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2:59am

Tue May 1, 2012
Business

N.H. To The Unemployed: Try An Unpaid Internship

Originally published on Tue May 1, 2012 6:47 am

Credit Sheryl Rich-Kern / for NPR
Electropac in Manchester, N.H., is among the companies participating in the state's unpaid internship program.

Electropac, a firm that makes printed circuit boards in New Hampshire, once had 500 paid employees. Today, it has 34. But thanks to a state program for the unemployed, it also now offers unpaid internships.

Across the country, unpaid internships are on the rise for older adults looking to change careers or rebound from layoffs. In New Hampshire, a state-run program encourages the unemployed to take six-week internships at companies with the hope of getting a permanent job.

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2:57am

Tue May 1, 2012
Business

Discovering The True Cost Of At-Home Caregiving

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 10:51 am

Walk through any nursing home, and your first thought might be: "I need to take care of Mom myself."

Few people want to turn over a loved one to institutional care. No matter how good the nursing home, it may seem cold and impersonal — and very expensive. But making the choice to provide care yourself is fraught with financial risks and personal sacrifices.

Those who become full-time caregivers often look back and wish they had taken the time to better understand the financial position they would be getting themselves into.

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7:02pm

Mon April 30, 2012
Music Interviews

How To Break Up With Attitude, According To Norah Jones

Originally published on Tue May 1, 2012 8:38 am

Credit Frank Ockenfels / Courtesy of the artist
Norah Jones' latest album is called Little Broken Hearts.

More than 10 years ago, Norah Jones hit the national stage with her melancholic love song "Don't Know Why," in the process selling millions of copies of her debut album and becoming a Grammy winner.

But Jones' new album is different. She may sound like a fragile performer, but don't get her wrong: At 33, she's recorded a breakup album with attitude.

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6:58pm

Mon April 30, 2012
The Two-Way

Protests Planned Across The United States To Mark May Day

Credit Spencer Platt / Getty Images
The Occupy movement will try to regain the momentum it created last fall.

A collection of activists — from labor unions to immigrant rights groups — are planning protests across the country tomorrow to mark May Day.

Of course, the highest profile organization is Occupy Wall Street, which has called for a "general strike" and says events are planned in 135 U.S. cities.

Here's how the movement describes its plans on its website:

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6:19pm

Mon April 30, 2012

6:10pm

Mon April 30, 2012
The Two-Way

More Than 100 Dead In India After Ferry Capsizes

More than 100 people are dead after an overcrowded river ferry sank in India today. The AFP reports the ferry sank after being split into two by a storm.

The AFP adds that about 100 others were missing:

"As rescuers struggled in heavy rain to find survivors weeping relatives lined the shores of the fast-flowing Brahmaputra river in Assam state, desperate for news of family members on board the vessel.

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5:34pm

Mon April 30, 2012
Race

A Museum Teaches Tolerance Through Jim Crow

Originally published on Thu January 31, 2013 3:33 pm

This story contains offensive language.

The ugliness of racism is at the heart of a new museum in Michigan. The Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University in Big Rapids features thousands of troubling artifacts and sometimes horrifying images. There are slave whips and chains; signs that once dictated where African-Americans could sit, walk or get a drink of water; and teddy bears turned into messengers of hate.

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5:34pm

Mon April 30, 2012
Shots - Health Blog

Studies Reignite Mammography Debate For Middle-Aged Women

Originally published on Tue May 1, 2012 8:37 am

Should women in their 40s routinely get mammograms to detect breast cancer?

Two studies released Monday aim to help resolve that question, which is one of the most intense debates in women's health. The studies identify which women in their 40s are most likely to benefit from routine mammograms.

For years, the mantra was that regular mammograms save lives. So many people were stunned in 2009 when an influential panel of experts questioned that assumption.

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5:04pm

Mon April 30, 2012
Asia

The Current U.S.-China Stanoff Has A Precedent

Originally published on Mon April 30, 2012 5:58 pm

Credit John B. Carnett / Popular Science via Getty Images
The current case of a prominent Chinese activist seeking U.S. protection has echoes of a similar episode in 1989. Then, physicist Fang Lizhi took refuge at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. He spent a year there before the U.S. and China reached a deal allowing him to move to the U.S. He died this month in Arizona, at age 76.

As the U.S. and China seek a solution to the case involving a prominent Chinese activist, it's worth remembering this isn't the first time the two countries have waged this kind of negotiation.

Chen Guangcheng, an activist who's been blind since he was a small boy, escaped house arrest in an eastern Chinese village and was taken to Beijing, where he's believed to be under U.S. protection.

A similar, high-profile case took place in 1989, when astrophysicist Fang Lizhi and his wife took refuge at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

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4:54pm

Mon April 30, 2012
Technology

Europe Pressures U.S. Tech On Internet Privacy Laws

Originally published on Mon April 30, 2012 5:34 pm

Credit Ronald Zak / DAPD/AP
Demonstrators with Guy Fawkes masks protest changing privacy policies on March 31, in Vienna.

