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2:53am

Wed April 11, 2012
Around the Nation

Unknown No More: Identifying A Civil War Soldier

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 10:53 am

A Washington, D.C.-area collector and his family have donated more than 1,000 Civil War photographs to the Library of Congress. But you won't find the men in these photos in history books — they're enlisted soldiers, and most of them are unidentified.

In one striking photo, the man depicted has crazy sideburns, a steady expression, and very clear eyes — maybe gray, or perhaps blue. He holds a rifled musket at his side. He is a Union soldier in the Civil War. And the only things we know about him are what we can learn from a single photo.

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2:52am

Wed April 11, 2012
National Security

Alleged Cole Bomber's Testimony Could Be Secret

In a courtroom at Guantanamo Bay on Wednesday, the man accused of masterminding the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, is expected to testify about the more than four years he spent in secret CIA prisons. Al-Nashiri is one of three terrorism suspects the U.S. government has admitted to waterboarding, so his testimony could be explosive. And that's why, critics argue, the government is trying to ensure that al-Nashiri's testimony be heard in secret.

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10:00pm

Tue April 10, 2012
Sweetness And Light

The NCAA: Is Membership Worth It?

Originally published on Wed April 11, 2012 12:01 am

Credit Darron Cummings / AP
NCAA President Mark Emmert delivers his State of the Association speech on Jan. 12 during the organization's annual convention in Indianapolis.

Just as the public has lately been surprised to discover that football is really a very perilous game for your head, those Americans who do not pay that much attention to sports have been brought up short recently to learn better what an incredibly hypocritical and autocratic cartel is the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

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7:43pm

Tue April 10, 2012
News

Tulsa Shootings Reopen Old Wounds

At a press conference in Tulsa, Okla., following the targeted shootings of five African-Americans last week, the optics were as important as the substance of the news.

The mayor and police chief pleaded for the public's help in capturing the suspects, while behind those two white men stood a pair of Tulsa's most influential black leaders — the lone African-American member of the City Council and the president of the local NAACP.

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7:26pm

Tue April 10, 2012
Around the Nation

Zimmerman's Attorneys Withdraw As Counsel

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Audie Cornish.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

And I'm Robert Siegel.

In Sanford, Florida, there's been a new development in the Trayvon Martin shooting case. Late today, attorneys for the admitted shooter, George Zimmerman, said they are no longer representing him. Attorney Craig Sonner says they haven't spoken to Zimmerman since Sunday.

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6:58pm

Tue April 10, 2012
Shots - Health Blog

Panel Proposes A New Tax To Pay For Public Health

It may sound counterintuitive, but a panel of experts from the Institute of Medicine has concluded that the best way to slow the nation's breakneck spending on medical care is to impose a tax on every health care transaction.

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5:47pm

Tue April 10, 2012
The Two-Way

Iran Seeks To Set Record Straight On Intranet 'Hoax,' Cites April 1

Iranian officials spoke out Tuesday to insist that reports that the country is killing access to the Internet are grossly exaggerated. Several news outlets had picked up on a report from Reporters Without Borders — a report that contains the information that "Iran has announced the launch of a national Internet."

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4:52pm

Tue April 10, 2012
The Two-Way

Zimmerman's Lawyers Withdraw From Trayvon Martin Case

Lawyers for George Zimmerman in the case of the shooting death of Trayvon Martin say they are no longer representing the man who killed the unarmed Florida teenager.

Defense attorneys Craig Sonner and Hal Uhrig announced their decision in an appearance outside the Seminole County Courthouse in Sanford, Fla.

The two lawyers said that they had fallen out of contact with Zimmerman.

Uhrig also said that he "heard today" that Zimmerman had been in direct contact with the special prosecutor in the Martin case, according to Reuters.

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4:38pm

Tue April 10, 2012
Religion

A Church Divided: Ruling Ends Va.'s Episcopal Battle

On a bright Sunday morning in the tiny town of Heathsville, Va., Jeffrey Cerar surveys the church he's preached in for the past 15 years — its 130-year-old wooden pews, its stained glass windows, its paschal candles, its cross.

"Virtually everything you see here is going to stay; the high altar, the credence table, the hymnals and books of common prayer will all stay," he says. "The Bibles will go with us."

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4:38pm

Tue April 10, 2012
Middle East

Despite Deadline, No Letup In Syrian Fighting

After more than a year of fighting in Syria, the peace plan brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan appeared to be the most serious effort yet to end the bloodletting.

