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5:39pm

Fri March 2, 2012
It's All Politics

Santorum, Romney Vie For 'Center Of The Political Universe': Ohio

Republicans in 10 states will vote on Super Tuesday next week, and the general election battleground state of Ohio may be the most coveted prize.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports that both Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum are pushing hard for the state, where 63 delegates are at stake.

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5:38pm

Fri March 2, 2012
U.S.

Air Force Mortuary Official Resigns Amid Scandal

Originally published on Fri March 2, 2012 5:46 pm

Credit Brendan Hoffman / Getty Images
The remains of a U.S. Army private arrive at Dover Air Force Base for a transfer ceremony last November. The mortuary at Dover Air Force Base has come under accusations that body parts of the nation's war dead were cremated and the ashes dumped in a Virginia landfill.

One of three officials accused of mismanaging the mortuary at Dover Air Force Base, Del., and of retaliating against three whistle-blowers, has resigned.

The Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal investigative agency, said Friday that Quinton Keel had resigned and that it is in touch with Air Force officials about their final decisions on disciplinary action against the two other accused officials.

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5:25pm

Fri March 2, 2012
The Two-Way

Widespread Tornadoes Across Tennessee And Ohio Valleys Leave Three Dead

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 10:59 am

Yet another line of extreme weather is cutting across a wide swath of the country today. On Wednesday, tornadoes pounded some of the same areas and caused 13 deaths.

The AP reports that 14 people have been killed in southern Indiana. (Keep in mind that in these situations, this number is bound to change.)

RTV 6 in Indianapolis reports that authorities are still trying to get a handle on the damage.

The local station reports:

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5:00pm

Fri March 2, 2012
The Two-Way

Mine Safety Officials Ditched Safety Citation Fearing Congressional Scrutiny

Originally published on Fri March 2, 2012 7:25 pm

NPR has obtained a report from the Inspector General of the Labor Department that describes an incident last year in which the nation's coal mine safety chief and agency lawyers withdrew a legitimate safety citation and order "not based upon the merits" but "to avoid the appearance of retaliation and possible Congressional scrutiny."

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4:47pm

Fri March 2, 2012
World

Mexican Drug Cartel Targets Australia

Australia is a huge island, with stretches of lonely, rocky coastline that extend for thousands of miles. What's more, there are lots of harbors and airports.

In short, opportunities are plentiful for an enterprising Mexican drug trafficker to move his product 8,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean to service the vibrant new market Down Under.

One such drug lord is Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman, head of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel. He's a cunning, small-statured, exceedingly dangerous outlaw recently dubbed "the world's most powerful drug trafficker" by the U.S. Treasury Department.

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4:39pm

Fri March 2, 2012
Sports

MLS's New Spring Idea: Beckham Bends It In Tucson

For Major League Soccer, spring training has meant playing exhibition games all over the continent. Until now.

MLS now wants to emulate baseball — much to the delight of fans in Tucson, Ariz., a city that Major League Baseball left behind.

The defending MLS champions, the L.A. Galaxy, are in Tucson with teams from New York, New England and Salt Lake. They're playing in a two-week tournament called the Desert Diamond Cup.

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4:36pm

Fri March 2, 2012
The Salt

Kids Don't Mind If You Put Veggies In The Cake

Credit Robert Linton / iStockphoto.com
Chocolate chip cookies don't seem to be a great vehicle for chickpeas, according to kids.

Will kids eat their veggies if they're inside desserts? Parents and nutritionists have been debating this question for years.

Now, it seems there's an answer: Yes, if it's broccoli in the cake. No, if it's chickpeas in the chocolate-chip cookies.

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4:35pm

Fri March 2, 2012
Around the Nation

Tourism Boom Pays Off For N.Y. Hotel Union

Originally published on Fri March 2, 2012 6:01 pm

Credit Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images
New York hotel workers protest at a hearing for former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn in June 2011. Under a new contract, workers will receive "panic buttons" to use if they fear for their safety. They also won several other significant benefits.

When the New York Hotel Trades Council ratified a new contract for hotel workers last month, much of the media coverage focused on "panic buttons." Coming after the sexual assault allegations against former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the idea of housekeepers wearing a badge that could call for help was all over the news.

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4:34pm

Fri March 2, 2012
The Two-Way

Rescued Photographer: In Syria 'It's Not A War, It's A Massacre'

Credit AFP/Getty Images
An image grab from a video uploaded on YouTube shows Paul Conroy in the Syrian city of Homs.

The British photographer who was rescued from Syria gave his first interview to Sky News today.

Paul Conroy, who was injured during the shelling of the Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs, said that what he saw in the city was a "massacre beyond measure."

"It's not a war, it's a massacre," he said. "An indiscriminate massacre of men, women and children."

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4:21pm

Fri March 2, 2012
Sports

With Playoff Expansion, Baseball Goes Wilder

Credit Patrick Smith / Getty Images
Manager Fredi Gonzalez was the face of frustration when his Atlanta Braves collapsed last year and missed the playoffs on the last day of the season. If this season's rules had applied, he might've been smiling: The Braves and the Boston Red Sox would've made the postseason.

Major League Baseball expanded its playoff format to 10 teams Friday, adding a second wild-card in each league.

The decision establishes a new one-game, wild-card round in each league between the teams with the best records who are not division winners, meaning a third-place team could win the World Series.

This is the only change in baseball's playoff structure since the 1995 season, when wild-card teams were first added.

