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The families of convicted drug smugglers held farewell meetings in an Indonesian prison Tuesday, after the government rejected last-ditch pleas for mercy. The condemned include two Australians who led the "Bali Nine" smuggling group.

Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan were the ringleaders of a group that was caught trying to smuggle heroin out of Bali in 2005. Their seven couriers have received either lengthy or life prison sentences.

In addition to the Australians, three convicts from Nigeria and one each from the Philippines, Brazil, Ghana, and Indonesia are to be tied to posts and killed by a firing squad tonight. The case of Sukumaran and Chan has attracted wide attention, in part because the pair have reportedly reformed themselves in the nearly 10 years since their arrest.

The case has also shown the limits of the influence wielded by Australia, which has abolished capital punishment, on Indonesia, one of its closest neighbors and a popular tourism destination. Indonesia and President Joko Widodo have rejected several nations' requests for clemency in the cases.

Prisoner Mary Jane Veloso of the Philippines has also been the subject of a last-minute push to save her life, over allegations that the mother of two had been forced into being a drug courier by a human trafficker. Pleas from Philippine President Benigno Aquino and boxer Manny Pacquiao were rebuffed this week.

The exact timing of the executions hasn't been announced, but a three-day warning period expires at midnight tonight, and it's widely believed that in the early hours of Wednesday (local time), the punishment will be carried out. Indonesia is 12 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time.

"I won't see my son again and they are going to take him tonight and shoot him and he is healthy and he is beautiful and he has a lot of compassion for other people," Raji Sukumaran said, according to Australia's ABC news agency. "I am asking the government not to kill him, please president, please don't kill him today."

The case has drawn international protests. This week, Australian celebrities including actor Geoffrey Rush put out a YouTube video calling for Prime Minister Tony Abbott to intervene.

From Sydney, Stuart Cohen reports for our Newscast unit:

"Australia's attorney general today became the latest official to appeal to Indonesian authorities, saying there are still serious questions about the legitimacy of their original trial that need to be resolved.

"But most people trying to save the two Australians say it's unlikely at this late hour that the executions won't go ahead."

Some of those questions about the case include allegations of bribery, as the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Bali Nine

capital punishment

Australia

Selection Criteria: 'A Hundred Hours Of Hell'

They were whittled down to about 55 or 60 women from more than 200 at the very start, and they faced a selection process that was called "a hundred hours of hell." So that was a combination of mental agility tests and physical tests — climbing a 30-foot wall, or putting 35 or 40 pounds on your back and marching for what is called an unknown distance, so that could be 2 miles or it could be 12 — tests about cultural awareness. And they went through this in a five-day period which had little sleep and a lot of testing of who they were as people, and they were judged as a team.

Why White Didn't Tell Her Parents About Her Deployment

She really did not want them to worry. ... There wasn't a lot of a roadmap to point to in terms of what she would be doing [with the special operations teams]. Not many women had done that before her ... and she realized pretty quickly that this is real combat, right? We are going on some of the most dangerous, most critical missions to the war in Afghanistan that America is pursuing. ... There is a real moment where she talks to her husband and she talks to her brother and just says "I really want to keep this between us, I don't want people to worry."

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, author of Ashley's War. Courtesy of Harper hide caption

itoggle caption Courtesy of Harper

What Female Soldiers Were Able To Discover

One young soldier found a woman who was sitting on a weapon that they had been looking for. Another soldier found something they were looking for in a baby's soiled diaper. Yet others were keeping young women that they had met calm during operations so that the Rangers could do their work. So very quickly they proved that there was this whole world, this whole community of Afghan women that you could access if you had American women soldiers out there talking to them.

A Foundation For Integration

We will know the answer in January of 2016 as to which jobs will open to women and whether all jobs will open to women. Right now what we know is that, in the summer of 2013, one of the special operations commanders actually cited Ashley and all of the women in these pages and said "those soldiers may well have laid the foundation for ultimate integration" — that they had done a fabulous job on the battlefield, and that they did prove that women could bring value to those kinds of mission. Those women were the softer side of the harder side of war.

women in combat

Afghanistan

The feeling that tech giants such as Facebook and Google know exactly where we are and what we're doing can be uncomfortable. Targeted advertisements or suggestions based on our location can feel like an invasion of privacy.

