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Latin America
1:46 am
Fri June 29, 2012

Mexican Leftist Faces Uphill Task In Presidential Bid

Originally published on Fri June 29, 2012 5:00 am

With just two days left before Mexicans elect a new president, polls show that the candidate of the former ruling party is poised to win the race by a wide margin. But there are those who don't want to see a return of the PRI, which ruled Mexico for more than 70 years until 2000 with a mix of corruption and cronyism. They say their best hope is leftist PRD party candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

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Sports
1:22 am
Fri June 29, 2012

NBA Draft: Hornets Select Davis With No. 1 Pick

Best in the country and No. 1 and 2 in the NBA draft. The celebration goes on for Kentucky's kids.

The Wildcats became the first school to have the top two picks and tied a record with six players taken overall Thursday night.

After the New Orleans Hornets made the long-expected selection of forward Anthony Davis with the first pick, Charlotte followed by taking fellow freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

"It's crazy," Davis said. "Michael is a great player. We have two down and four more to go. Hopefully, all of them will go in the first round."

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Shots - Health Blog
11:13 pm
Thu June 28, 2012

High Court Health Care Ruling Shifts Action To States

Credit Kevin Dietsch / UPI /Landov
Protesters and supporters of President Obama's health care law await the Supreme Court's ruling Thursday. The court ruled to uphold the law. The focus now shifts to the states, which are responsible for the lion's share of getting people without insurance covered.

Originally published on Fri June 29, 2012 9:27 pm

The Supreme Court's decision to uphold nearly all of the Affordable Care Act may move the debate to the presidential campaign trail. But it shifts much of the burden of implementing the law to the states.

States are actually responsible for the lion's share of getting people without insurance covered under the health law.

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The Two-Way
6:42 pm
Thu June 28, 2012

PHOTO: President Obama After Hearing Health Care News

Credit Pete Souza / The White House
President Barack Obama talks on the phone with Solicitor General Donald Verrilli in the Oval Office, after learning of the Supreme Court's ruling on the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act," on Thursday.

The White House has released a picture of President Obama on the phone with Solicitor General Donald Verrilli in the Oval Office after hearing the health care news. Verrilli was the one who argued the case in front of the Supreme Court.

Here's the picture:

Obama looks rather relaxed. But both The New York Times and NBC News report that Obama, who received the news like most Americans, first thought his signature legislation had been declared unconstitutional.

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The Two-Way
6:28 pm
Thu June 28, 2012

This Year, Weather Service Will Begin Pushing Notifications To Cell Phones

Credit NWS
What the alerts may look like on your phone.

Originally published on Fri June 29, 2012 10:32 am

The National Weather Service says that this year, it will begin pushing text notifications to cellphones that alert users to hazardous weather conditions.

The text notifications will be sent to those people within the location of the severe weather. The Weather Emergency Alerts could also be used for local emergencies that require evacuation, AMBER alerts and presidential alerts "during a national emergency," the Weather Service said.

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Judging The Health Care Law
6:09 pm
Thu June 28, 2012

The Reaction In Florida: From Protesting To Partying

Originally published on Thu June 28, 2012 7:32 pm

Just after 10 a.m. on Thursday, a cheer went up at Hispanic Health Initiatives, a nonprofit in Casselberry, Fla., just north of Orlando.

The enthusiasm for the Supreme Court's decision to uphold nearly all of the federal health care law was unmistakable at the nonprofit, which advocates for health care for the local Latino population.

The news took Josephine Mercado, the nonprofit's founder and executive director, by surprise — and changed her plans for Friday.

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Law
6:09 pm
Thu June 28, 2012

Supreme Court Upholds Health Care Law

Credit Dana Verkouteren / AP
This artist's rendering shows Chief Justice John Roberts (center) speaking at the Supreme Court on Thursday. From left are Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Roberts, Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan. The court voted 5-4 to uphold President Obama's health care law.

Originally published on Fri June 29, 2012 10:45 am

  • NPR Special Coverage: The Health Care Decision

Shock, dismay, relief, confusion — all those emotions played out Thursday when the U.S. Supreme Court announced its 5-to-4 decision to uphold almost all of President Obama's health care overhaul.

