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Environment
2:15 pm
Mon April 2, 2012

Seafloor Becomes Next Frontier For Gold Diggers

Filmmaker James Cameron recently reminded us of the wonders of the sea by diving solo in a submarine to the deepest spot in the ocean. Next year, if all goes as planned, a rather different expedition will take place 1,000 miles south of that dive: An Australian company will start mining for copper, gold, silver and zinc on the seafloor off the shore of Papua New Guinea.

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It's All Politics
2:07 pm
Mon April 2, 2012

Mitt Who? In Wisconsin, State Issues Eclipse Presidential Politics

Voters in Wisconsin's GOP primary Tuesday are poised to help former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney wrap up his dogged, well-financed quest for the Republican presidential nomination.

But the winner-take-all primary and Romney's drawn-out battle with former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum have been overshadowed by the campaign to recall GOP Gov. Scott Walker, whose anti-union efforts since his 2010 election have cleaved the Badger State.

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It's All Politics
2:06 pm
Mon April 2, 2012

'Mad Men' George Romney Swipe Incites Angry Tweet From Grandson Tagg

Credit Charles Dharapak / AP
Mitt Romney with campaign poster for his father, George, in Spartanburg, SC, January 2012.
The Two-Way
1:32 pm
Mon April 2, 2012

At Least One Dead In Shooting At Christian University In Oakland

Credit Noah Berger / AP
An Oakland police officer walks outside of Oikos University in Oakland, Calif., Monday.

Originally published on Mon April 2, 2012 7:22 pm

A gunman opened fire inside a Christian university in Oakland. Several people were shot and multiple people were dead at the Oikos University campus.

The Oakland Police Department tweeted that a "possible suspect" was in custody so there was "no imminent public safety threat."

Update at 9:19 p.m. Police Identify Suspect:

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Music Interviews
1:28 pm
Mon April 2, 2012

Hello? Is This The Country Album You're Looking For?

Credit Alan Silfen / UMG Nashville
"If I had to have another title for this record besides Tuskegee," Lionel Richie says, "it would be called All the Songs That They Told Me Would Ruin My Career."

Originally published on Mon April 2, 2012 3:12 pm

You know who's got a country album out right now? Lionel Richie. The same Lionel Richie who started his career in the funk band The Commodores — that's right, the group that made "Brick House."

But on his new album, titled Tuskegee, country artists from Tim McGraw to Darius Rucker re-imagine the ballads that made Richie famous. These are the songs that have become slow-dance staples at proms and weddings everywhere.

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Africa
1:12 pm
Mon April 2, 2012

Once-Thriving Egyptian Port Suffers After Soccer Riot

Originally published on Mon April 2, 2012 3:12 pm

The Egyptian city of Port Said is the northern gateway to one of the world's key shipping lanes, the Suez Canal connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. With its ornate buildings and clean streets, the sprawling city has one of the highest standards of living in Egypt.

But this year, Port Said has become known for something more sinister: It was the site of Egypt's deadliest soccer riot.

Many of the city's officials and residents say the tragedy has destroyed Port Said's reputation and left them in financial trouble.

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The Two-Way
12:35 pm
Mon April 2, 2012

ABC News: Enhanced Video Shows Injury To Zimmerman's Head

Credit ABC News
From the enhanced version of the video, showing what may be a gash on George Zimmerman's head.

Reporting that it has had the video "clarified" by a forensics company, ABC News is now saying that a police surveillance recording of George Zimmerman "shows the neighborhood watch captain with an injury to the back of his head."

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The Salt
12:19 pm
Mon April 2, 2012

French Muslims Ease Cultural Tensions With French-Halal Food

Credit Les Enfants Terrible
Sofiane, left, and Kamel Saidi, right, are French-Algerian brothers who own Les Enfants Terrible.

On a recent evening, Les Enfants Terribles, a Paris restaurant that serves French cuisine cooked with halal meat, was brimming with customers.

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Middle East
12:05 pm
Mon April 2, 2012

Syrian Exiles Seek To Spread Word On Internet Radio

Credit Rodrigo Abd / AP
Protests in Syria have carried on despite the crackdown by the government's security forces. New Start Radio, an Internet radio station, has reported on events by speaking to citizen journalists around the country. Here, protesters take part in a March 2 demonstration in northern Syria.

Originally published on Mon April 2, 2012 3:12 pm

We can't tell you where Hussam and Rania live, but we can tell you they used to live in Syria's capital, Damascus.

Hussam was a creative director at a small marketing company he founded with a friend. Rania was the morning host for a radio station owned by the cousin of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Then came the protests all around Syria. Then came the phone call.

"The radio station called me, at home, and they said, 'Rania we have to say the truth,' " Rania says.

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Shots - Health Blog
11:59 am
Mon April 2, 2012

Just A Dirty Diaper, Or Worse? Smelly Urine May Mean Infection

Credit Swilmor / iStockphoto.com
Stinky urine in a feverish child should be a red flag for doctors.