But the collection of our digital data has an upside in certain circumstances, and the aftermath of the massive earthquake in Nepal provides a good example.

As the nation struggles to deal with the devastation of a magnitude-7.8 earthquake that has left an more than 4,000 people dead, information about survivors, those still in danger and what resources are needed is in high demand. Tech and telecom companies are stepping up to offer much-needed services. From Apple to Viber, each has something a little bit different to offer.

The Two-Way

More Than 4,000 Dead In Nepal As Earthquake Toll Rises

The Two-Way

LOOK: Historic Nepal Sites Before And After The Quake

All Tech Considered

When Disaster Strikes, Facebook Lets Friends Know You're OK

Here's an overview of the ways in which tech companies are leveraging their power, and some of the challenges they are facing.

Apple: Apple has activated an iTunes store feature that allows visitors to donate to the American Red Cross using the credit card information Apple has on file. Apple has enabled one-click donation following other natural disasters such as the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the 2011 tsunami in Japan and the 2013 typhoon in the Philippines.

we poop on Facebook a lot here but this is super useful pic.twitter.com/5VSbPgo4uV

— nathanjurgenson (@nathanjurgenson) April 26, 2015

Of course, there are other ways to help those in need. You can find a list of some of the charities doing relief work in Nepal here.

Facebook: In October, after noticing how users organically turn to Facebook in times of crisis, the company launched "Safety Check." The site uses the city listed in your profile and data on where you've accessed the Internet from to determine whether you may be affected by a natural disaster. If so, Facebook sends a push notification asking if you're safe. When you confirm your safety, your friends receive a notification as well.

In the case of the Nepal earthquake Facebook activated Safety Check for Nepal and surrounding areas on Saturday. Mark Zuckerberg announced the service on his Facebook page. "It's moments like this that being able to connect really matters," the Facebook founder said in his post.

The feature has garnered praise, but it faces challenges associated with the availability (or lack thereof) of Internet access. The World Bank says that just 13 percent of Nepal's population accesses the Internet regularly, and the Los Angeles Times has reported that current connectivity in Kathmandu is tenuous.

MT-@GoogleCR: Person Finder launced to help track missing persons for #Nepal earthquake http://t.co/MovGHXXoAb pic.twitter.com/8NNz4BKXIp

— Google (@google) April 25, 2015

Google: Google also has a service designed to help you know whether friends and family are OK — it's called "Person Finder." According to Google's Asia Pacific blog, Person Finder "gives people a way to post and search for family or friends affected by the disaster." In a sense it crowdsources information about people in affected areas and in doing so collects an amazing amount of data. Through Person Finder you can create a listing for a person you're looking to get in touch with, or provide information about someone you've heard is safe. Search is available via the Web, or via SMS in Nepal, India or the United States.

Reduced cost of calls to #Nepal to 1/min (from 19/min) to help loved ones connect http://t.co/RjfHY8bCri @GoogleCR pic.twitter.com/fWEb70Pp8P

— Google (@google) April 27, 2015

And Google has reduced prices for Google Voice calls into Nepal from 19 cents per minute to 1 cent per minute, and Google.org, the company's charitable arm, pledged $1 million toward disaster relief and response.

Again, both of these services depend on infrastructure that is struggling to cope with demand. NPR's Kirk Siegler, who is in Kathmandu, noted that the local phone network "has been sporadic at best."

Microsoft: On Monday afternoon Microsoft announced free Skype calls to landlines and mobiles in Nepal. Microsoft has also pledged a minimum of $1 million to recovery efforts.

In light of the tragic events in Nepal, all Skype calls to landlines & mobiles in & out of Nepal are free. More: [http://t.co/pz8PwVcCq6

— Skype (@Skype) April 27, 2015

Sprint/T-Mobile: Both telecom firms have waived fees for calls and text messages sent by users in Nepal. The offer lasts through May 16, and is retroactive to April 25. On the question of whether users will have the capability to call or text Sprint notes that "it has been shown that text messages may go through when calling capabilities aren't available."

