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8:42am

Thu March 29, 2012
The Two-Way

Jobless Claims Dipped Again Last Week

There were 359,000 first-time claims for jobless benefits last week, down 5,000 from the week before and a pace that continues to be the lowest since April 2008, the Employment and Training Administration just reported.

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8:10am

Thu March 29, 2012
The Two-Way

Maryland's Batman Looks Like A Real Hero

Credit Facebook.com
The Caped Crusader, about to get into his Batmobile.

7:37am

Thu March 29, 2012
Animals

Owner Optimistic Stolen Parrot Will Be Returned

The owner of an African grey parrot says he believes the thieves will soon return the bird that was taken recently in England. It seems Chico loves to squawk a song by Queen. The parrot's owner says the thieves will soon tire of hearing "We are the Champions."

7:30am

Thu March 29, 2012
Around the Nation

Original Picasso Discovered At Ohio Thrift Store

An Ohio man was strolling through a thrift store when he saw a framed poster with Picasso scribbled on it. He bought it for $14.14. The Columbus Dispatch reports an auction house confirmed it was an original design carved by Picasso making the poster worth $6,000.

7:25am

Thu March 29, 2012
The Two-Way

Trayvon Martin Death: Police Video Shows No Signs Of Zimmerman's Injuries

Credit ABC News
George Zimmerman, in the red jacket, as he was led through a police station in Sanford, Fla., after the Feb. 26 shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

A police video of George Zimmerman in the hours after he shot and killed Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26 does not show any obvious evidence of the injuries Zimmerman reportedly received during what he says was an altercation that ended with him firing his handgun in self defense.

ABC News obtained the footage and aired it Wednesday evening. As it reports:

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7:14am

Thu March 29, 2012
It's All Politics

How A Collapse Of The Health Care Law Could Help Democrats Down The Road

Originally published on Thu March 29, 2012 10:12 am

Credit Charles Dharapak / AP
Amy Brighton from Medina, Ohio, who opposes the new health care law, rallies in front of the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

We probably won't know until June what the Supreme Court justices will decide regarding the health overhaul law known as Obamacare. The questions this week from the conservative majority seemed skeptical of the "individual mandate" at the center of the law, yet dubious of the law's survival without it.

(A line of questioning may not be a perfect guide to a justice's thinking, but right now it appears to be the way to bet.)

So let's say it's June and the high court has laid low the whole law. That's terrible news for President Obama and the Democrats, right?

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6:34am

Thu March 29, 2012
Politics

Latina Gov. A Rising Star, Just Not To Some Hispanics

Originally published on Thu March 29, 2012 10:25 am

Credit William Faulkner / AP
Susana Martinez was sworn in as the country's first Latina governor in Santa Fe, N.M., on Jan. 1, 2011.

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez is the ultimate immigrant success story: Two generations after her Mexican grandparents arrived in the U.S., she became the nation's first Latina governor.

And with an overall approval rating of 66 percent of New Mexicans after more than a year in office, she is arguably the most popular Republican governor in the country.

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5:00am

Thu March 29, 2012
Post Mortem: Death Investigation In America

New Evidence In High-Profile Shaken Baby Case

Originally published on Tue April 17, 2012 4:31 pm

A senior pathologist in the Los Angeles County coroner's office has sharply questioned the forensic evidence used to convict a 51-year-old woman of shaking her 7-week-old grandson to death, identifying a host of flaws in the case.

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4:00am

Thu March 29, 2012
NPR Story

EU Deal Expected To Lower Mobile Roaming Fees

European officials have agreed to overhaul mobile roaming fees. That would allow consumers to pay less for calls, texts and mobile web services when traveling abroad. Consumer advocates are urging the EU to go further, and eliminate roaming fees altogether.

4:00am

Thu March 29, 2012
NPR Story

The Last Word In Business

Originally published on Thu March 29, 2012 7:26 am

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And our last word in business today is hit the showers.

Nike is suing rival Reebok over the right to sell brand new Tim Tebow jerseys. The tussle over Tebow - who rose to fame last year for his fourth quarter comebacks - comes after his recent trade to the New York Jets.

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4:00am

Thu March 29, 2012
NPR Story

Wis. Board To Set Date Of Governor's Recall Election

Next week's Republican presidential primary in Wisconsin is being overshadowed by the upcoming recall election of Gov. Scott Walker. On Friday, a state board is expected to order the recall election a couple months from now. If Walker were to lose, he'd be only the third Governor in U.S. history to suffer that fate.