If you've spent any time around very young children, you know they can sometimes be pretty stinky. But particularly pungent urine in a child who is fussy or feverish could be a sign of infection.

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The Two-Way
11:55 am
Mon April 2, 2012

Annan: Syria Agrees To Pull Troops From Cities By April 10

Credit Stan Honda / AFP/Getty Images
Bashar Ja'afari, Syria's Ambassador to the United Nations, points to reporters asking questions as he speaks to the media outside Security Council chambers on Monday.

Syria will abide by the international peace plan and remove its troops from cities by April 10, Kofi Annan, the U.N. envoy to the country, told the Security Council.

The AP reports:

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The Two-Way
11:05 am
Mon April 2, 2012

Clang! Three Reasons Why Many Shots May Miss Tonight

Credit Ronald Martinez / Getty Images
Anthony Davis of Kentucky during Saturday's victory over Louisville.
  • From 'Morning Edition'

Two "powerhouse" programs — Kansas and Kentucky.

Rosters full of potential NBA stars.

All the hype you would expect from an NCAA men's basketball championship.

But, alas, don't be surprised if there aren't as many "silky smooth jumpers" and other great shots as you might expect during tonight's big game, NPR's Mike Pesca reports.

Three things are working against the teams:

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The Two-Way
10:50 am
Mon April 2, 2012

Global Payments Says 1.5 Million Credit Card Numbers May Be Compromised

Credit Elaine Thompson / AP
A customer swipes a MasterCard debit card through a machine while checking-out at a shop in Seattle.

Global Payments, a third-party processor of credit card payments for Visa, MasterCard and Discover, said late last night that the data breach made public last week may have risked about 1.5 million credit card numbers.

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The Two-Way
10:35 am
Mon April 2, 2012

Coming Up: Obama News Conference With Leaders Of Canada And Mexico

Originally published on Mon April 2, 2012 12:50 pm

"It's constitutional," President Obama declared this afternoon when asked about the 2010 health care overhaul legislation that was the subject of three days' worth of Supreme Court hearings last week.

He's confident a majority of the justices will agree, Obama added. Many Supreme Court watchers are less certain.

The president make those comments in response to a question that came up during a joint news conference at the White House with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

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Election 2012
10:00 am
Mon April 2, 2012

Romney Looks For Knock Out Punch

More delegates are up for grabs as the GOP primaries move to Wisconsin, Maryland and Washington D.C. Politicos are closely watching the Badger State, where Rick Santorum is hoping for a boost from rural voters, and Mitt Romney is looking for a decisive victory. Guest host Jacki Lyden speaks with analysts Mary Kate Cary and Cynthia Tucker.

The Two-Way
9:53 am
Mon April 2, 2012

Palin: 'That's A Fine How Do You Do'

Credit The Today Show
Gov. Palin will be on The Today Show Tuesday.

The morning TV air wars get serious again Tuesday with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's guest host slot on NBC's The Today Show — opposite former CBS Evening News' anchor Katie Couric's guest slot on ABC's Good Morning America.

In the lead-in to the faceoff, there was some fun on Today today.

During a phone call with Palin, host Matt Lauer wondered "what are you doing to prepare? Are you reading some newspapers?"

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U.S.
9:30 am
Mon April 2, 2012

N.H. Parents On Their Own In Abuse, Neglect Cases

Credit iStockphoto.com
The New Hampshire Supreme Court is expected to rule on whether it is constitutional to require indigent parents to represent themselves in child abuse or neglect proceedings.

Originally published on Mon April 2, 2012 3:12 pm

In most places in the U.S., if a parent is charged with abuse or neglect of a child and can't afford a lawyer, he's appointed one. That lawyer's job is to defend the parent and reunite the family if possible.

But faced with a budget shortfall, New Hampshire has taken the unusual step of eliminating that funding.

The court and state officials charged with enforcing the new policy now worry that the lack of representation is hurting parents and their children — and children's advocates are concerned that other states may eventually follow New Hampshire's lead.

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Shots - Health Blog
9:28 am
Mon April 2, 2012

Health Insurers Move Ahead, With Or Without Individual Mandate

For the health policy world, the Supreme Court's tough questioning of the individual mandate last week was a seismic event.

But in Hartford, Conn., the city sometimes called the epicenter of the insurance industry, David Cordani isn't quaking.

Cordani is the CEO of Cigna, the nation's fourth-largest health insurer. He says the insurance industry started changing itself before the Affordable Care Act became law in 2010. And the changes will continue regardless of what happens at the high court.

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Krulwich Wonders...
9:08 am
Mon April 2, 2012

To Map Or Not To Map The Brain? That's Tonight's Question

Originally published on Mon April 2, 2012 10:35 am

"Mind is such an odd predicament for matter to get into," says the poet Diane Ackerman. "If a mind is just a few pounds of blood, dream and electric, how does it manage to contemplate itself? Worry about its soul? Do time and motion studies? Admire the shy hooves of a goat? Know that it will die?

