From NPR News in Washington, I'm Korva Coleman.

 

　　Seven American troops died in Afghanistan today. Five U.S. troops were killed when they were hit by a roadside bomb. Two more U.S. services members were killed when a soldier with the Afghan National Army shot them to death. It's been a deadly week in Afghanistan for U.S. service members. According to the Associated Press, 21 Americans have died in air crashes and in today's bombing and shooting incidents.

 

　　Activists in Syria are reporting another massacre in a town along Syria's coast. NPR's Susannah George reports they say the violence has left more than 60 people dead.

 

　　A video uploaded by activists shows the bodies of dead children line in a pile. Some partially covered by bloodstain blankets. Activists say pro-regime militiamen stormed Baniyas torturing and then executing civilians. State TV says government forces are working to clear the area of terrorists. That's the term uses to describe Syria's armed opposition. This comes after another alleged massacre Friday in nearby al-Baida. Syria's Mediterranean coast is the home of the country Alawite minority. That's the minority to which President Barsha al-Assad belongs. But this recent violence has been occurring in  majority Sunni towns and neighborhoods, raising fears of increased sectarianism in the Syrian crisis . Susannah George, NPR News, Beirut.

 

　　Searchers in Kyrgyzstan have the bodies of two American crew members aboard a crashed U.S. military plane. The plane went down yesterday in rugged mountains about 100 miles east of an airbase the U.S. runs in Kyrgyzstan. It's used to support American military operations in Afghanistan. There is no word on the cause of the crash. There are reports from people in the Kyrgyz's countryside who said they heard the plane exploded in the air.

 

　　The incoming president of the National Rifle Association is calling on members to dig in for a long fight over gun rights. NPR's Allison Keyes tells us James Porter assumes the group's top job on Monday.

 

　　The Alabama attorney told organizers that the Houston Texas based convention, they are of the front line of what he called a culture war that goes beyond the gun rights. CEO Wayne LaPierre echoed other speakers, blasting the Obama administration.

 

　　Even before he was sworn into office, before his inauguration, the president launched an all-out historic attack, a siege against our rights.

 

　　LaPierre told the crowd the state of the organization is stronger than ever and has a record 5 million members. Speakers and attendees gloded over the NRA's recent victory over President Obama's push for gun control measures and that a bit of a U.S. Senate bill after December's mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Allison Keyes, NPR News.

 

　　The fierce wildfire burning in Southern California has scourged at least 43 square miles. The spring's fire is about 50 miles west of Los Angeles. It has damaged at least 15 buildings. It's now threatening some 4,000 homes.

 

　　You are listening to NPR News from Washington.

 

　　New York's Metropolitan Museum says it will return  2,000-year-old stone statues to Cambodia. The Cambodian government says they were looted. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Jakarta, the archaeologically rich countries like Cambodia are becoming more sertive about reclaiming lost antiquities.

 

　　There was plenty of evidence to convince the Met that the statues were looted. For example, there the statue's basis where witnesses saw them standing intact as recently as the 1970s. The ** statues are part of group of nine princes in a scene from the Hindu epic the Mahabharata, they are from a temple at Koh Ker, the former capital of the Khmer Empire which had been lost in the jungles since it was abandoned in the tenth century. The Met's decision may put pressure on the auction house Sotheby, from which Cambodia is trying to reclaim two other statues from the same group. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Jakarta.

 

　　The crew of a solar plane has completed the first leg of cross country trip.The solar impulse took off from a airfield outside San Francisco yesterday and landed in Phenix early today. The plane's creators are trying to make it cross the U.S. without using conventional fuel. The plane gets its power from some 12,000 photovoltaic cells  that cover its gigantic wings and keep the batteries charged. It's got just one pilot and its top speed is about 40 miles per hour.

 

　　The 139 Kentucky Derby takes place this evening. Post time is 6:24 pm eastern. The race track at Churchill Downs has already held the $1 million Kentucky Oaks race which is for 3-year-old fillies. Longshot horse, Princess of Sylmar was the winner, paying $76.60 on a bid.

 

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