4:00am

Thu March 29, 2012
Health Care

Supreme Court Justices To Decide Health Care Law's Fate

Originally published on Thu March 29, 2012 6:51 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm David Greene.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

In the third and last day that the U.S. Supreme Court considered the Obama health care law, it turned its attention from the abstract legal issues to the very practical – what if it did overturn a key part of the law. In sessions in the morning and afternoon, the justices took on two separate questions related to the federal health care overhaul.

NPR's Ari Shapiro reports.

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4:00am

Thu March 29, 2012
Around the Nation

The Lobbyist Behind Florida's 'Stand Your Ground' Law

The murder of Trayvon Martin has shone a spotlight on Florida's law that authorizes the use of deadly force in self-defense. The law has been widely cited as the reason why shooter George Zimmerman has not been arrested. Marion Hammer is one of the most powerful lobbyists in Florida, and has helped to make the law a reality in the state.

4:00am

Thu March 29, 2012
Middle East

Blogger: U.S. Shouldn't Trust Egypt's Government

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm David Greene.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

The revolution in Egypt is still a work in progress, but one thing that has not changed is the partnership between the U.S. and Egypt's powerful military. In fact, just last week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced she would let $1.3 billion in aid flow to Egypt's military, as usual, this year. Clinton said the country has made significant progress toward democracy.

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4:00am

Thu March 29, 2012
Remembrances

Influential Poet Adrienne Rich Dies At 82

The Oxford Anthology of Modern American Poetry described Adrienne Rich as "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century." Rich died Tuesday at her home in Santa Cruz, California, at the age of 82. She suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and macular degeneration.

3:54am

Thu March 29, 2012
Business

Former MF Global Exec Takes 5th At Hearing

Credit Susan Walsh / AP
Former MF Global Holdings Ltd. Chairman and CEO Jon Corzine testified on Capitol Hill in December. On Wednesday, a former executive at the company refused to answer lawmakers' questions about events in the run-up to the firm's collapse.

A former executive at the center of the meltdown of brokerage firm MF Global appeared before Congress on Wednesday to answer questions from lawmakers. Members of the House Financial Services Committee were hoping assistant treasurer Edith O'Brien would explain the actions of the firm's CEO, ex-New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine.

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3:46am

Thu March 29, 2012
It's All Politics

Romney's Support For Ryan Budget Has Democrats Crying Foul

Credit Steven Senne / AP
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks in San Diego on Monday. Democrats have criticized his support for GOP Rep. Paul Ryan's budget plan.

The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Thursday on what's known as the Ryan budget, the spending plan from Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., that among other things changes the structure of Medicare and rewrites the tax code. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has endorsed the plan, but some are saying his rhetoric on the campaign trail may not match up with at least one reality of the Ryan budget.

Romney said he supported the Ryan budget the day it was unveiled.

"I applaud it," he said. "It's an excellent piece of work, and very much needed."

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3:34am

Thu March 29, 2012
Middle East

Egyptian Activists Push To End Military Trials

Originally published on Thu March 29, 2012 9:06 am

For Samira Ibrahim, and many other Egyptians, the struggle to remake their country didn't end with the ouster last year of Hosni Mubarak.

Ibrahim, a 25-year-old from southern Egypt, was arrested by the military during a protest in Cairo's Tahrir Square in March of last year, a month after Mubarak was overthrown.

While in custody, Ibrahim said, she and six other young women were subjected to a so-called "virginity check" — a forced penetration to check for hymen blood. Amnesty International has called the procedure a form of torture.

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3:13am

Thu March 29, 2012
Business

National Trend 'Mobs' Local Businesses With Cash

Originally published on Thu March 29, 2012 6:36 am

You may have heard of "flash mobs," where a mass of people invade a public space to make a scene. Now the idea has been turned on its head by "cash mobs," where large crowds of consumers show up at small businesses to spend money. But it's not just about propping up the local economy.

It's 5 o'clock on a Friday, and mostly quiet in the Lander's Men's Store, a mom-and-pop clothing store in Jamestown, N.Y. But shop owner Ann Powers is anticipating a mob.

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3:11am

Thu March 29, 2012
Around the Nation

Can A Small Town Survive Without Its Bank?

Credit Sarah Harris / VPR
Terry Tatro and Irene Clarke stand in front of the People's United Bank branch on Main Street in Alburgh, Vt. The two feared that the bank's closing would leave a gaping hole in their community.

Alburgh, Vt., is a town with unusual geography: It's on a peninsula that borders Quebec and is surrounded by Lake Champlain. Even though the town is small and isolated, its residents have always had somewhere to do their banking.

But in January, the People's United Bank branch on Main Street announced it was closing its doors. When Irene Clarke heard the news, she decided to do something about it.

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