NPR National Stories

• In the New York Times this week, Anthony Tommasini has a series in both print and video about those microcosmic musical moments like "a fleeting passage, a short series of chords, some unexpected shift in a melodic line — when something occurs that just grabs us." What links these diverse bits from Chopin to Puccini to Mahler together?

"Former world boxing champion Hector 'Macho"' Camacho went into cardiac arrest Wednesday morning but was stabilized by doctors after being shot in the face Tuesday outside of San Juan, Puerto Rico," ESPN reports.

It adds that:

"The situation with 'Macho' is very delicate," Centro Medico director Dr. Ernesto Torres told reporters during a 7 a.m. media briefing on Wednesday. "The prognosis is not good."

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Let's turn now to the urgent diplomatic efforts underway. Secretary of State Clinton is now in Cairo, meeting with Egyptian leaders in efforts to reach a ceasefire. NPR's Leila Fadel joins us from Cairo to discuss the latest.

Good morning.

LEILA FADEL, BYLINE: Good morning.

MONTAGNE: So what do you know about what's happening on the diplomatic front today there in Cairo?

There were 410,000 first-time claims for unemployment insurance last week, down 41,000 from the level of the week before — when the number of applications soared because of the lingering effects of Superstorm Sandy.

The Employment and Training Administration just released the latest figure. At 410,000, claims were still running at a pace above the pre-Sandy range of 350,000 to 400,000 a week.

After some of the worst fighting in recent years in a country where war is all-too common, rebel forces have taken control of the "strategic eastern city of Goma" in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman from the three-day attack on Mumbai in November 2008 that killed more than 160 people, has been hanged in India.

NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from New Delhi that the execution took place in secret inside a high-security jail in the Indian city of Pune, just days before the anniversary of the Mumbai siege:

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne. As the story goes, pardoning a turkey dates back to Lincoln, when his young son Tad begged his father to let the White House Thanksgiving meal live. Today, President Obama pardons two turkeys - Cobbler and Gobbler. Ahead of their big moment, the birds have been staying at the swanky W hotel, nibbling on organic meals prepared by the hotel's chef. And once pardoned, the turkeys will retire to Mount Vernon. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Linda Wertheimer with a Thanksgiving dessert that goes way past pumpkin pie a la mode. An Arizona ice cream shop is creating an entire Thanksgiving dinner in ice cream form. Scooptacular is offering sweet potato ice cream, also cranberry. And for the adventurous, corn and even turkey by the scoop. Can you get hot fudge with that? Would you want hot fudge with that? It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.