Weekend Edition Sunday on NPR News

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

We now turn to the Gaza Strip, where violence between Israelis and Palestinians is heading into its third day. So far, 18 Palestinians, including two civilians, have been killed by Israeli airstrikes. Militants in Gaza have fired rockets into southern Israel, also causing injuries. This is the worst round of violence in the area in more than a year. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro joins us on the line from Jerusalem. Good morning, Lulu.

LOURDES GARCIA-NAVARRO, BYLINE: Good morning.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum won Kansas' Republican caucuses Saturday. Neither Mitt Romney nor Newt Gingrich spent any time campaigning in the state. Kansas Public Radio's Stephen Koranda reports.

Ahead of the primary voting in Mississippi and Alabama, guest host Linda Wertheimer talks with William Martin Wiseman, director of the John C. Stennis Institute of Government and Professor of Political Science at Mississippi State University, about the religious politics of the South.

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Linda Wertheimer.

American officials say that a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan walked off a base in the predawn hours this morning and began shooting at civilian homes in the southern province of Kandahar. Initial reports say 15 civilians are dead, including women and children. Relations between the United States and Afghanistan had been slowly returning to normal after last month's accidental burning of the Quran at an American military base. But this morning's news may erase that progress.

Guest host Linda Wertheimer reports on a Japanese researcher who has used spider silk to spin a set of violin strings.

Starting Sunday evening, millions of people will be trying to predict the next VCU, the next Butler, the next George Mason. That is, the next Cinderella. Guest host Linda Wertheimer speaks with WSU Coach Gregg Marshall.

On-Air Challenge: Every answer consists of two words that are opposites. You are given rhymes for the words, and you give the opposites.

Last Week's Challenge from listener Toby Gottfried of Santa Ana, Calif.: Take the trees hemlock, myrtle, oak and pine. Rearrange the letters in their names to get four other trees, with one letter left over. What trees are they?

Answer: The trees are "elm," "hickory," "lemon," and "teak," with the letter P left over.

Winner: Tim Moon from Bethany, Ill.

We call her the Typhoid Mary of the Tiny Desk.