4:54pm

Mon April 30, 2012
Asia

Activist's Escape Complicates Clinton's China Visit

Originally published on Mon April 30, 2012 6:20 pm

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sets off Monday night on a trip that was supposed to be a routine checkup on U.S.-China relations.

Instead, she is flying into a firestorm after a high-profile dissident's daring escape from house arrest. The blind legal activist, Chen Guangcheng, is now believed to be under U.S. protection — and diplomats are scrambling to try to resolve the issue quickly.

On her first visit to China as secretary of state in 2009, Clinton emphasized other issues besides human rights.

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4:54pm

Mon April 30, 2012
Monkey See

Can The Networks Ever Create Another Night Of 'Must-See TV'?

Originally published on Mon April 30, 2012 5:34 pm

4:33pm

Mon April 30, 2012
Middle East

In Israel, A Rift On How To Deal With Iran

Originally published on Sun May 6, 2012 9:05 am

As Israel wages an intense daily debate about Iran and its nuclear program, a rift between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel's former intelligence chiefs has become public.

The recently retired head of internal security, Yuval Diskin, has bashed Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Ehud Barak, calling them unfit to lead the country.

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4:32pm

Mon April 30, 2012
Shots - Health Blog

Robots Win Battle For Attention At Science Fair

Credit Scott Hensley / NPR
Budding scientists, engineers and doctors lined up to try surgical robots from Intuitive Surgical at a science festival in Washington, D.C., over the weekend.

Kids love robots.

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3:57pm

Mon April 30, 2012
Religion

From Minister To Atheist: A Story Of Losing Faith

Originally published on Mon April 30, 2012 8:33 pm

This is the first in a series of stories on losing faith.

Teresa MacBain has a secret, one she's terrified to reveal.

"I'm currently an active pastor and I'm also an atheist," she says. "I live a double life. I feel pretty good on Monday, but by Thursday — when Sunday's right around the corner — I start having stomachaches, headaches, just knowing that I got to stand up and say things that I no longer believe in and portray myself in a way that's totally false."

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3:46pm

Mon April 30, 2012
The Salt

Farmers Cheer Administration's About-Face On Limiting Teen Farm Work

Originally published on Tue May 1, 2012 8:41 am

Credit istockphoto.com
Farmers saw the administration's proposal as a threat to their way of life

When the Obama administration proposed new restrictions on teens working on farms last year, labor leaders and child welfare advocates cheered.

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3:32pm

Mon April 30, 2012
It's All Politics

Romney Campaign Tries To Reopen Obama-Clinton Primary Fight Wounds

Originally published on Mon April 30, 2012 3:35 pm

Credit Chris Kleponis-Pool / Getty Images
President Obama and former President Bill Clinton golf together in September 2011. The former president is campaigning for Obama, four years after the two men exchanged harsh words during the Democratic primary battle between Obama and then-Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Throughout the Republican primary campaign, opponents of Mitt Romney have handed President Obama lots of potential general-election fodder in their attacks on the front-runner.

And now that Romney is the presumptive GOP nominee, he's dipping back four years to the 2008 Democratic primary battle for some ammunition of his own.

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3:27pm

Mon April 30, 2012
Europe

Peace, Justice Elude Rape Victims Of Bosnian War

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 10:50 am

Nearly two decades after the Bosnian War ended, thousands of Bosnian women who were victims of sexual violence are still seeking justice.

Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, commemorated the 20th anniversary of the start of the war this month with a young people's choir performing John Lennon's song "Give Peace a Chance." Row after row of empty red chairs marked the more than 11,500 people who died during the siege of the capital.

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3:00pm

Mon April 30, 2012
The Two-Way

George Zimmerman's Defense Takes Case To The Web

Originally published on Mon April 30, 2012 3:08 pm

Credit Gary Green / Orlando Sentinel-Pool/Getty Images
George Zimmerman during his bond hearing in a Seminole County, Fla., courtroom on April 20.

The legal defense team for George Zimmerman, the man accused of second-degree murder in the shooting of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, has created a website, Facebook page and Twitter account to protest his interests.

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2:55pm

Mon April 30, 2012
Business

In Cell Era, Timepieces Are Fashion Trend To Watch

Originally published on Mon April 30, 2012 5:34 pm

Cellphones were once simple tools for making calls on the go. But the phones have quickly become all-purpose devices, used to send email, read articles, find restaurants — and tell time.

And as more people carry that tool in their pocket or purse, fewer are relying on wristwatches to keep on schedule.

Monica Espitia is one of them. "Since I've had a cellphone, I pretty much stopped wearing watches," she says. "Until I went on vacation and I didn't know what time it was."

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