Viber: Chief Operating Officer Michael Shmilov told The Wall Street Journal that the voice and messaging app has approximately 3 million users in the Himalayan region. The company announced it would make calls for users in Nepal free to any destination.

In response to the earthquake in Nepal we have switched off Viber Out billing so Nepal users can call any destination for free

— Viber (@Viber) April 26, 2015

Tajha Chappellet-Lanier is the social media intern at NPR.

Nepal

Earthquake

Thanks to the fast-growing sharing economy, anyone can make money renting out their home or car — or becoming a personal chef.

Just ask Time magazine columnist Joel Stein. He decided to give the sharing economy a try, then wrote about his experience, The explosion of new social apps and services powering this new consumer landscape gave him the opportunity to run a few of his own DIY businesses. He rented out his Mini Cooper, drove people around in it a-la-Lyft and cooked for strangers.

'Sharing' As A Misnomer

A recent survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers shows the sharing economy is growing faster than ever, led by Airbnb and Uber. And those participating feel it's more personal and convenient.

Of the 44 percent of U.S. adults who are familiar with the sharing economy, 86 percent say it makes life more affordable, 83 percent say it makes life more convenient and efficient and 78 percent say it builds a stronger community.

All Tech Considered

For Ridesharing Apps Like Lyft, Commerce Is A Community

All Tech Considered

What's Mine Is Yours (For A Price) In The Sharing Economy

A lot of companies prefer the term, "on demand" economy, Stein tells NPR's Robert Siegel. What's really happening, Stein says, is "people wanting things as soon as they can get them by pressing a button on their phone."

Part of what's transforming our consumption habits is that we have a different relationship to property because "things" are more accessible and less valuable, Stein says. So we're spending more money on experiences. According to the PricewaterhouseCoopers report, 43 percent of consumers say that "owning today feels like a burden."

Stein lost money when it came to running his own restaurant, but was profitable driving others and charging $35 a day to rent out his car.

The Human Element

Stein used RelayRides — an Avis or Hertz of car-sharing — to rent out his Mini Cooper. He found that rentees picked up his car from his house and often went the extra step to fill up the gas tank.

Still, there are downsides of becoming your own small business. One Sicilian customer asked what the R, D and N meant on his stick shift — a clue that he would later get a call from her telling him she'd had an accident. But RelayRides's insurance handled it "amazingly," Stein says, and covered the damage.

A large part of what makes this collaborative consumption work is getting strangers to trust strangers. Sites like eBay were testing grounds when it came to building a level of trust in online peer-to-peer transactions. Several people who used to work for eBay now work in the sharing economy, Stein says, which adopted the model of getting the user and the provider to rate each other. It reduces the number of bad actors and promotes trust amongst strangers, otherwise built by the reputation of a brand name of a big business.

"If you want a more personal experience, or in most cases, a cheaper experience, you take a little more risk with an Airbnb, but you get a less generic experience than you do at a big name hotel," Stein says.

And these companies are on the market value scale of large corporations, like Delta Airlines and Hilton Worldwide. PricewaterhouseCoopers projects that by 2025, global revenues from sharing economy companies will soar to an estimated $335 billion, from about $15 billion today.

A Sharing Economy Horror Story

It may be a more personal experience, but it's still a business transaction. So, what happens when something goes wrong in the peer-to-peer setting? In a darker story of Airbnb experiences, the host passed away while the guest was staying in her apartment.

Jordan Ruttenberg, a student at Wesleyan University, relocated to Brooklyn for a summer job with his friend Connor. They booked a place through Airbnb. His host, who they met once via Skype, was in California at the time. Mid-stay, Connor noticed messages on their host's Facebook wall in the tone of: "You have to pull out of this" or "We need you."

After reaching out to a friend of the host, he learned she had overdosed and been pulled off life support. His arrangement turned eerie, as he continued to stay in this woman's apartment, with all her personal belongings and photographs.

Ultimately, the host's brother contacted Ruttenberg, asking when his checkout date was, assuming the procedural manner of a business arrangement.

"I recognize the tragedy in it," Ruttenberg says, "but our relationship with her was a logistical one. And so, her death for us was largely of a logistical nature."

Ruttenberg says he would still use Airbnb for short-term stays.

sharing economy

airbnb