010 host city selection process.

A wooden sled. A weapon to vanquish a villain. Indiana Jones' whip, the Maltese Falcon — even Babe the pig. In the movies, if an actor touches it, it's a prop. And if it's a prop, a property master arranged for it to be there.

On the set of Disney's upcoming reboot The Muppets — a Muppet, by the way, is not a prop — it's prop master Trish Gallaher Glenn who provided the telephone for Kermit the Frog. But not the very old typewriter on Kermit's desk.