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The Two-Way
5:55 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Search Resumes At Stricken Italian Cruise Ship

Credit Vincenzo Pinto / AFP/Getty Images
Searchers climbing on to the Costa Concordia earlier today (Jan. 19, 2012).

"Rescue efforts have resumed aboard the wrecked Italian cruise ship, Costa Concordia, off the coast of Tuscany," the BBC reports. "Operations were suspended on Wednesday as the vessel shifted its position. More than 20 people are still missing."

The ship, with about 4,200 passengers and crew aboard, ran into rocks on Friday and listed over to its starboard side. Eleven people are confirmed dead.

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Business
5:28 am
Thu January 19, 2012

So, Um, What Is A Private Equity Firm?

Credit David L. Ryan / Boston Globe via Getty Images
Before entering politics in the 1990s, Romney co-founded Bain Capital, one of the nation's largest and most profitable private equity funds.

Originally published on Thu January 19, 2012 1:57 pm

In the run-up to Saturday's GOP presidential primary in South Carolina, candidates have clashed over the role of Bain Capital — a firm that either creates or kills jobs, depending upon whom you believe.

Front-runner Mitt Romney sees the bright side. Before entering politics in the 1990s, he co-founded Boston-based Bain Capital, one of the nation's largest and most profitable private equity funds. He has said he created 100,000 jobs while at Bain.

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The Two-Way
5:25 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Kodak Calls Bankruptcy Filing 'Necessary Step'

Credit Guy Solimano / Getty Images
Eastman Kodak Co.'s corporate headquarters in Rochester, N.Y.

"Running short of cash and unable to sell 1,100 digital imaging patents that could have rescued it," as Rochester's Democrat and Chronicle writes, Eastman Kodak Co. today took the long-expected but still painful step of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

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Around the Nation
5:06 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Twitter Fills The Gap When Wikipedia Went Black

Wikipedia was shut down on Wednesday to protest anti-piracy bills in Congress. But Twitter was there to fill the encyclopedic void. "Facts Without Wikipedia" became a trending topic. One tweet informed readers that Star Wars was based on the work of William Shakespeare.

Around the Nation
4:59 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Pregnant Woman Enters Elevator Leaves With Newborn

Katie Thacker of Tacoma, Washington, was in labor when she stepped into an elevator at St. Joseph Medical Center. On the way to the maternity ward, the elevator got stuck. She left the elevator with a baby named Blake.

The Two-Way
4:55 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Report: Iowa Recount Puts Santorum Ahead By 34 Votes, Result 'Unresolved'

Credit Charles Dharapa/pool / Getty Images
Republican presidential candidates Rick Santorum (left) and Mitt Romney during a debate in South Carolina on Monday.

Rick Santorum has ended up 34 votes ahead of Mitt Romney after a recount of the results from the Jan. 3 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses, The Des Moines Register is reporting.

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NPR Story
2:00 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Must A Captain Go Down With The Ship?

Nearly a week after a cruise ship capsized off the coast of Italy, its captain is under house arrest and could face charges of multiple manslaughter, shipwreck and abandoning ship. Rod Sullivan, professor of maritime law at the Florida Coastal School of Law, tells Steve Inskeep the captain has no legal obligation to go down with the ship.

NPR Story
2:00 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Are More U.S. Manufacturing Jobs Being Created?

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Let's look now at another side of the economy: manufacturing. The Federal Reserve yesterday said American manufacturing had a very strong finish last year. To find out if that's likely to last and what it means for the big issue of jobs, we turn, as we so often do, to David Wessel. He's economics editor of The Wall Street Journal.

Good morning.

DAVID WESSEL: Good morning, Renee.

MONTAGNE: So after all the handwringing about the death of U.S. manufacturing, are American factories B-A-C-K?

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

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NPR Story
2:00 am
Thu January 19, 2012

S.C. Primary Voters Struggle To Decide On Ballot Choice

Originally published on Thu January 19, 2012 8:36 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

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Around the Nation
2:00 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Oklahoma City Avoids Economic Pitfalls

As the Mayor's Conference takes place in Washington D.C., city governments are dealing with severe problems at home — from high unemployment to funding cuts. Steve Inskeep talks to Mick Cornett, the Mayor of Oklahoma City, about how his city has managed to avoid some of these problems.

Asia
2:00 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Pakistan's Prime Minister Makes Rare Court Appearance

Originally published on Thu January 19, 2012 8:36 am

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep. Good morning.

Pakistan's civilian government is in the midst of one of the many dramas that seem to occupy all its time. The prime minister appeared before the country's Supreme Court. He was ordered to explain why he should not be held in contempt. The prime minister has been refusing to prosecute a corruption case against his own boss, President Asif Ali Zardari.

