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  • Tuesday, June 18, 2013 5:50am
    A gas pipeline was being fixed in Harlem and officials didn't want a flood of 911 calls from people smelling gas. So they masked the smell by adding cinnamon to the gas.
  • Tuesday, June 18, 2013 5:44am
    To celebrate Laura Grambel's college graduation, her mom ordered a cake: Indiana red and white, with a photo of Laura's face. One more request: a graduation cap, made of icing. Instead, the baker drew a cat on Laura's head
  • Tuesday, June 18, 2013 3:35am
    Thirty years ago Tuesday, Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in space. She was aboard the shuttle Challenger. Less than three years later, it would explode on takeoff, killing seven crew members.
  • Tuesday, June 18, 2013 2:11am
    An enterprising carpenter and a creative puppeteer teamed up on a do-it-yourself project to build a mechanical hand for a little boy. They created an inexpensive prosthetic and published their designs on the Internet. So far, over 100 children have been outfitted.
  • Tuesday, June 18, 2013 2:00am
    The G-8 leaders reached some agreement on steps to shore up the still-weak global economy. But Russia remains an outlier in the group when it comes to addressing the bloody civil war in Syria.

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Sweetness And Light
8:03 pm
Tue July 10, 2012

Going To The Game: The Price Is Wrong?

Credit Paul Gilham / Getty Images
Andy Murray returns a shot during the men's final match at Wimbledon. A pair of tickets for the match went for £32,000 (about $50,000).

Originally published on Wed July 11, 2012 2:45 am

Sports is more ubiquitous than ever on television. And sports is almost the only thing that's left, live, on TV. NBC Universal is even going to let Americans see the Olympics live this year.

Nevertheless, despite TV's charm, last week as Andy Murray, Great Britain's homeboy, drew closer to making the Wimbledon final, the word was that tickets for actual Centre Court seats would be scalped for up to £32,000 a pair. If you're not hanging around the currency exchange market, that comes to something like $50,000. For two tickets. To a game.

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Around the Nation
5:03 am
Tue July 10, 2012

Elaborate Deer Stands Draw Complaints In Minnesota

Originally published on Tue July 10, 2012 5:52 am

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne. Some forest officials in Minnesota are complaining about deer stands. Deer stands are those small platforms hunters set up in trees to get a better view. In some deer-hunting areas, they've grown into veritable tree houses with stairs, shingled roofs, windows, heaters, lounge chairs, and all on public land. One county land commissioner told the Duluth News Tribune: We're seeing mansions out there. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.

Europe
4:55 am
Tue July 10, 2012

Batman is No Match For Physics

Originally published on Tue July 10, 2012 5:53 am

Batman may be able to save Gotham from villians but the rules of physics apply to him. Four British graduate students produced a paper called "Trajectory of a falling Batman." It says Batman could glide off a 500-foot building as he does in the 2005 movie but he'd hit the ground at a life-threatening 50 miles-per-hour.

Law
4:55 am
Tue July 10, 2012

Congolese Warlord Sentenced By Court In The Hague

Originally published on Tue July 10, 2012 5:52 am

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

It's been a decade since the first permanent International Criminal Court was created. Today, it delivered its first-ever sentence. The Hague-based court ordered a Congolese warlord to serve 14 years in prison. Thomas Lubango was convicted in March of recruiting and using children as soldiers in his militia. During a four-year conflict, Lubango forced children to fight for him, taking up arms and machetes which they used to slaughter Lubango's tribal enemies in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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World
4:00 am
Tue July 10, 2012

British Border Officials Gain New Powers

Originally published on Tue July 10, 2012 5:52 am

Renee Montagne reports on tougher interview rules for certain foreign migrants applying for visas to study in the UK.

Race
4:00 am
Tue July 10, 2012

NAACP Issues HIV-Aids Manual For Black Churches

Originally published on Fri July 13, 2012 9:41 am

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

The number of African-Americans contracting HIV and AIDS runs considerably ahead of the rest of the population. And now the NAACP hopes to harness the power of the black church to help. During its annual convention this week, the civil rights group unveiled a new HIV/AIDS manual. As NPR's Cheryl Corley reports, it's designed to help ministers talk to their congregations about the problem.