But on a day when Syrian army tanks were supposed to pull back from Syrian cities, opposition groups said there were fresh attacks Tuesday in the central city of Homs and several other cities.

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4:35pm

Tue April 10, 2012
Theater

Encore! Encore! Applauding The Literal Showstopper

Originally published on Wed April 11, 2012 2:26 pm

Earlier this month, tenor Juan Diego Florez made headlines when he sang the aria "Una furtiva lagrima" in the Donizetti opera L'elisir D'Amore at the Metropolitan Opera — not once, but twice.

The audience responded so enthusiastically that after well over a minute of applause and shouts of "Encore!" he sang the whole thing again — all five minutes of it.

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4:15pm

Tue April 10, 2012
The Record

Everybody Wants To Be A K-Pop Singer

Credit Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images
South Korean girl group Girls' Generation onstage during the Seoul Music Awards in January.

4:13pm

Tue April 10, 2012
The Two-Way

Beach Volleyball Star Walsh Has Sights On London, And Babies In Diapers

U.S. beach volleyball star Kerri Walsh is honing her game for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where she and her playing partner, Misty May-Treanor, hope to continue a streak of dominance that goes back to the 2004 games in Athens and Beijing in 2008.

Speaking with Morning Edition co-host Renee Montagne, Walsh says the duo's effort to represent the United States this summer is going well.

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3:55pm

Tue April 10, 2012
It's All Politics

What Santorum's Exit Means For Romney

Credit Steven Senne / AP
Mitt Romney now can work on getting the entire Republican Party behind him and focus singly on attacking President Obama's record.

That sigh of relief you heard coming from the direction of Boston was Mitt Romney's campaign operation, now that it no longer needs to expend any more resources trying to drive Rick Santorum from the contest for the Republican presidential nomination.

Aside from the money and brainpower that the Romney campaign can now target at President Obama as it rotates fully to general-election-campaign mode, the GOP front-runner has, even more important, finally freed himself from his last significant anyone-but-Romney challenger.

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3:00pm

Tue April 10, 2012
NPR Story

Legal Definitions Of Hate Crimes Vary

Audie Cornish talks to Chris Benson, associate professor of journalism and African American studies at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, about what constitutes a hate crime and what role it's playing in recent headlines.

3:00pm

Tue April 10, 2012
NPR Story

Critics: Suspending Marlins' Manager Not Enough

The manager of the Miami Marlins, Ozzie Guillen, apologized for comments praising Fidel Castro on Tuesday. Guillen has been suspended for five games because of the remarks. He now says he'll do whatever he can to repair relations with angry Cuban-Americans.

2:58pm

Tue April 10, 2012
Shots - Health Blog

Tax Aid For Hearing Aids? Maybe

Credit Marek Brzezinski / iStockphoto.com
Traditional Medicare doesn't pay for hearing aids, so some in Congress would like to give purchasers a tax break.

Hearing loss is all too common.

Some 35 million people have trouble hearing. After high blood pressure and arthritis, it's third on the list of chronic health issues for seniors.

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2:53pm

Tue April 10, 2012
Music

Don't Try THIS Ultimate Workout At Home

Credit Chad Bonanno / Courtesy of LuciRomberg.com
Luci "Steel" Romberg is a stuntwoman and one of the world's top female freerunners.

2:40pm

Tue April 10, 2012
U.S.

Tulsa Mourns Man Who 'Never Met A Stranger'

Originally published on Thu April 12, 2012 5:57 pm

Three people were killed in last week's shootings in Tulsa, Okla.: Dannaer Fields, 49; William Allen, 31; and Bobby Clark, 54. Two others were wounded in the shootings. All of them were shot — apparently at random — in the predominantly black neighborhood of Northgate in northern Tulsa.

It was Bobby Clark's brother, Donny, who first found him after the fatal shooting.

"I came through there and I realized it was my brother laying in the street," Clark says. "They shot him under the armpit, and I think it hit his heart."

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2:37pm

Tue April 10, 2012
Rick Santorum

In Defeat, Santorum Becomes Conservative Champion

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 10:54 am

Despite falling short in the quest for the Republican presidential nomination, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum has established himself as one of the dominant conservative voices in America, particularly when it comes to social issues such as abortion and birth control.

Santorum announced Tuesday that he is suspending his quest for the presidency.

Santorum ultimately chose to suspend his campaign ahead of the April 24 primary in Pennsylvania. A loss on his political home turf would have done serious damage to his future electoral prospects.

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