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Africa
2:00 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Egypt's Military Government Quiets Revolutionaries

It's been nearly a year since the uprising began in Egypt that toppled President Hosni Mubarak began. The revolutionaries that started it all are again finding themselves persecuted. The military council that runs Egypt is targeting them, using the court system and prison to shut them up. Unlike a year ago, the revolutionaries can no longer count on much popular support.

Election 2012
2:00 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Front-Runner Romney Skips Personhood Forum

A candidate forum was held in Greenville, S.C., Wednesday night, sponsored by the anti-abortion rights group Personhood USA. Participating in the event were Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, and Rick Perry. Front-runner Mitt Romney did not attend. South Carolina holds its primary on Saturday.

Business
2:00 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Business News

In a moved that had been expected, Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday. It raises the specter that the 132-year-old trailblazer could become the most storied casualty of a digital age that has whipped up a maelstrom of economic, social and technological change.

Business
2:00 am
Thu January 19, 2012

Billionaire Makes Monumental Donation After Quake

When the Washington Monument was damaged after an earthquake last summer, Congress committed $7.5 million to fix it but expected the public to pay the other $7.5 million. It turns out the public will be just one person. The Washington Post reports billionaire David Rubenstein will make the $7.5 million donation Thursday.

Crisis In The Housing Market
10:01 pm
Wed January 18, 2012

Silicon Valley Homebuilder Finds A Profitable Niche

The U.S. housing market may be singing the blues, but there are pockets where home sales are rising. James Witt, a homebuilder in California's Silicon Valley is surviving and thriving thanks to his luck, location, and knowledge of the local market.

Witt is a tall lanky man whose graying long hair suggests an actor in a Western movie. He's standing on his 3-acre property in Palo Alto, which includes an updated old farmhouse and a yard with a pair of donkeys. One, named Perry, has an interesting pedigree.

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Europe
10:01 pm
Wed January 18, 2012

A Look Back At Bosnia, Through Angelina Jolie's Eyes

Angelina Jolie was just 16 when the war in Bosnia began, and she acknowledges now that she paid little heed to it at the time. But as her awareness of international issues later took shape, her attention was drawn back to that Balkan conflict.

"I wanted to understand," she says. "I was so young, and I felt that this was my generation; how do I not know more?" That interest led Jolie to choose the Bosnian war as the subject of In the Land of Blood and Honey, her debut film as a writer and director.

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Politics
10:01 pm
Wed January 18, 2012

Keystone Pipeline Becomes Hot-Button Election Issue

Credit Todd Korol / Reuters/Landov
The Syncrude tar sands mine in Alberta, Canada. Alberta's tar sands would supply the oil for the prospective Keystone XL pipeline.

President Obama rejected an application to build the 1,700 mile Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast on Wednesday. He blamed congressional Republicans, who had set a 60-day deadline for his administration to complete its review of the project.

Just minutes after Obama issued a statement denying the permit, Republican members of Congress lined up before cameras.

"I'm deeply, deeply disappointed that our president decided to put his politics above the nation," said Rep. Lee Terry of Nebraska.

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Iraq
10:01 pm
Wed January 18, 2012

After 20 Years, An Iraqi Returns To A Changed Land

Credit Sean Carberry / NPR
After a 20-year absence, Aseel Albanna returned to her native Iraq and found a very different country. Here, she poses with the statue of King Shahryar, a character in The Thousand and One Nights, near the Tigris River in Baghdad. The area used to be extremely popular, but many of the fish restaurants that once lined the streets have been torn down.

In September 1991, Aseel Albanna was about to finish her last year of architecture school in Baghdad. Wanting a break from the years of war and hardship, she took a trip to the U.S. But a planned four-week visit turned into a 20-year stay.

Family members in Kentucky arranged for her to complete her architecture degree at the University of Kentucky. She then lived and worked in Louisville until she moved to Washington, D.C., in 2005.

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Energy
10:01 pm
Wed January 18, 2012

Cheap Chinese Panels Spark Solar Power Trade War

Credit Robert Nickelsberg / Getty Images
Contractors with SunEdison install more than 1,000 Chinese-made solar panels on top of a Kohl's Department Store in Hamilton Township, N.J., in 2010. Energy generated by the solar system will cut the store's usage, on average, by 25 to 30 percent.

There's a solar trade war going on inside the U.S., sparked by an invasion of inexpensive imports from China.

The U.S. solar industry is divided over these imports: Panel-makers say their business is suffering and want a tariff slapped on the imports. But other parts of the industry say these cheap panels are driving a solar boom in the U.S.

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Music Interviews
10:01 pm
Wed January 18, 2012

The Pre-Game Songs That Send Matt Barnes Soaring

Credit Melissa Majchrzak / NBAE/Getty Images
Matt Barnes goes up for the dunk at a January game against the Utah Jazz.