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Black Lung Returns To Coal Country
2:45 am
Tue July 10, 2012

Black-Lung Rule Loopholes Leave Miners Vulnerable

Originally published on Tue July 10, 2012 8:41 pm

Part two of a two-part series.

Thousands of coal miners continued to suffer and die from black lung during the 40 years that tough new limits on exposure to coal dust were supposed to provide protection.

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It's All Politics
2:43 am
Tue July 10, 2012

Romney Outraises Obama By $35 Million In June

Originally published on Tue July 10, 2012 12:02 pm

The latest fundraising numbers are in for the two presidential campaigns, and the amounts are eye-popping. President Obama and the Democratic Party raised $71 million, which is an enormous haul. But it was dwarfed by Mitt Romney and the Republican National Committee, which together raised $106 million in the month of June.

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Election 2012
1:57 am
Tue July 10, 2012

Bush Tax Cuts: The New Middle-Class Norm

Credit Courtesy of Randi Cartmill
Josh Walling and Randi Cartmill with their children, Jacqueline, Josh and Ryan. Josh Walling says his family, whose household income is below the national median, would lose a substantial amount of money if the Bush tax cuts expired.

Originally published on Thu July 26, 2012 12:42 pm

The first in an occasional series, Fiscal Cliff Notes, which breaks down the looming "fiscal cliff" of expiring tax cuts and deep automatic spending cuts set to hit around the first of year.

Much of the political focus when discussing the Bush-era tax cuts is on the wealthy, but they're not the only ones who would be affected if the tax cuts are allowed to expire at the end of this year.

The vast majority of American taxpayers would take a hit, including Randi Cartmill and Josh Walling, who live in Madison, Wis., with their three children.

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Dead Stop
1:52 am
Tue July 10, 2012

A City's History Writ Small, In One Cemetery

Originally published on Tue July 10, 2012 12:07 pm

On Florida's northeast coast, trams filled with families and school groups run constantly in St. Augustine, hitting nearly all of the old city's historic sites.

But down a side street lies an important piece of St. Augustine's history most visitors don't see, because it's only open one day a month.

"This is Tolomato Cemetery. It was formerly the parish cemetery for what is now the cathedral parish," says Elizabeth Gessner, who heads the cemetery's preservation association.

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Middle East
1:51 am
Tue July 10, 2012

Walls Of Palestinian Homes Come Tumbling Down

Originally published on Sat July 14, 2012 6:46 am

Israel has dramatically increased its demolitions of unauthorized Palestinian homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, according to a recent United Nations report.

Last year, 1,100 Palestinians — more than half of them children — were displaced, an 80 percent increase from the previous year. And demolitions this year continue at a high rate.

For Sami Idriss, the Israeli bulldozers came while the 26-year-old Palestinian was at work.

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American Dreams: Then And Now
1:28 am
Tue July 10, 2012

'Globals' Generation Focuses On Experience

Credit Courtesy of Jennifer Larr
Jennifer Larr (center) is seen here in Rwanda at the Gashora Girls Academy, where she was a teacher in 2011. Larr is part of a new generation of young adults focusing on travel, studying abroad and global experiences.

Originally published on Thu July 19, 2012 12:58 pm

Jennifer Larr has the itch to go abroad. She's 26 years old and has already spent a year studying in France and two years in Rwanda with the Peace Corps, and she is headed to Uganda this summer for an internship. She's also a graduate student, studying international relations at UCLA.

Larr is part of a growing number of 20- and early 30-somethings whose American dream has moved beyond suburban homes and traditional nuclear families, and it's one that now goes even beyond U.S. borders.

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The Record
1:28 am
Tue July 10, 2012

My American Dream Sounds Like Rubén Blades

Credit Echoes / Getty Images
Blades, shown in 1970.

Originally published on Tue July 10, 2012 6:54 am

Africa
1:25 am
Tue July 10, 2012

Mubarak's Dream Remains Just That In Egypt's Desert

Originally published on Tue July 10, 2012 6:57 am

In the middle of southern Egypt's windy desert, wheat fields stretch as far as the eye can see on a 24,000-acre farm. It's part of a grandiose project called Toshka that was dreamed up 15 years ago by the government of Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's authoritarian leader who ruled the country for three decades before being ousted last year.

