NPR 2012-04-08

 Activists 1 in Syria say government forces are shelling rebel-held towns across the country today. They say at least 74 civilians 3 have been killed. The BBC's Jim Muir is monitoring events from Beirut.

 
There’s been in many areas, but specifically Latamneh, the north of Damascus, where there was very heavy shelling apparently 4. They are calling it a massacre 5, more than 50 killed though. Activists uploaded onto Youtube video which does show a large number of bodies being piled into pickup 6 trucks and driven off, and then a funeral, very emotional. Many many people gathered there. A young toddler dead, being held aloft by the crowd. Other bodies waiting to be buried lined up in shrouds 7 on the ground. 
 
The BBC's Jim Muir reporting from Beirut.
 
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has agreed to a ceasefire starting Thursday. Activists speculate he’s trying to get rid of as many rebels as possible before the truce 8.
 
An avalanche 9 struck a Pakistani army base in the Himalayas today. Officials say at least 100 soldiers are buried in the snow. It struck on a glacier 10 in the Kashmir region near the Indian border, a territory claimed by both countries. Both Pakistan and India station thousands of troops there, and they skirmish from time to time, but not since a ceasefire in 2003. More soldiers have died from the harsh weather than combat with the viciously cold temperatures and high winds that last for months at a time. 
 
Police in Tulsa, Oklahoma are investigating a string of shootings which they say may have been racially motivated. From member station KOSU, Michael Cross reports all those shot were African-Americans and witnesses have identified a suspect.
 
African-American leaders in Tulsa are trying to keep the calm as police and FBI agents look into the separate shootings which left three people dead and two wounded. Victims have described the shooter as a white man in a white van. Investigators 11 say the attacks might be linked because they happened in quick succession within three miles of one another and all five victims were out walking when they were shot. It also appears that the victims didn't know each other. Tulsa NAACP President Warren Blakney Sr. met with leaders in the community Friday night and says he's on edge for his people as someone appears to be targeting black people to shoot. For NPR News, I'm Michael Cross in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. 
 
Officials in Virginia Beach, Virginia say they've accounted for all the residents of an apartment complex where a Navy fighter jet crashed yesterday. Nobody died. Admiral John Harvey credits the people at the crash site for the lack of fatalities 12. 
 
“It was citizens that dragged our aircrew to safety out of the fire zone. It was citizens that stepped up and helped move those hoses. It was citizens who evacuated 13 the other inhabitants off the apartment complex and got that going and saved them from the fires that went through those buildings.”
 
At least seven people were injured, including the two pilots. 
 
This is NPR News from Washington.
 
Investigators say they suspect dissident Irish nationalists planted a bomb near the main Dublin to Belfast highway yesterday. A bomb disposal team removed the device which police say could've caused fatalities. It was found on Good Friday on the anniversary of the 1998 peace agreement designed to end 30 years of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. 
 
Coup 14 leaders in Mali have agreed to step aside and hand power back to civilians. NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports from the capital. 
 
Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo, who heads Mali's military junta 15, announced the agreement on the civilian 2 transition. Sanogo says Mali's parliamentary speaker was stepped in as the interim 16 head of state, leading up to democratic election. But he didn't say when. Regional mediator 17 Burkina Faso's foreign minister has confirmed that Mali's neighbors will immediately lift crippling sanctions imposed on the junta. Djibrill Bassole says considering the grave humanitarian 18 crisis, victims of the rebellion in northern Mali as well as many displaced people and refugees are to receive emergency assistance. Ofeibea Quist-Arction, NPR News, Bamako.
 
Artist Thomas Kinkade died yesterday. A family spokesman said he died at his home in the San Francisco Bay area. No cause was given, but the spokesman said it appeared to be from natural causes. Kinkade was 54. His paintings focus on idyllic 19 landscapes, cottages and churches. That drew a devoted 20 following, (inaudible) dismissed by many art critics. Kinkade claimed to be the most collected living artist in the US, fetching some 100 millions dollars in sales every year. 
 
I'm Nora Raum, NPR News in Washington.