NASA Calls Shuttle Mission a Success

ALISON STEWART, host:

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MIKE PESCA, host:

And I'm Mike Pesca, sitting in for Luke Burbank.

Coming up: We'll talk to pool hustler Kid Delicious. Don't worry, he likes being called that - both pool hustler and Kid Delicious.

But first, let's get today's headlines from Rachel Martin.

BILL WOLFF (Announcer): This is NPR.

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RACHEL MARTIN, host:

Hey, everyone.

A school shooting in Finland is sparking questions about whether the gunman's online postings foretold the tragedy, and perhaps officials could have prevented it. An 18-year-old gunman killed seven other students and the principal during a rampage through the Jokela High School in a small town in Finland. Investigators said he then shot himself in the head and later died at the hospital.

Investigators were searching for links between the shooter and videos posted on YouTube. One video was titled "Jokela High School Massacre," and it showed a picture of what appeared to be the Jokela High School and two photos of a young man holding a hand gun. The person who posted the video was identified in the user profile as an 18-year-old man from Finland. Police said today the gunman appears to have shot his victims at random. Authorities are still examining the online postings in hope of - in hopes of determining a motive.

And the space shuttle Discovery landed safely home yesterday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA officials have described it as an all around successful mission, despite a couple of close calls. Discovery was gone for about two weeks on a trip to the International Space Station. While they were up there, they completed some important construction projects and an historic spacewalk to repair a generator. The shuttle touched down about 1 p.m. yesterday afternoon. NASA officials say the success of the mission means there's a good chance they'll be able to launch a fourth shuttle this year.

Atlantis is scheduled to lift off as early as December 6th.

Finally, it seems daytime diva Rosie O'Donnell and NBC can't make a deal. Two days after network executives acknowledge that it was talking to O'Donnell about a possible show on MSNBC, the talks have apparently stalled, and no prospect of them being revived. One of the major sticking points was about the length of a potential contract with O'Donnell. And Rosie wrote about it on her Web site, rosie.com last night. She wrote in somewhat cryptic prose:

(Reading) "Well, what can you do? Today there is no deal, poof. My career as a pundit is over before it began."

That's the news, and it's always online at npr.org. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.