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The Torch
5:43 pm
Tue July 31, 2012

Phelps Sets New Olympic Record With 19 Medals; America's Schmitt Wins Gold

Originally published on Tue July 31, 2012 6:35 pm

The U.S. men's swimming team has won the 4x200m freestyle relay, in a race that also gave Michael Phelps a record 19 medals in the Olympics. He netted his 18th, a silver, earlier in the day.

Update at 4:05 p.m. EDT: For the relay final, the American team swam in the fourth lane, next to their greatest rivals, the French, who posted the fasted qualifying time. The French are led by Yannick Agnel, who soundly defeated Ryan Lochte and others in the men's 200m freestyle Monday.

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Election 2012
5:41 pm
Tue July 31, 2012

Romney Tries To Shape Distinct Iran Policy

Credit Uriel Sinai / Getty Images
Mitt Romney speaks in Jerusalem on Sunday, backing "any and all measures" to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Originally published on Tue July 31, 2012 11:40 pm

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says America's national security priority should be preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, and he was talking tough about this in his recent stop in Jerusalem.

"History teaches with force and clarity that when the world's most despotic regimes secure the world's most destructive weapons, peace often gives way to oppression, to violence, or to devastating war," Romney said. "We must not delude ourselves into thinking that containment is an option."

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Media
5:40 pm
Tue July 31, 2012

Shield Anonymous Commenters? More Papers Say 'No'

Credit Sandy Clemons / Courtesy of Linda Cook
Linda Cook eventually revealed herself as the commenter who made a disparaging remark about an Idaho Republican Party official online.

Originally published on Tue July 31, 2012 7:09 pm

The Internet is slowly becoming a less anonymous place. YouTube has a new policy encouraging commenters to use their real names, and many news sites have switched to a login system run by Facebook.

News sites that still allow anonymous comments are finding there are legal risks. The Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane, Wash., has spent the last few months trying to protect the identity of a reader who saw a photo of a Republican Party official in Idaho named Tina Jacobson, and then posted a disparaging comment.

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Around the Nation
5:37 pm
Tue July 31, 2012

Sound Of Your City: Trains

Originally published on Tue July 31, 2012 6:47 pm

The NPR Cities Project has been asking listeners to tell us about the heart of their city. In this edition, we hear sounds of transit from across the country. You can see the submissions and contribute your own photos here.

Presidential Race
5:37 pm
Tue July 31, 2012

Political Stumbles Mark Romney's Trip Abroad

Originally published on Sun August 5, 2012 2:04 pm

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Audie Cornish. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney wrapped up a week-long foreign trip today with a speech in Warsaw. Romney hailed Poland as a symbol of economic and political freedom and met with Polish leaders before boarding a plane for the U.S.

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Presidential Race
5:37 pm
Tue July 31, 2012

Romney Campaign Stokes VP Tension With New App

Originally published on Tue July 31, 2012 6:35 pm

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

As Mitt Romney returns from Poland, the suspense continues to build over who he'll pick as his running mate. And Romney's campaign has been stoking the tension. Earlier this month, they offered a lottery to supporters who donated a mere $3. The prize, a meeting with Romney and his V.P. pick. Last week, the woman in charge of the search for a vice presidential candidate, Beth Myers, tweeted out the names of several top contenders, sending the Twitter world into a tizzy.

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Presidential Race
5:37 pm
Tue July 31, 2012

Teens Petition For A Woman To Moderate Fall Debate

Originally published on Tue July 31, 2012 6:35 pm

Audie Cornish speaks with a high school student who gathered almost 120,000 signatures on a petition she created with two civics classmates. Emma Axelrod of Montclair, N.J., and her friends are asking the Commission on Presidential Debates to select a woman to moderate at least one of this fall's presidential debates. The young women point out in their petition that it's been 20 years since a female moderator has run a presidential debate. They tried to deliver that petition to the Commission in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.

