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Politics
4:00 am
Tue January 24, 2012

State Of The Union To Focus On The Economy

Originally published on Tue January 24, 2012 10:00 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. Good morning. I'm David Greene.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

A string of debates and primaries has kept the Republican presidential candidates in the spotlight this election season. Tonight, it's the president's turn to take center stage. President Obama will deliver the annual State of the Union Address, and in many ways kick off his own campaign for re-election. It's a reminder that Mr. Obama is running for president.

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Election 2012
4:00 am
Tue January 24, 2012

Romney, Gingrich Clash During GOP Debate In Tampa

Originally published on Tue January 24, 2012 10:00 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm David Greene.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

GREENE: The latest Republican debate - last night in Florida - was more subdued than when the candidates last took the stage, in South Carolina. But still, it contained plenty of sharp jabs. After it was over, another dramatic turn in the race, with new revelations about Mitt Romney's taxes. We'll explore those numbers in depth, in a few minutes.

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Around the Nation
4:00 am
Tue January 24, 2012

Mass. Senate Race To Block Third-Party Political Ads

The two dominant candidates for U.S. Senate from Massachusetts say they want to keep superPAC ads out of the state. Sen. Scott Brown and his Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren have signed a pledge requiring that each candidate donate half the cost of any outside ad to charity, if that ad either supports their candidacy or attacks their opponent.

Business
4:00 am
Tue January 24, 2012

First Woman Named CEO Of Brazil's State Oil Co.

Originally published on Tue January 24, 2012 10:00 am

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with another powerful woman in Brazil.

The Brazilian state oil company has a new chief executive. Her name is Maria das Gracas Foster. Petrobras is the world's fifth-largest oil producer, and Foster becomes the first woman to run a top-five oil company. This comes as the firm looks to double its production by 2020.

The company's stocks surged on news of the appointment. Foster will be the second-most powerful woman in Brazil, after the president. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Business
4:00 am
Tue January 24, 2012

Sen. Rand Paul Refuses TSA Pat Down

Originally published on Wed January 25, 2012 12:45 pm

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And our last word in business today is a pat-down throwdown. The Transportation Safety Administration says it did not detain Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. But officials at the agency did stop one of their most outspoken critics while he was going through the airport security line in Nashville yesterday.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

The Republican senator was going through a body scanner when the alarm went off. Apparently, it was an anomaly. Then, he refused to submit to a pat-down, so he was escorted out of the screening area.

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Around the Nation
3:49 am
Tue January 24, 2012

Online Lottery Could Be Coming To A State Near You

Credit iStockphoto.com
Several states — including Illinois and New York — are now pushing forward with plans to offer lotteries on the Internet.

Several states — including Illinois and New York — are now pushing forward with plans to offer lotteries on the Internet. That's in the aftermath of an opinion from the Justice Department, which reverses a long-standing policy and says states are free to conduct online gambling within their borders.

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It's All Politics
1:34 am
Tue January 24, 2012

Romney Redux: Did the Frontrunner Find A Way Back In?

Credit Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich debate at the University of South Florida in Tampa on Monday.

Originally published on Wed January 25, 2012 9:35 am

On Tuesday, it is likely the presidential campaign's focus will shift to Mitt Romney's tax returns, which show him making $42.5 million in 2010 and 2011. That number may be bigger than he can finesse by saying in essence: Don't hate me because I'm successful.

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It's All Politics
12:26 am
Tue January 24, 2012

Romney Attacks, Gingrich Doesn't As Both Give GOP Voters Reasons To Doubt

After Newt Gingrich's bravura performance in the final South Carolina debate and his drubbing of Mitt Romney on primary day, the former speaker's challenge in Monday night's debate in Tampa, Fla., was to maintain if not increase his momentum eight days before the Florida Republican presidential primary.

Meanwhile, Romney's challenge was to give his supporters who were shell-shocked by the Palmetto State results reasons to believe he had it in him to turn it around, to stand to do what needed to be done to beat Gingrich in Florida.

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Around the Nation
12:01 am
Tue January 24, 2012

In Conn., Tribes Hope To Win Big With Online Poker

Credit Mario Tama / Getty Images
Gamblers play on some of the more than 6,000 slot machines at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. The casino is owned and operated by the Mohegan Tribe.

Connecticut has two casinos that generate millions of dollars a year for the state. Following a recent change in the interpretation of regulations against online gambling, casino operators and state officials are closely watching to see what kind of impact online poker will have on their revenue.

Even though it's a weekday, there are plenty of people are sitting at slot machines or playing table games at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.

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Setting Out: New Grads' Quest For Work
12:01 am
Tue January 24, 2012

Landing A Job After A Year Of Rejection

Students graduating from college are entering perhaps the toughest, most uncertain job market in generations. In our series, we met recent grads who shared the frustrations and fears they faced as they set out in search of work. In this installment, we follow-up with one of our previous grads who has now landed a job after a yearlong search.

