Mark Memmott

Credit Doby Photography / NPR

Mark Memmott is one of the hosts of NPR's "The Two-Way" news blog.

"The Two-Way," which Memmott helped to launched when he came to NPR in 2009, focuses on breaking news, analysis, and the most compelling stories being reported by NPR News and other news media.

Before joining NPR, Memmott worked for nearly 25 years as a reporter and editor at USA Today. He focused on a range of coverage from politics, foreign affairs, economics, and the media. He's reported from places across the Unites States and the world, including half a dozen trips to Afghanistan in 2002-2003.

During his time at USA Today, Memmott, helped launch and lead three USAToday.com news blogs: "On Deadline;" "The Oval;" and "On Politics," the site's 2008 presidential campaign blog.

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7:51am

Mon June 4, 2012
The Two-Way

George Zimmerman Back In Jail; Attorney Preparing New Bond Motion

Credit Seminole County (Fla.) Sheriff's Office / Getty Images

As ordered by a judge on Friday, neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman has turned himself into authorities and is back in a Sanford, Fla., jail.

Now, as the Orlando Sentinel reports, Zimmerman's attorney is preparing a request that he again be released on bond.

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7:20am

Mon June 4, 2012
The Two-Way

Nigeria Mourns 'National Disaster;' Plane Crash Killed Scores

Originally published on Tue June 5, 2012 8:19 am

Credit AFP/Getty Images

There's some new reporting to pass along about Sunday's crash of an airliner in Lagos, Nigeria, which killed more than 150 people on board and a still unknown number of people on the ground:

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3:14pm

Fri June 1, 2012
The Two-Way

George Zimmerman's Bond Revoked, Must Surrender Within 48 Hours

Credit Gary Green / Orlando Sentinel-Pool/Getty Images

A Florida judge this afternoon revoked George Zimmernan's bond and ordered that the man who killed teenager Trayvon Martin surrender himself to authorities within 48 hours, the Orlando Sentinel writes.

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2:34pm

Fri June 1, 2012
The Two-Way

'Help' Hizzoner: Tell Bloomberg What To Ban Next

Originally published on Fri June 1, 2012 5:59 pm

Credit Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

So, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) wants to ban nearly all sales of big, sugary drinks.

Goodbye Big Gulp.

This comes after his earlier campaigns to stamp out smoking and trans fats.

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1:41pm

Fri June 1, 2012
The Two-Way

Nation's Worst Dressers Are In Anchorage, Survey Says

Credit Michael Dinneen / AP

Which U.S. city has the worst-dressed citizens?

According to readers of Travel and Leisure magazine, it's Anchorage.

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1:28pm

Fri June 1, 2012
The Two-Way

Obama, Romney Have Sharply Different Takes On Weak Jobs News

Earlier, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney blamed what he said have been President Obama's "failed" economic policies for the nation's stubbornly high unemployment rate and weak job growth.

In Minnesota this hour, President Obama conceded "we've got a lot of work to do before we get to where we need to be," but also claimed credit for policies that he said prevented another Great Depression after the financial crisis of 2008.

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10:57am

Fri June 1, 2012
The Two-Way

Crazy For The Queen's Diamond Jubilee? Here's A Guide To The Guides

Credit Lewis Whyld / AFP/Getty Images

If royal watching's your kind of thing, the next four days are going to be a treat.

Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebration — marking 60 years on the throne — looks like it will be quite a show. Sunday's huge flotilla alone is predicted to be "the most spectacular nautical event seen in London for 350 years."

Want to know when to tune in?

The official website of the British Monarchy, of course, has a ton of information.

For broadcast schedules, though, you need to look elsewhere.

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9:33am

Fri June 1, 2012
The Two-Way

Stocks Drop On Weak Jobs News

Originally published on Fri June 1, 2012 4:57 pm

Stock prices fell on Wall Street today as investors digested the much-weaker-than-expected report on job growth in May.

The damage? The Dow plunged 274 points or 2.2 percent. The Nasdaq fell 80 points or 2.82 percent.

CNN Money reports the Dow had the worst day of 2012, erasing "all its gains for the year."

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8:44am

Fri June 1, 2012
The Two-Way

Unemployment Rate Rises To 8.2 Percent In May; Just 69,000 Jobs Added

Originally published on Fri June 1, 2012 1:31 pm

Horrid. Lousy. Awful.

Those are just three of the words economists are using to describe the news that just 69,000 net jobs were added to public and private payrolls last month — and that the nation's jobless rate edged up to 8.2 percent from April's 8.1 percent.

The news has raised fears that the hoped-for strengthening of the economy may not materialize.

