NPR News

Israeli soldiers opened fire Sunday on Arab protesters along the country's borders, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens in an unprecedented wave of demonstrations marking a Palestinian day of mourning for their defeat at Israel's hands in 1948.

In the most serious incident, the Israeli military said thousands of protesters approached Syria's border with the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights and hundreds burst through the fence. Soldiers opened fire to stop them, the military said. Dozens were wounded and four were reported killed.

The Army Corps of Engineers opened the Morganza spillway to protect Baton Rouge and New Orleans from flooding on Saturday. The emergency measure is diverting water from the Mississippi into communities along Louisiana's bayous that thousands call home. NPR's Greg Allen has the latest on potential flooding in and around Baton Rouge, La.

The worst flooding along the Mississippi river in decades has many people looking back to the Great Flood of 1927. It swept over seven states and displaced 700,000 people, the most destructive river flood in U.S. history. Samuel Edgar Lee Jr., of Winnsboro, La., was 9 years old at the time of the flood; he shares his memories.

Queen Elizabeth pays a state visit to the Republic of Ireland this week. The four-day trip is the first by a British Monarch in 100 years. Relations between the two nations have been tense since the Republic's 1921 independence and partition from the north and the decades of intermittent violence. Liane Hansen speaks with Irish journalist Conor O'Clery about the Queen's visit.

May is the month when teachers win awards and have their appreciation week, but tight budgets and campaigns against public employees have lots of teachers feeling anything but appreciated. NPR's Matt Colburn reports.