The ruling, with shifting majorities on different provisions and multiple dissents, covered close to 200 pages and provoked initial confusion. Both Fox News and CNN got it wrong, reporting at first that the individual mandate had been struck down. But when the dust cleared, the law labeled derisively by Republicans as "Obamacare" was largely intact.

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The Two-Way
5:30 pm
Thu June 28, 2012

David Beckham Doesn't Make Britain's Olympic Squad

Credit Andrew Yates / AFP/Getty Images
This file photo taken in 2011 shows former Manchester United player David Beckham after a testimonial football match between Manchester United and Juventus for Manchester United's Gary Neville.

The Daily Mail calls it "the darkest day of his illustrious career."

International soccer star David Beckham was told he did not make Britain's Olympic squad. Beckham broke the news when he issued a statement today.

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Movie Reviews
5:03 pm
Thu June 28, 2012

'Beasts': Taking Southern Folklore To The Next Level

Originally published on Fri June 29, 2012 3:58 pm

The parents of director Benh Zeitlin are folklorists, which is as good a way as any to account for the ambitions of his first feature, Beasts of the Southern Wild. The film is a mythic odyssey laced with modern ecological anxieties, captured in a free-form, image-driven narrative that recalls Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life. It's clear from the outset that Zeitlin aims to take the family folklore business to the next level.

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The Salt
4:34 pm
Thu June 28, 2012

How the Taste Of Tomatoes Went Bad (And Kept On Going)

Credit pocius / Flickr.com
Notice how some of these tomatoes have unripe-looking tops? Those "green shoulders" are actually the keys to flavor.

Originally published on Thu June 28, 2012 7:32 pm

The tomato is the vegetable (or fruit, if you must) that we love to hate. We know how good it can be and how bad it usually is. And everybody just wants to know: How did it get that way?

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World Cafe
4:15 pm
Thu June 28, 2012

Latin Roots: The Trajectory Of Tango

Credit STF / Courtesy of AFP/Getty Images
Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla performs in France in July 1986.

Originally published on Mon July 2, 2012 10:24 am

For World Cafe's 13th episode of Latin Roots, Latin-music expert Ernesto Lechner talks tango. Lechner was born and raised in Buenos Aires, which is widely regarded as the genre's birthplace.

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World Cafe
4:15 pm
Thu June 28, 2012

John Lydon On World Cafe

Credit Courtesy of Paul Heartfield
John Lydon (center right) of Public Image Ltd.

Originally published on Thu August 16, 2012 12:09 pm

Though John Lydon remains best known as Johnny Rotten, former lead singer of The Sex Pistols, his music career didn't end with the pioneering punk act's split in 1978. Lydon formed Public Image Ltd shortly thereafter and dropped his adopted stage name. Widely considered the first post-punk band, PiL experiments with a wide palette of sounds, including dub, rock and disco.

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NPR Story
4:13 pm
Thu June 28, 2012

Republicans Says Health Care Fight Still Has Life

Originally published on Thu June 28, 2012 7:32 pm

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Across the street at the Capitol, lawmakers lined up to issue their reactions to the court's ruling upholding the health care law. Democrats celebrated what for many of them was an unexpected victory. Republicans denounced the decision and vowed to repeal the law.

NPR's David Welna has that story.

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NPR Story
4:13 pm
Thu June 28, 2012

Attorney General Faces Contempt Of Congress Charge

Originally published on Thu June 28, 2012 7:32 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

And I'm Audie Cornish.

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NPR Story
4:13 pm
Thu June 28, 2012

Political Diagnosis Post-Health Care Decision

Originally published on Thu June 28, 2012 7:32 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

For more now on the political impact of the Supreme Court ruling, we're joined by NPR's national political correspondent Mara Liasson. Mara, hi.

MARA LIASSON, BYLINE: Hi, Melissa.

BLOCK: We heard jubilation from Democrats, some shock from Republicans there. This is clearly a very important legal win for the president and for his policy on health care. But until this point, health care has not always been a winning issue for the president. Let's listen to some of what he said today addressing that question.

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