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4:18pm

Fri March 2, 2012
It's All Politics

Obama Phones His Support To Fluke, Law Student Limbaugh Derided

Originally published on Fri March 2, 2012 5:01 pm

Credit Alex Wong / Getty Images
Law student Sandra Fluke talking to House Democrats, February 23, 2012.

In a move certain to bring even more attention to one of the latest media tempests, President Obama on Friday got on the phone to encourage the Georgetown University law student disparaged by conservative radio superstar Rush Limbaugh with misogynistic epithets.

Sandra Fluke, who is also an activist, was about to appear on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports when she took a phone call from the White House. It was the president. As an emotional Fluke explained once she was in front of the cameras with Mitchell:

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4:03pm

Fri March 2, 2012
Europe

After Fraud Charges, Russian Election Under Scrutiny

Originally published on Fri March 2, 2012 6:01 pm

Just three months ago, Russia's parliamentary elections prompted widespread allegations of fraud and drove thousands of protesters into the streets in the days afterward.

The Russian government and government critics both say they are trying to prevent a similar outcome in Sunday's presidential poll.

Valdimir Putin, who has been either the president or the prime minister for the past 12 years, is widely expected to win another six-year term as president. But the credibility of Russian elections is also at stake.

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3:42pm

Fri March 2, 2012
Shots - Health Blog

Cancer Drugs Thwart Ebola In Lab

Credit Frederick Murphy / CDC
The Ebola virus causes a hemorrhagic fever that can be deadly.

Ebola is one virus you never want to catch. Ever.

After some aches and a fever, many infected people develop uncontrolled bleeding. The mortality rates from Ebola infection can run as high as 90 percent.

There's no cure for Ebola. But a group of scientists is exploring whether some drugs already approved to treat cancer might help tame the virus.

Sounds wild. But there's a reason — and now some evidence — to think it might work.

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3:38pm

Fri March 2, 2012
Music Interviews

Estelle: Coming To America

Originally published on Sat March 3, 2012 10:48 am

Credit Keith Major
Estelle's new album is titled All of Me.

Estelle Swaray is a Londoner. But for the past few years, the British singer best known for the song "American Boy" (her 2008 Grammy-winning hit with Kanye West) has called the U.S. home. It was a particular American boy, she says, who convinced her to make the move.

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3:34pm

Fri March 2, 2012
Monkey See

Jennifer Lopez In 'Q'Viva': A Talent Search Goes Bilingual, With A Dash Of Drama

Their marriage may be over, but singers Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony have come together for a new TV show that seeks out talent from throughout Latin America. It's been airing on Spanish language TV in the U.S. and in 21 countries. And as NPR's Mandalit del Barco reports on today's All Things Considered, the show will also premiere on Fox this weekend, with English subtitles.

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3:31pm

Fri March 2, 2012
Winter Songs

Heating Up The Kitchen To Vampire Weekend's 'Horchata'

Credit rogerimp via Flickr
NPR listener Amanda Sauermann has never had horchata, but Vampire Weekend's song of the same name kept her warm during a rough winter.

All winter long, we've brought you songs that evoke the season. Yeah, we know it's March, but since winter doesn't officially end for another few weeks, we still have time to bring you a musical memory of a cold night from one of our listeners, Amanda Sauermann from Gracey, Ky. Her winter song is "Horchata" by Vampire Weekend.

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3:21pm

Fri March 2, 2012
Movie Reviews

'Being Flynn': Taking In A Prodigal Father

Credit Focus Features
After almost two decades of estrangement, fractious writer Jonathan Flynn (Robert De Niro, right) gets in contact with his adult son Nick (Paul Dano) when he's forced to leave his apartment.

Robert De Niro's last outing with director Paul Weitz was less than auspicious: The comedy Little Fockers received terrible reviews. Being Flynn, their second collaboration, is a more serious affair about the estranged relationship between a fractious father and his son.

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3:03pm

Fri March 2, 2012
World Cafe

Dr. Dog On World Cafe

Originally published on Mon June 25, 2012 12:22 pm

Credit Chris Crisman
Dr. Dog.

The Philadelphia pop-rock band Dr. Dog has continued to get better since forming in the early 2000s. The group's seven albums of layered psychedelia are deeply influenced by the best of '60s pop, adding up to a sound that's both timeless and classic.

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2:53pm

Fri March 2, 2012
The Two-Way

U.N. Panel Says Findings On Gadhafi's Death Are Inconclusive

Credit Mahmud Turkia / AFP/Getty Images
The late Moammar Gadhafi attends the opening session of the Africa-EU summit in November 2010.

A United Nations expert panel found that both sides in the conflict leading up to Moammar Gadhafi's demise in Libya last year were responsible for war crimes.

The AP reports:

"The U.N.-appointed Commission of Inquiry on Libya says in its report published Friday that "international crimes, specifically crimes against humanity and war crimes, were committed by Gadhafi forces."

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2:43pm

Fri March 2, 2012
The Salt

American History Baked Into The Loaves Of White Bread

Credit Greg Lehman / Courtesy Beacon Press
Aaron Bobrow-Strain is an associate professor of politics at Whitman College. He specializes in the politics of the global food system.

White bread, like vanilla, is one of those foods that's become a metaphor for blandness. But it wasn't always that way.

Aaron Bobrow-Strain, professor of food politics at Whitman College, tells Weekend Edition's Rachel Martin that white bread was a deeply contentious food — ever since the early 1900s' ideas of "racial purity" up to the cultural revolution of the 1960s. He documents that cultural legacy in his new book, White Bread: A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf.

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