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Business
12:03 am
Tue July 10, 2012

Judge: Samsung's Galaxy Tab Not As 'Cool' As iPad

Credit Gero Breloer / AP
Samsung won a victory Monday in its global patent war with Apple. The British judge said Samsung's Galaxy Tab (right) is "not as cool" as the iPad (left).

Originally published on Tue July 10, 2012 12:09 pm

Samsung won a victory in Britain on Monday in its global patent war with Apple over the designs for its tablet computers.

A British judge ruled Samsung's Galaxy Tablets do not infringe on any of Apple's designs for the iPad.

Samsung, however, may have mixed feelings about this decision.

According to Judge Colin Birss, Samsung's Galaxy tablets are not cool enough to be confused with the iPad or violate any of Apple's design patents.

The ruling was a legal victory for Samsung, but if this were a consumer review, it would have been a bloodbath.

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Around the Nation
5:34 am
Mon July 9, 2012

Cherry Festival Crowns New Pit-Spitting Champ

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne. Ronn Matt told the Chicago Tribune that his mother used to frown on his habit of spitting cherry pits. But now he's a champion. Over the weekend in Michigan, Matt managed to unseat two spitting dynasties, families who had won for the last 20 years the International Cherry Pit spitting contest. He won by spitting a pit 69 feet. Impressive but far short of the world record of 93 and a half feet. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.

Asia
5:22 am
Mon July 9, 2012

Disney Characters Frolick On North Korean Stage

Disney says nobody in North Korea asked permission to use Mickey and Minnie and some of the company's other characters. A concert for the country's new leader Jim Jong Un featured the Disney stars.

Economy
3:28 am
Mon July 9, 2012

Charity Collects Donations To Buy Greek Bonds

Originally published on Mon July 9, 2012 4:22 pm

A young shipping heir whose family helped turn the Greek island of Santorini into a tourist hot spot is trying to help Greece dig out of its massive debt by asking average Greeks to chip in.

Peter Nomikos hopes to build a social movement beginning with a charity he launched about two weeks ago called Greece Debt Free, which collects donations to buy Greek bonds. On Santorini, the Cycladic island of whitewashed homes, residents say they'd like help with their benefactor's charity — but they can't even pay their own bills.

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Africa
3:28 am
Mon July 9, 2012

South Sudan Struggles 1 Year After Independence

Originally published on Mon July 9, 2012 4:47 am

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Linda Wertheimer.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

This was the scene one year ago today in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: We hereby declare Southern Sudan to be an independent and sovereign state.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHEERING)

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Sports
2:55 am
Mon July 9, 2012

Federer Picks Up 7th Wimbledon Title

Originally published on Mon July 9, 2012 4:11 am

Roger Federer now shares the Wimbledon men's singles record with Pete Sampras and William Renshaw. Andy Murray had hoped to be the first Briton to win the Wimbledon title in 76 years. Linda Wertheimer talks to Doug Robson, who covered Wimbledon for USA Today, about the tournament.

Food
2:55 am
Mon July 9, 2012

Kansas City Hospital Offers Healthy Food Choices

Originally published on Tue July 10, 2012 6:51 am

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

One of the places you'd expect to find healthy food is in hospitals - boring, but healthy. But in recent decades, fast food restaurants have worked their way into hospitals around the country. That's despite growing evidence linking fast food menus to high rates of obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases. Elana Gordon from member station KCUR in Kansas City takes us to one place that has been wrestling with that situation.

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NPR Story
2:45 am
Mon July 9, 2012

Stafford Loans Interest Rate To Remain Steady

Originally published on Mon July 9, 2012 4:23 pm

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And for one more year, college students can access a certain kind of loan for the low rate of 3.4 percent. It's known as a Stafford loan, and the interest rate was set to double, until lawmakers managed to reach an agreement to keep the rate low, which in turn will keep college more affordable for more people.

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NPR Story
2:45 am
Mon July 9, 2012

The Last Word In Business

Originally published on Mon July 9, 2012 5:11 am

In France, 26 million customers lost mobile phone service for more than nine hours on Friday. France Telecom had crashed. For subscribers, that meant no calls, no texts and no mobile Internet.

