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There was more gloomy news for the eurozone this week. Italy's debt rating was lowered, people in Spain took to the streets and Germany's highest court heard arguments against measures central to efforts to contain the crisis. Host Scott Simon talks with NPR's Eric Westervelt about the week's financial news.

Finding the Higgs boson was an important discovery. But for all of the publicity the particle has received, how many could explain what it does? Host Scott Simon talks with the researchers who have turned the recently discovered Higgs boson into music.

NPR and the Center for Public Integrity reported this week that black lung, the deadly disease that strikes coal miners, is a growing problem again. NPR's Howard Berkes tells host Scott Simon that weak regulation and industry deception thwarted efforts to control the coal mine dust that causes black lung.

Saturday is Bastille Day, and the Tour de France is underway. Nearly 200 cyclists have just finished a grueling three-day stretch in the mountains and are headed down to the southern coast. Host Scott Simon talks about the race and its so-called doping era with reporter Joe Lindsey of Bicycling Magazine.

President Obama is campaigning in Virginia. He'll be in the suburbs of Richmond and Washington, D.C., Saturday. Friday, the president traveled to the tidewater region of southeastern Virginia, where he continued to make his pitch that he's the best champion for the middle class. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.

Credit card companies Visa and MasterCard along with major banks have agreed to pay several billion dollars to settle a lawsuit brought by retailers. The deal is one of the largest anti-trust settlements in history. The retailers claimed that Visa, MasterCard and the banks conspired to fix the fees that stores pay to accept credit and debit cards. NPR's Wendy Kaufman reports.

Singer-guitarist Dave Longstreth says the essence of Dirty Projectors' music isn't its difficulty, but rather a commitment to the process of songwriting.

Observers have entered the town of Tremseh to investigate an attack reported to be the bloodiest so far in the uprising against President Bashar Assad.

In some of the dirtiest places on Earth, author and environmentalist Andrew Blackwell found something worth looking at. His book, Visit Sunny Chernobyl, tours the deforestation of the Amazon, the oil sand mines in Canada and the world's most polluted city, located in China.

Pennsylvania used to have broad coverage of dental care for Medicare beneficiaries. But cuts to the state budget have led the Medicaid program to cover only basic dental services.