NPR News

Michigan holds its Republican primary on Tuesday. The former Massachusetts governor, and Michigan native, Mitt Romney has been touring the state in search of votes. A week ago, Rick Santorum held a double-digit lead in the polls. Now, NPR's Ari Shapiro reports, Romney seems to have closed the gap.

Host Rachel Martin speaks with Nate Silver, who writes the FiveThirtyEight blog for The New York Times, about the mechanics of the GOP primary, the number of delegates apportioned so far and how future contests will determine the delegate count.

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RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Rachel Martin.

With a presidential elections just a week away, thousands of Russians formed a human chain around Moscow today to demonstrate for a, quote, Russia without Putin.

Much has been made of all the big opposition rallies held recently in Moscow and St. Petersburg. But Russia is vast, and its provinces are very different places than the major urban areas.

Syrians vote on a new draft constitution Sunday, though the opposition has called for a boycott. Violence has been reported across the country. Host Rachel Martin talks with NPR's Peter Kenyon about the latest on the bombardment of Homs and other developments in Syria.

Host Rachel Martin talks to veteran Russian journalist Vladimir Pozner from Moscow about how Russia has changed since the days of glasnost and perestroika and under the hand of Vladimir Putin.

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RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

For a closer look at the chaos in Syria, we turn now to Jon Lee Anderson. He's a reporter for The New Yorker magazine, and last month he spent time in Syria, reporting on the rapidly devolving situation there.

We reached him at his home in England, and he told us about one moment that has stayed with him - his visit to a place called Clocktower Square, in Homs, the site of intense clashes over the past year.

The de facto replacement for The News of the World, The Sunday Sun, will premiere its first issue Sunday. Host Rachel Martin talks with Ray Snoddy, a British journalist, about what this means for Rupert Murdoch's media empire.

Popcorn and movies (or the Oscars) go together like Batman and Robin. And nowadays, options stretch far beyond plain or buttered.

Food critics call one brand the Rolls Royce and another the Prada. They are designer labels for the simplest, most American snack food.