We posted on the news and followed with details from the report and reaction to it. It's now 11:22 am. ET, here's our original post and earlier updates:

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8:17am

Fri June 1, 2012
The Two-Way

Obama 'Sped Up Wave Of Cyberattacks Against Iran,' Says 'NYT'

This morning's talker:

"From his first months in office, President Obama secretly ordered increasingly sophisticated attacks on the computer systems that run Iran's main nuclear enrichment facilities, significantly expanding America's first sustained use of cyberweapons, according to participants in the program," The New York Times reports.

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7:57am

Fri June 1, 2012
The Two-Way

'Hero' Of Seattle Shootings: 'I Just Threw The Frigging Stool' At Gunman

Credit Stephen Brashear / Getty Images

Lawrence Adams doesn't want to be called a hero, but many in Seattle are saying that's just what he is.

As The Seattle Times reports this morning, police believe Adams saved the lives of at least three people on Wednesday when he picked up a stool at a cafe and threw it at a gunman who killed four people there. Adams' action distracted the gunman, identified as Ian Stawicki, and allowed Adams and some others to escape.

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7:09am

Fri June 1, 2012
The Two-Way

Did Jobs Grow Fast Enough In May? Probably Not

Originally published on Fri June 1, 2012 8:35 am

Credit Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images

Breaking news at 8:34 a.m. ET: "Unemployment Rate 8.2 Percent In May As Just 69,000 Jobs Added

Our original post:

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2:31pm

Thu May 31, 2012
The Two-Way

Wal-Mart Pulls Out Of Group That Advocates 'Stand Your Ground' Laws

Credit Julie Fletcher / AP

Wal-Mart has joined the list of major corporations withdrawing their support from a conservative political group that advocates the "Stand Your Ground" laws that came under intense focus after the Trayvon Martin killing became a national story.

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1:39pm

Thu May 31, 2012
The Two-Way

Russia Is 'Propping Up' The Assad Regime, Secretary Clinton Says

By resisting efforts at the United Nations to bring concerted pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad to end the killing in his country, Russia is "in effect, propping up the [Assad] regime at a time when we should be working on a political transition," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said earlier today in Copenhagen.

Clinton also told an audience that Russia's implicit support for Assad could "help contribute to a civil war" in Syria, The Associated Press reports.

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11:49am

Thu May 31, 2012
The Two-Way

Defense Of Marriage Act Is Unconstitutional, Federal Court Rules

Originally published on Thu May 31, 2012 12:05 pm

"A federal appeals court Thursday declared that the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutionally denies federal benefits to married gay couples, a ruling all but certain to wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court," The Associated Press reports from Boston.

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11:08am

Thu May 31, 2012
The Two-Way

What Tweets Do Politicians Delete? 'Politwoops' Can Tell You

Originally published on Thu May 31, 2012 12:01 pm

Credit Politwoops

Most of what they're catching isn't all that exciting, but the folks at the Sunlight Foundation have launched something that has the potential to expose elected officials and politicians as they try to hide embarrassing things that get on to their Twitter feeds.

Politwoops, Sunlight says, is "the only comprehensive collection of deleted tweets by U.S. politicians. From minor typos to major gaffes, Politwoops is now there to offer a searchable window into what they hoped you didn't see."

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10:30am

Thu May 31, 2012
The Two-Way

'We Could See This Coming,' Brother Says Of Man ID'd In Seattle Killings

Credit Seattle Police Department / AFP/Getty Images

The man who reportedly shot and killed five people Wednesday in Seattle, before taking his own life, changed about five years ago into a mentally ill individual who was "really angry toward everything," his brother tells The Seattle Times.

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8:28am

Thu May 31, 2012
The Two-Way

Private Employers Added 133,000 Jobs In May, Report Says

Originally published on Thu May 31, 2012 8:49 am

The number of jobs on private employers' payrolls grew by a modest 133,000 positions from April to May, according to the latest ADP National Employment Report.

ADP's monthly report is sometimes a decent barometer of what the Bureau of Labor Statistics will say when it issues its employment estimates. We're due to hear from BLS about the May employment situation on Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET.

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8:14am

Thu May 31, 2012
The Two-Way

Youngest Speller Is Out Of The Bee; Tripped Up By 'Ingluvies'

Credit Mark Wilson / Getty Images

The youngest contestant ever in the National Spelling Bee, 6-year-old Lori Anne Madison of Woodbridge, Va., was foiled by a word most of us have probably never heard of before.

Ingluvies.

Definition: "The crop, or craw, of birds."

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7:11am

Thu May 31, 2012
The Two-Way

LIVE: SpaceX Capsule Heads Home

Originally published on Thu May 31, 2012 1:03 pm

The Dragon capsule has successfully detached from the International Space Station and is headed toward a splashdown in the Pacific that should happen around 11:45 a.m. ET.

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