Technology
5:37 pm
Tue July 31, 2012

Self-Service Kiosks Poised To Change Health Care

Originally published on Tue July 31, 2012 6:35 pm

Self-service kiosks have become part of daily life for many people. We use them to get our boarding passes at the airport, to check out at the grocery store and to rent movies. Now some industry watchers predict they could fundamentally change the way we get our healthcare. A pilot project in New Hampshire aims to pump up the number of potential bone marrow donors.

The Salt
5:30 pm
Tue July 31, 2012

Bhutan Bets Organic Agriculture Is The Road To Happiness

Credit James L. Stanfield / National Geographic/Getty Images
A Bhutanese farmer puts her harvest of chilies on the roof of a shed to dry and protect it from wild boars, deer, and monkeys in 2006.

Originally published on Mon October 22, 2012 11:32 am

The tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan drew international attention a few years back for saying gross national happiness should trump gross domestic product when measuring a nation's progress. If you're going to prioritize happiness, the Bhutanese thinking goes, you'd better include the environment and spiritual and mental well-being in your calculations.

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The Two-Way
5:20 pm
Tue July 31, 2012

Fannie, Freddie Regulator Holds Firm Against Mortgage Write-Downs

Credit Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
Many experts say reducing mortgage principal can help troubled homeowners avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes. But the regulator who oversees two of the nation's largest mortgage holders, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has rejected the idea.

A federal regulator is blocking the government-owned mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from reducing the principal that homeowners owe on their mortgages in order to avoid foreclosures.

Tuesday's decision came from Edward DeMarco, the acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

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Shots - Health Blog
5:11 pm
Tue July 31, 2012

NIH Official Calls For Extension Of Moratorium On Bird Flu Experiments

Credit Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci said a voluntary halt to bird flu research should stay in effect.

A voluntary moratorium on certain experiments involving forms of bird flu altered in laboratories should continue until there can be more public discussion of safety concerns, a prominent government official told flu researchers at a meeting in New York City Tuesday.

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It's All Politics
5:10 pm
Tue July 31, 2012

Obama And Bush's Shared First-Term Obsession: Battleground States

What does President Obama have in common with his immediate White House predecessor?

Both men spent a disproportionate amount of their first terms making appearances in battleground states, Brendan Doherty, a political scientist at the U.S. Naval Academy, writes in a post on The Monkey Cage political-science blog.

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The Torch
4:58 pm
Tue July 31, 2012

With A Tiger's Help, Orange Juice Helps Lighten The Mood At Olympics

Credit Vickie Walton-James / NPR
On their bottles, Innocent declares itself the juice of champions — before adding, "rather than bang on about it, we thought we'd show you a picture of a tiger running through his pre-swim checklist." The drinks are a welcome sight at the Olympic media center.

When you spend hours on end at a media center, even if it's on an assignment as terrific as the Summer Olympics, the refreshments can get to be, well, familiar.

But no contempt has been bred here. That's partly because of Innocent brand juice — the "official smoothie and juice of the London 2012 Olympic games," as the label says.

And any drink that can make us chuckle on deadline is greatly appreciated. Especially if it's what's on the outside of the bottle that makes us laugh.

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World
4:41 pm
Tue July 31, 2012

Opera Unfolds When A Cuban Cabaret Is Shut Down

Originally published on Wed August 1, 2012 3:18 pm

Ulises Aquino was already one of Cuba's best-known baritones when he founded his own company, Opera de la Calle, or Opera of the Street, in 2006. By combining Cuban rhythms and dance with his formal musical training, he won fans at home and abroad.

Aquino also considers himself a good "revolucionario," meaning he's a loyal supporter of Cuba's socialist system. And when President Raul Castro urged Cubans to increase productivity by starting small businesses, Aquino answered the call.

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The Two-Way
3:55 pm
Tue July 31, 2012

Microsoft Gives Hotmail A Facelift, Says It Will Transition It To Outlook

Credit Microsoft
The new Outlook is incorporated with other services like Skype.

Originally published on Wed August 1, 2012 8:00 am

Microsoft announced that Hotmail — the email service with 324 million users — will transition into a web and more social version of Microsoft's Outlook.

Reuters reports that Microsoft made the announcement, as they showed off their free web version of the email program it is renowned for.

Reuters adds:

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