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Books
12:01 am
Tue January 24, 2012

How Dr. Seuss Got His Start 'On Mulberry Street'

Seventy five years ago, before Theodor Geisel rocked the culinary world with green eggs and ham or put a red-and-white striped top hat on a talking cat, Geisel (who you probably know better as Dr. Seuss) was stuck on a boat, returning from a trip to Europe.

For eight days, he listened to the ship's engine chug away. The sound got stuck in his head and he started writing to the rhythm. Eventually, those rhythmic lines in his head turned into his first children's book: It was called And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.

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The Picture Show
8:07 pm
Mon January 23, 2012

One Man's Quest To Capture America's Endangered Zoo Animals (With A Camera)

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 11:06 am

To spend a day in the life of National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore, there are a few things you have to get used to. Really long drives, for one. Tigers charging at you. And, of course ... well ... messes.

"I'm the only studio portrait photographer I know whose subjects routinely poop and pee on the background right in front of me," he says from behind the lens.

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A Blog Supreme
7:29 pm
Mon January 23, 2012

The Extraordinary Career Of A Man Who Managed Jazz Musicians

Credit Tom Pich / NEA
John Levy.

Originally published on Tue September 18, 2012 6:13 pm

This post was originally published shortly after John Levy's death late last week. Click the audio link above to hear a remembrance of Levy by NPR's Sami Yenigun.

This weekend, we learned that the jazz businessman John Levy died on Friday. His wife, Devra Hall Levy, announced the news on Saturday in a press release available on John Levy's website, Lushlife. He was nearly 100 years old.

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It's All Politics
6:34 pm
Mon January 23, 2012

Romney Renews Attack On Gingrich Over His Role At Freddie Mac

Credit PAUL J. RICHARDS / AFP/Getty Images
Newt Gingrich is refuting new attacks about his role at mortgage giant Freddie Mac. Gingrich's reflection is seen here as he walks out mirrored doors in Tampa, Fla. to deliver remarks and greet supporters on Jan. 23.

It didn't take Mitt Romney long to come out swinging in Florida after his stinging defeat in this weekend's South Carolina primary.

At a news conference in Florida, which holds the nation's next contest on Jan. 31, Romney called former House Speaker Newt Gingrich "erratic" and said his work for government-backed mortgage firm Freddie Mac could haunt the GOP in the form of "October surprises."

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Europe
6:22 pm
Mon January 23, 2012

EU Squeezes Iran With New Oil Sanctions

Credit Virginia Mayo / AP
The EU has agreed to an embargo on buying oil from Iran in the latest sanction against that country for its nuclear program. Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief, speaks here in Brussels on Monday following a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

The battle over Iran's nuclear program escalated Monday as the European Union announced an embargo on importing oil from Iran.

For years, Europe has been reluctant to join the United States in imposing tough sanctions on Iran. The United States years ago stopped buying Iranian oil, while European nations including France, Spain, Italy, and Greece kept up their purchases. European countries right now buy about 600,000 barrels of oil per day from Iran.

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The Two-Way
5:55 pm
Mon January 23, 2012

Washington Set To Be Seventh State To OK Same-Sex Marriages

Citing the Golden Rule and saying that "all men and women in our state [should] enjoy the same privileges that are so important in my life," the last legislator needed to pass same-sex marriage legislation in Washington State announced this afternoon that she will support the measure.

Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, a Democrat, posted a statement about her decision here.

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The Salt
5:47 pm
Mon January 23, 2012

Not Your Grandmother's Hospital Food

Credit iStockphoto.com
Hospital food is going from gruel to gourmet.

Hospital food, like airplane food, is the kind of institutional food we love to hate.

But the days of jello cups and puddles of grayish gravy are numbered.

A lot of people — from deep-pocketed foodies to fast-food lovers to locavores — aren't standing for barely edible hospital food anymore.

At one end of the spectrum, some hospitals are going extreme gourmet. And not just with spinach salad or whole grain rolls on the tray.

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Sports
5:20 pm
Mon January 23, 2012

Cash-Strapped L.A. Dodgers Shop For A New Owner

The Los Angeles Dodgers are one of professional sports' most storied franchises. But they're up for auction because much-maligned and outgoing owner Frank McCourt was forced to put the team under bankruptcy protection last summer.

Now, preliminary bids for the Dodgers are due on Monday. The team lost its luster during McCourt's ownership, but estimates for the winning bid range from $1.2 to $2 billion, dwarfing the record $845 million paid for the Chicago Cubs a couple of years ago.

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All Tech Considered
5:14 pm
Mon January 23, 2012

Stanford Takes Online Schooling To The Next Academic Level

Credit knowitvideos / vie YouTube
Stanford Engineering's Online Introduction To Artificial Intelligence is made up of videos that teach lessons by drawing them out with pen and paper.

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