Language Advisory: The songs linked to in this article contain lyrics that some listeners may find offensive.

As many people head back to the gym this month, we're doing our part to help with The Ultimate NPR Workout Mix.

We're asking people what songs make them move, and it turns out music is just as important for motivating professional athletes as it is for the rest of us. We caught up with Los Angeles Lakers forward Matt Barnes after a recent practice --he says that before games, it's all about one rapper.

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Opinion
10:01 pm
Wed January 18, 2012

Love On Hold: For Army Wife, Missed Connections

Siobhan Fallon is the author of the short-story collection You Know When the Men Are Gone.

The spouses of deployed soldiers have a desperate relationship with the phone.

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Shots - Health Blog
4:30 pm
Wed January 18, 2012

Many Older Women May Not Need Frequent Bone Scans

Credit NPR
NPR journalist Gisele Grayson got her hip bone scanned a couple of years ago and discovered she has osteopenia.

The bone-thinning disease called osteoporosis is a big problem for women past menopause. It causes painful spine fractures and broken hips that plunge many women into a final downward spiral.

So it seemed to make sense to monitor older women's bones on a regular basis to see when they need to start taking drugs that prevent bone loss and fractures. Since Medicare will pay for a bone-density scan every two years, that's what many women have been getting.

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The Two-Way
4:13 pm
Wed January 18, 2012

Tarahumaras, Known For Running Great Distances, Are Facing A Food Crisis

This week, reports have started to filter out of the remote northern mountains of Mexico that the Tarahumara indians are facing hunger. The indians were immortalized by the book Born To Run, in which writer Christopher McDougall paints a portrait of a proud tribe that thrives on long distance running — a tribe that with little in their stomachs and even less on their feet, puts to shame even the best American ultra-marathoners.

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House & Senate Races
3:30 pm
Wed January 18, 2012

Two Democratic Allies Battle For One House Seat

Rep. Dennis Kucinich is most in his element when he's fighting against social injustice.

Wherever he sees an outrage against the little guy, you'll find the Ohio Democrat railing against it – like at a recent public meeting about a new trash-to-energy facility Cleveland wants to install in a west side neighborhood.

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It's All Politics
3:28 pm
Wed January 18, 2012

Keystone: Dead Pipeline Lives On As Election-Year Issue

Originally published on Wed January 18, 2012 3:47 pm

Now that President Obama has made his decision to reject the Keystone XL pipeline, an obvious question is what will it mean for the 2012 presidential election?

Obviously, no one really knows the answer to that though that won't stop weeks if not months of speculation.

The key to Keystone is, which side will have the most success in framing its case to enough voters for it to make a difference?

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The Two-Way
3:22 pm
Wed January 18, 2012

Goldman Sachs Post $1 Billion 4th Quarter Profit

The up and down markets from last year, took its toll even on Goldman Sachs, which is thought of as the rock star of investment banks.

Goldman posted a billion dollar profit during the last quarter of 2011. And while that may seem like a lot, it's 58 percent down. The AP reports that the profit follows a third quarter in which Goldman lost money for only the third time since it went public in 1999.

The AP adds:

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It's All Politics
3:09 pm
Wed January 18, 2012

In Former Steel Town, Residents Question GOP Candidates' 'Entitlement Society' Talk

Republican presidential candidates have had some harsh words about the role of government aid in the Obama administration.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich calls President Obama the "food stamp president" and says more people are on food stamps than ever before because of his policies.

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Food
2:56 pm
Wed January 18, 2012

4,258 Miles Of Meat: Chef, Dad On A Quest For BBQ

Credit Douglas Baz
Before setting off on her road trip, Molly Baz worked in the kitchen of Manhattan's Picholine restaurant. She says one of the things she'll miss most from her trip is the Southern hospitality — and the free snacks that came with it.

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 9:06 am

Until this fall, chef Molly Baz was working at an upscale Michelin-starred restaurant in New York City. But she decided to give that up to go on a road trip.

Molly wanted to learn everything she could about variations in American barbecue, so she planned a tour of the country's most renowned barbecue regions and invited her father, photographer Doug Baz, along for the ride. The pair documented their travels on their blog, Adventures in BBQ.

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The Salt
2:05 pm
Wed January 18, 2012

Bringing Home The Fries: Fast Food Comes By Delivery

Credit Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images
A Big Mac on two wheels? Egypt, pictured here, is one of 15 countries where the fast-food giant McDonald's delivers.

In many countries, it's a cinch to call a local restaurant and get a freshly-cooked dinner delivered, ready to eat amidst the comforts of home. But in many parts of the U.S., the home delivery menu is usually limited to pizza and Chinese.

Burger King is trying to expand that menu by testing home delivery of burgers and fries, building on its success with home delivery overseas, including branches in Mexico, Turkey, Brazil, Columbia and Peru.

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