...How can a neuron feel compassion?"

Yes, how?

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Arts & Life
9:05 am
Mon April 2, 2012

Fashion's New 'It' Girl ... And Boy: Andrej Pejic

Credit Richard Drew / AP
During a recent photo shoot, Andrej Pejic poses on a rooftop in New York City. The 20-year-old has modeled both menswear and women's wear for some of the world's top designers.
The Two-Way
9:00 am
Mon April 2, 2012

'Kony 2012' Sequel Due Tuesday

Credit Facebook.com/invisiblechildren

The activist group behind the "Kony 2012" movement and Web video that went viral in March says it will release "Kony 2012, Part II" on Tuesday.

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Technology
8:47 am
Mon April 2, 2012

Fixing The Cutting-Edge: Innovation Meets Table Saw

Originally published on Wed April 4, 2012 9:14 am

When you think of cutting-edge technology, power tools don't generally come to mind. Take the table saw: Many woodworkers are using 30-year-old saws in their wood shops and, among the major tool companies, there hasn't been much innovation since those decades-old tools came out.

But more and more inventors are trying to make these saws safer — and David Butler is one of them. At his home in Cape Cod, Mass., Butler flips on the fluorescent lights in his basement turned wood shop.

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The Two-Way
8:15 am
Mon April 2, 2012

Construction Spending Dips, But Manufacturing Expands

There was a 1.1 percent decline in spending on construction in February vs. January, the Census Bureau just reported. But spending was still 5.8 percent above the level of February 2011.

According to the bureau, spending on home construction was unchanged in February from the month before. Public construction spending was down 1.7 percent.

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The Two-Way
7:50 am
Mon April 2, 2012

Irish Protest Against Household Tax As Austerity Pain Bites Further

Credit Shawn Pogatchnik / AP
Phyllis O'Toole joined an estimated 5,000 demonstrators in the streets of Dublin on Saturday (March 31, 2012).

Originally published on Mon April 2, 2012 8:55 am

House prices have crashed. Banks and businesses have failed. Jobs have been axed. People are struggling to make the mortgage.

The Republic of Ireland's 4.6 million people have suffered considerably since the financial crisis began four years ago, forcing their government to turn to the European Union and International Monetary Fund for a $90 billion bail-out.

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Shots - Health Blog
6:49 am
Mon April 2, 2012

Caffeine Might Keep Moms Awake, But Not Their Babies

Credit Sean Locke / iStockphoto.com
Moms, it's not the coffee that's keeping baby awake.

Mothers of new babies might be forgiven for turning to caffeine to get through those sleep-deprived months. And they might worry that drinking coffee interferes with the sleep of breast-fed babies — the Web is full of such questions. But a new study says it's not so.

Instead, researchers in Brazil found that the babies of heavy coffee drinkers were no more likely to wake up than were babies whose moms didn't have a serious espresso habit.

Crying and colic at 3 months old, as well as frequent night waking at 12 months, were not affected by a mom's caffeine intake.

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The Two-Way
6:45 am
Mon April 2, 2012

Bin Laden's Wives, Daughters Sentenced To 45 Days Detention, Deportation

Credit Aamir Qureshi / AFP/Getty Images
Pakistani security personnel stand guard outside the house in Islamabad where family members of al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden are being held.

"A Pakistani court on Monday convicted Osama bin Laden's three widows and two of his grown-up daughters of illegal residency, sentencing them to 45 days detention and ordering their deportation," Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reports.

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The Two-Way
6:10 am
Mon April 2, 2012

Mega Millions Mystery: Who Won?

Credit Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images

The wait continues to see who bought the three winning tickets in Friday's record $656 million Mega Millions lottery drawing.

If for some reason you haven't checked yet (yeah, right!) the winning numbers were 2, 4, 23, 38, 46 and the mega ball was 23.

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Around the Nation
5:49 am
Mon April 2, 2012

The 1940 Census: 72-Year-Old Secrets Revealed

Nylon stockings became all the rage. Black fedoras were the "pure quill" — meaning the real deal. Bing Crosby crooned Only Forever on the console. And Hattie McDaniel was the first African-American actor ever to take home an Oscar.

Ah, 1940. Three score and 12 years ago, America was in a very different place — economically and culturally.

But on April 2, 2012, when the National Archives releases detailed data from the 1940 census, we will get an even keener idea of how much — or how little — this nation has really changed in the past 72 years.

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Europe
5:28 am
Mon April 2, 2012

Whiskey Label Honors Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth is marking 60 years on the throne, and Johnny Walker wanted to do something special. The whiskey label released a new blend called Diamond Jubilee. It's been distilling since 1952, and a bottle costs $200,000.

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