Politics
2:09 am
Mon July 9, 2012

GOP To Make 31st Attempt To Repeal Obamacare Act

Originally published on Wed November 14, 2012 11:00 am

The House Rules Committee takes up a bill Monday called the "Repeal of Obamacare Act." And just like it says, the bill would wipe away the president's Affordable Care Act. A vote of the full House is planned for Wednesday.

It's the first legislative response from House Republicans after the Supreme Court upheld the law. But it is far from the first time the GOP has voted for repeal.

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Governing
1:05 am
Mon July 9, 2012

Justice's New Watchdog Meets Fast And Furious

Credit
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz is reviewing secret emails about the department's Fast and Furious operation.

Originally published on Mon July 9, 2012 3:28 am

The legal battle between Republican lawmakers and Attorney General Eric Holder over access to documents in a gun scandal could take months, if not years, to resolve.

But one man has already been sifting through secret emails about the operation known as Fast and Furious. He's Michael Horowitz, the Justice Department's new watchdog.

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AIDS: A Turning Point
1:04 am
Mon July 9, 2012

Botswana's 'Stunning Achievement' Against AIDS

Credit Jason Beaubien / NPR
Johane Setlhare began taking anti-AIDS drugs, provided by the government, in 2007. Two years later, he regained enough strength to build the house that's behind him.

Originally published on Tue July 10, 2012 6:50 am

The southern African nation of Botswana has one of the highest rates of HIV in the world. Nearly 25 percent of all adults in the country are infected with the virus. Only the nearby kingdom of Swaziland has a higher rate.

But Botswana is also remarkable for its response to the epidemic. It has one of the most comprehensive and effective HIV treatment programs in Africa. Transmission of HIV from infected mothers to their fetuses and newborn babies has been brought down to just 4 percent.

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Crime In The City
1:03 am
Mon July 9, 2012

Dark Doings Among The D.C. Monuments

Originally published on Mon July 9, 2012 8:47 am

In Washington, D.C., the glittering marble of public buildings and monuments can conceal the darkest of deeds. And in the crime novels of Mike Lawson, they do.

"When I started writing, the very first decision I made was, I wanted the book set in D.C.," says Lawson, who recently published his seventh Washington-based thriller, House Blood. "That was before I had a character, or anything else."

And he had a reason.

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The Salt
1:02 am
Mon July 9, 2012

Confusion At The Yogurt Aisle? Time for Probiotics 101

Credit M. Spencer Green / AP
Packages of Activa yogurt, which contain probiotics, on a grocery shelf in Chicago.

Originally published on Tue July 10, 2012 6:51 am

Researchers are studying the ability of beneficial micro-organisms - or probiotics - to treat a range of conditions from eczema to inflammatory bowel disease. And the idea that "good" bacteria are healthy for us is gaining traction.

But the science is tricky.

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Planet Money
10:10 am
Fri July 6, 2012

Rigging LIBOR: Banking Scandal Hits Home (Literally)

Credit Lefteris Pitarakis / AP

Originally published on Mon July 30, 2012 7:20 pm

The biggest scandal in the world right now has nothing to do with sex or celebrities. It's about an interest rate called LIBOR, or the London Interbank Offered Rate.

Most Americans probably never heard of LIBOR. When I first moved to New York, I hadn't. Back then, I could barely afford my apartment and got an adjustable rate mortgage. And so I wondered: When my rate adjusts, how will I know how much I'll be paying?

I searched through all the documents and it was right there — LIBOR. I would be paying a few percentage points above whatever LIBOR was.

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Around the Nation
5:43 am
Fri July 6, 2012

Car Hits Cross-Country Runner But She Keeps Going

Originally published on Mon July 30, 2012 7:05 pm

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep.

It is definitely wrong to hit and run, but it's a little impressive that a high school student was hit and kept running. Anaheim, California police say a high school cross country team was running when a turning car whacked one of the runners. The young woman was apparently determined, because she got backed up and ran away. The driver called after her to stop, stayed where he was and called police. The runner was eventually treated and suffered only minor injuries.

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