Politics
3:19 pm
Fri April 27, 2012

Holder: 'More Work To Do' Before Term Is Over

Originally published on Fri April 27, 2012 5:05 pm

Attorney General Eric Holder — the first African-American to hold the nation's top law enforcement job — is in the homestretch of his first, and probably last, full term in the post.

And after more than three years on the job, Holder is in an unusually reflective mood. He's thinking about the country's ongoing struggle over civil rights and what he wants to accomplish in his last months of government service.

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Middle East
2:58 pm
Fri April 27, 2012

In A Change, Turkey Tightens Its Border With Syria

Credit Bulent Kilic / AFP/Getty Images
Turkish army personnel patrol near the border with Syria in Kilis earlier this month. Activists and smugglers say it's getting harder to get medical and communications equipment into Syria across the Turkish border.

Originally published on Fri April 27, 2012 5:05 pm

The spring sun is warming the fields and orchards along the Turkey-Syria border, and new refugee camps are sprouting as well.

Smugglers who have long worked these mountain border trails are now busy moving civilians out of Syria to the safety of Turkish camps. They're also moving medical and communications equipment and people into opposition-held neighborhoods in Syria. But recently, some say that's getting harder.

A smuggler known as Abu Ayham says Turkish guards, who used to permit nonlethal aid to pass freely, have suddenly grown much tougher on the smugglers.

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NPR Story
2:57 pm
Fri April 27, 2012

Week In Politics: GDP, European Debt Crisis

Originally published on Fri April 27, 2012 5:05 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And we turn now to our Friday political commentators, E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post and the Brookings Institution and David Brooks of the New York Times. Welcome back to you both.

DAVID BROOKS: Good to be here.

E.J. DIONNE: Good to be with you.

BLOCK: Happy birthday week to you, E.J.

DIONNE: Thank you.

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Shots - Health Blog
2:52 pm
Fri April 27, 2012

Nonprofit Hospitals Faulted For Stinginess With Charity Care

Credit Jenny Gold / Kaiser Health News
Lori Duff with her baby, Henry, and other son, Logan, at home in Columbus, Ohio.

Originally published on Fri April 27, 2012 5:05 pm

Even before the hospital bills started coming, Lori Duff and her family were living paycheck to paycheck. So when the debt collector called the Columbus, Ohio, mother and demanded $1,800 for the prenatal visits she'd had while pregnant with her third son, she panicked.

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Health
2:44 pm
Fri April 27, 2012

A New Stage Play Tackles Athletes And Head Injuries

Can the repeated brain injuries suffered by some athletes cause problems with brain function later in life? A new play, Headstrong, opening next week in New York, looks at athletes and head trauma, and the high price some athletes end up paying for playing the game.

It's All Politics
2:19 pm
Fri April 27, 2012

FCC Requires Top Market TV Stations To Post Political Ad Data Online

The Federal Communications Commission on Friday approved a rule requiring TV stations to post details online about the amount of advertising time political candidates and campaigns buy, as well as how much the stations charge for those ads.

TV stations already are required to keep such public records. But in most cases, the information has been accessible only to those who visit a TV station and physically look through paper files, NPR's Brian Naylor reported.

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The Two-Way
2:03 pm
Fri April 27, 2012

Lehman Was Set To Pay 50 Execs $700 Million Just A Year Before Collapse

Credit Cate Gillon / Getty Images
Sept. 15, 2008, in London: The news of Lehman's bankruptcy hits.

Lehman Bros., the Wall Street giant, collapsed in September 2008 in the nation's largest bankruptcy and arguably kicked off a financial meltdown that helped drag the economy into the Great Recession.

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Shots - Health Blog
1:40 pm
Fri April 27, 2012

Choose Health Coverage Like An Economist

Credit ryasick / iStockphoto.com
Picking an insurance plan can be a little like this.

If you want to eat well, find out where the chefs go after they clock out.

If you're wondering how to deal with a health problem, ask your doctor what she'd do for her mom.

And if you're puzzling over which insurance plan to pick, take a look at how some health economists size them up.

Clever journalist Dinah Wisenberg Brin got some big names in the world of health economics to reveal details about their insurance status. And you might learn a thing or two from their thinking.

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Opinion
1:22 pm
Fri April 27, 2012

For Baseball Fans, May the Force Be With You

Originally published on Fri April 27, 2012 5:05 pm

Hart Seely is the author of The Juju Rules: Or, How to Win Ballgames from Your Couch: A Memoir of a Fan Obsessed.

Remember that pod on the Death Star, where Darth Vader would go to be alone? Did you ever wonder what he was doing in there?

Well, I have a theory: I think he was watching ballgames.

The new baseball season is here. For me, it means reclaiming the war pod, the living room — or, as I prefer to call it: my personal corporate luxury skybox.

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The Two-Way
1:19 pm
Fri April 27, 2012

Former CIA Clandestine Chief Describes Waterboarding 9/11 Mastermind

Credit AP
This undated handout photo provided by the CIA shows Jose Rodriguez.

In an explosive interview with CBS' 60 Minutes, the former chief of the CIA's clandestine service describes waterboarding Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. (A Warning: The interview contains some offensive language.)

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