NPR News

The foreign minister says there is "rage" in Pakistan about the NATO airstrike over the weekend that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers near the border with Afghanistan.

Texans don't have to leave the state to visit Paris or Port-au-Prince. Just the most exotic among the state's many colorful town names which were dug up by the San Antonio Express-News. There's Uncertain, Texas, and also Nameless. Its founders gave up on a name after the postmaster rejected several choices.

Emma Sullivan, who wrote a disparaging tweet about Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, said Sunday that she is rejecting her high school principal's demand for a written apology.

Voting has begun in Egypt, where the nation's first parliamentary elections are being held since the toppling of President Hosni Mubarak's regime nine months ago.

So far, according to reports from NPR, The Associated Press and other news outlets, turnout is high and things are going well — a relief after last week's protests in major cities and the violent response to them from authorities.

Tucked away in a corner of the White House's Old Executive Office Building, an office that most people have never heard of affects millions of Americans' lives. It's the last hurdle that every proposed regulation must surmount before seeing the light of day. And a new study of this obscure part of the government suggests that President Obama is altering more of those regulations than President George W. Bush did.

Officials overseeing a new performance hall had to decide on a mobile phone policy. While theaters generally remind patrons to turn off their devices, The New York Times reports the new theater in Bellevue, Wash., will encourage smartphone use. The theater wants to attract younger audiences, and that means there's no use forbidding the technology.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

Egyptians in Cairo and Alexandria are among those voting today in the first stage of parliamentary elections. These are the first elections since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted. Two other stages are scheduled for December and January.

Britain opted out of the euro, but it's by no means protected from the eurozone troubles. Declining demand on the continent means fewer British exports. The picture is particularly bleak in places like Hull — a dreary port city with the highest rate of youth unemployment in Britain.

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Let's turn to the Egyptian port city of Alexandria, where hundreds of women lined up at one polling center this morning.

(SOUNDBITE OF CROWD CHATTER)

MONTAGNE: For many in this women's line, this is the first election in which they feel their choice will count. We reached NPR's Soraya Sorhadi Nelson in Alexandria. Good morning.

SORAYA SARHADDI NELSON, BYLINE: Good morning, Renee.

MONTAGNE: And generally speaking, what are you seeing at polling stations there in Alexandria?