Here & Now

A rapidly changing world is altering the lives of millions of women.

In India, the rising economic wherewithal of a new generation of women is transforming an institution as old as the country itself: marriage.

NPR’s Julie McCarthy has this report on Indian match-making with a modern twist.

The 160-year-old piano maker, Steinway, is set to change hands. Last month, a private equity firm emerged as the likely buyer.

That was until today, when hedge fund manager John Paulson made an offer of $500 million. The billionaire now looks set to take control of one of the oldest manufacturers in the country.

But, Steinway’s workers don’t think a change of ownership will mean much of a change for them.

Katy Perry‘s new single “Roar” from her upcoming album “Prism” and Lady Gaga’s latest track “Applause” from her new album “ARTPOP,” both were leaked over the weekend. The artists and their labels have very different initial reactions.

Lady Gaga called upon fans to report leaks for removal, while Katy Perry simply tweeted “Looks like there’s a tiger on the loose!!!”

Ultimately, both songs were released early.

The last thing most patients do when they receive an Alzheimer’s diagnosis is seek another diagnosis.

But research shows that up to 5 percent of dementia cases are misdiagnosed cases of a treatable but largely unknown condition called “normal pressure hydrocephalus.”

It is theorized that NPH arises from excess fluid building up in the brain. The cure is to drain the fluid with shunts.

As the death toll mounts today in Egypt, it also upends the Obama administration’s delicate balance on the Egyptian crisis.

The White House has steadfastly refused to call the Egyptian army’s ouster and arrest of former President Mohammed Morsi a coup.

At the same time, the administration has urged the Egyptian military to move forward quickly with constitutional reform and free elections.

Danny Strong went from being in the background in the cult favorite “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” to having an episode written for him and becoming one of the series’ villains.

Though he still acts, he’s become more well known as a screenwriter, winning two Emmys for his work on HBO’s “Game Change.”

Conventional investing wisdom over the past couple years was that emerging markets, such as China, India and Brazil, are volatile but vibrant, whereas developed markets are stable but sluggish.

But it looks like emerging markets might be losing their shine.

Jason Bellini of the Wall Street Journal joins us.

China is in a holding pattern, waiting for the trial of a former rising star in the Communist party, Bo Xilai.

Bo ran the city of Chongqing — a metropolis of 30 million people. He is being tried on corruption charges, including taking $3.3 million in bribes.

Bo is considered by Forbes to be the 10th richest man in China. He is also suspected of involvement in the killing of British business man Neil Heywood — for which his wife Gu Kailai has been convicted.

So far, authorities have not said exactly when the trial will begin, or detailed all the charges against Bo.

Israeli authorities are preparing to release a group of 26 Palestinian prisoners from jail in the next 24 hours.

It is a gesture intended to kick start a new round of negotiations.

Tomorrow, representatives of the Israeli government and the Palestinian authority will sit down together in Jerusalem and talk. The meeting will be chaired by the U.S.

The BBC’s Middle East correspondent, Kevin Connolly reports.

“Elysium,” the new movie starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, depicts a world where Earth is a destitute planet, covered in slums and plagued by disease, home to only the poorest of souls.

The more fortunate get to live on a space station called Elysium, where the air is pure and medical problems can be zapped with the flip of a switch.

This isn’t the first time that income inequality has been tackled on the big screen.

After his aunt Eunice recently died, columnist Danny Heitman inherited many of her books — from Plutarch to coffee table books of her favorite artist, Andrew Wyeth.

But with the proliferation of e-books, Heitman wonders whether books will be passed on from one generation to the next.

In a recent column called “Can you inherit an e-book?,” Heitman writes:

NPR Music writer and editor Stephen Thompson brings us new music each week to listen to.

This week, we’re reaching back into the archive, sort of.

In 2003, Sarah Siskind released an album called “Covered.” But as a result of severe sinus problems that required surgery, Siskind wasn’t able to tour and the album never really got off the ground.

With U.S.-Russia relations at a new low, we revisit our conversation with Tom de Waal, who says that when it comes to understanding Russia and Vladimir Putin, stop listening to the political scientists.

Instead, de Waal says reading Nikolai Gogol, Anton Chekhov and Fyodor Dostoyevsky will help you understand not just Russia, but key neighboring states like Ukraine and Georgia.

Priceline.com, the U.S. online travel agency, has seen its stocks rise to near $1,000 — a record it set during the dot-com bubble of the 1990s.

Priceline purchased the Amsterdam-based Booking.com in 2005, and has relied on European hotel reservations for its growth.

This comes despite the tanking economies of some of the biggest European tourist destinations: Portugal, Greece, Ireland and Spain.

Music journalist David Brown of KUT and KUTX joins us to talk about the latest new music out of Austin, Texas.

The amber alert that was issued in California for two children, Hannah and Ethan Anderson, ages 16 and 8, has been extended to Washington and Oregon.

The children went missing from a Southern California community near San Diego.

The suspect is a family friend, James "Jim" Lee DiMaggio. He's believed to be driving a Nissan Versa, California license plate 6WCU986. Officials think it was sighted Wednesday afternoon in southern Oregon.

Even as the alert extends north, officials are also looking for the suspect in Mexico.

Scientists along the East Coast are alarmed and puzzled by the number of dead bottlenose dolphins that have been washing up on beaches from Virginia to New York.

At least 91 dolphins washed up in July alone. Compare that to just nine last year, and 16 the year before.

There’s no word yet on what’s causing the increase.

It appears that four had been sick with pneumonia and one died of morbillivirus, which killed hundreds of dolphins along the East Coast in the 1980s.

It’s been a great summer for actor Ethan Hawke.

“Before Midnight,” the third installment in the series of films he made with actress Julie Delpy and filmmaker Richard Linklater, opened to wide critical acclaim, giving him undeniable indie credentials. (See trailers for all three films below.)

He also had had a number one hit at the box office with the horror film “The Purge.”

In a letter published today in the nation’s two most prestigious scientific journals — Science and Nature — bird flu researchers say they need to perform research on the H7N9 virus that would make it more dangerous.

The researchers say that’s necessary in order to prepare for its possible spread between humans, perhaps as early as this winter.

The paper comes on the heels of a new study in the British Medical Journal that shows the first probable transmission between humans of the H7N9 virus.

A new study in the British Medical Journal shows the first probable transmission between humans of a new strain of avian flu — the H7N9 virus.

A 32-year-old woman in China became sick and died after caring for her father who had the H7N9 virus. The father also died.

However, the authors of the study stress this does not mean the virus has evolved to be easily transmissible between humans.