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The Two-Way
1:22 pm
Fri June 1, 2012

Catholic Nun Group Rejects Vatican Report That Found Them Afoul Of Doctrine

Credit Andrew Medichini / AP
American nuns attend Mass at Sant'Apollinare in Rome.

The board of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), which represents most nuns in the United States, rejected a report from the Vatican that found they were running afoul of church doctrine.

The report, which among other things expressed concerned about the group's "radical feminism," was issued in April and ruled that an American archbishop would bring the nuns back in line.

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Medical Treatments
1:18 pm
Fri June 1, 2012

Paralyzed Rats Walk, Even Sprint After Rehab

Reporting in Science, researchers write that a combination of therapies, willpower and chocolate helped rats with severe spinal cord injuries learn to walk and even run again. Neurobiologist Moses Chao, not affiliated with the study, discusses the rehab method and whether it could work in humans.

The Two-Way
12:34 pm
Fri June 1, 2012

Russia Is Not Propping Up Syrian Regime, Putin Says

Credit Markus Schreiber / AP
President of Russia Vladimir Putin arrives for a meeting with German President Joachim Gauck, not seen, at Bellevue Palace in Berlin, Germany on Friday.

Originally published on Fri June 1, 2012 12:38 pm

Russian President Vladimir Putin denied claims made by Secretary of State Hilary Clinton that Russia is "in effect, propping up" the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

"We don't supply weapons that can be used in civil conflicts," Putin told reporters in Berlin after he met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

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'It's All Politics': NPR's Weekly News Roundup
11:16 am
Fri June 1, 2012

It's All Politics, May 31, 2012

Credit Mary Altaffer / AP

Originally published on Fri June 1, 2012 11:44 am

  • Listen to the Roundup

Mitt Romney gets enough delegates, in some counts, to go over the top in his bid for the GOP nomination. But his celebration gets distracted by more Donald Trump "birtherism." Plus, the Texas GOP goes into overtime to find a Senate nominee, Rep. Thad McCotter plans a write-in campaign in Michigan in hopes of keeping his own job, and a look ahead to the Wisconsin recall.

NPR's Ken Rudin and Ron Elving have the latest political news in this week's roundup.

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Shots - Health Blog
11:08 am
Fri June 1, 2012

Planned Parenthood Controversy Hangs Over Komen's Fundraising Races

Credit Brian Chilson / AP
An estimated 45,000 people took part in the Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure in Little Rock, Ark., in Oct. 2010. But after a controversy involving potential cuts to funding of Planned Parenthood earlier this year, participation in fundraising races has dropped.

Originally published on Mon June 4, 2012 11:12 am

On Saturday, the Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure will be run and walked in Washington. This year, the field won't be so crowded.

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It's All Politics
11:07 am
Fri June 1, 2012

Judge, Justice Department Weigh In On Who Can Vote In Florida

Credit Joe Raedle / Getty Images
"I Voted" stickers are left ready for voters at a polling station on Jan. 31, the day of Florida's presidential primary, in Tampa.

Originally published on Fri June 1, 2012 1:34 pm

In Florida, a battle is heating up on several fronts over who will be allowed to vote in the upcoming primary and the November general election.

In Tallahassee, a federal judge has blocked state elections officials from enforcing tough restrictions on groups that conduct voter registration drives.

And in Washington, the Justice Department has sent a letter to Florida telling it to immediately halt efforts to purge from the voting rolls people suspected of being noncitizens.

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Business
11:07 am
Fri June 1, 2012

Employment Growth Slows As Jobless Benefits Shrink

Credit Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images
Aaron Moore completes a job application at a Los Angeles career fair on Thursday. Job growth has slowed sharply since the winter, the government said Friday.

Originally published on Fri June 1, 2012 6:14 pm

May's higher unemployment rate and meager job creation couldn't have come at a worse time for people like Julia Gray. A Chicago-based writer and editor with a master's degree, Gray said she has been unemployed for 17 months. "The media world in Chicago is dead and deader," she said.

"I was collecting unemployment benefits for a while," she said. "It helped a great deal — it was incredibly important."

But now her benefits have run out, and her employment search goes on.

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The Two-Way
10:57 am
Fri June 1, 2012

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

Credit Lewis Whyld / AFP/Getty Images
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in London on Wednesday.

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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The Two-Way
9:33 am
Fri June 1, 2012

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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Business
9:04 am
Fri June 1, 2012

U.S. Experiences A Drop In Millionaires

Originally published on Thu June 7, 2012 1:24 pm

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

OK, let's turn now to personal wealth. Today's last word in business is disappearing millions.

The number of millionaire households in this country declined in 2011. That's according to this year's Global Wealth Study from the Boston Consulting Group. It found the number of American households with a million dollars of investable assets shrunk by 2.5 percent.

The U.S. still leads the world in millionaires, but developing countries are gaining ground. Other countries added nearly 200,000 millionaire households in 2011.

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The Two-Way
8:44 am
Fri June 1, 2012

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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The Two-Way
8:17 am
Fri June 1, 2012

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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The Two-Way
7:57 am
Fri June 1, 2012

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

Credit Stephen Brashear / Getty Images
Left to right: Karen Eides, Tim Torres and David Gordon embrace as they kneel in front of a makeshift memorial outside the cafe in Seattle where a gunman killed four people.

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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Around the Nation
7:41 am
Fri June 1, 2012

Rare Double Egg Laid In Abilene, Texas

Originally published on Fri June 1, 2012 9:04 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

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Remembrances
7:34 am
Fri June 1, 2012

Voice Of Speedy Alka-Seltzer Dick Beals Dies At 85

Originally published on Fri June 1, 2012 9:04 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm David Greene with a remembrance of Dick Beals, the man whose voice gave lie to Gumby. A glandular condition gave Beals his small stature and youthful voice, a voice that was used in more than 3,000 commercials. Beals played a wide range of roles - babies, teenagers, chipmunks. Perhaps most notably the Speedy Alka-Seltzer character.

(SOUNDBITE OF ADVERTISEMENT)

DICK BEALS: (Singing) Alka-Seltzer, plop, plop, fizz, fizz - oh, what a relief it is.

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The Two-Way
7:33 am
Fri June 1, 2012

Mine Safety Questions Linger, One Year After Takeover Of Massey Energy

Originally published on Fri June 1, 2012 8:05 am

One year ago today, Alpha Natural Resources officially absorbed the troubled coal mining company Massey Energy, which had one of the worst safety records in the industry.

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The Two-Way
7:09 am
Fri June 1, 2012

Did Jobs Grow Fast Enough In May? Probably Not

Credit Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images
Hoping for work: Job seekrs lined up Thursday at a job fair in Los Angeles.

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

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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Law
5:29 am
Fri June 1, 2012

'Call Of Duty' Creators Settle Lawsuit Against Activision

Originally published on Fri June 1, 2012 9:04 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And now to an even bigger battle that's been playing in the world of video games.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME)

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Law
5:29 am
Fri June 1, 2012

Fla. Judge Blocks Parts Of Voter Registration Law

Originally published on Fri June 1, 2012 2:25 pm

A federal judge in Florida has blocked the state from enforcing tough restrictions on groups that conduct voter registration drives. Because of the restrictions, the League of Women Voters and Rock the Vote had stopped registering voters in the state. The groups challenged the new law in court.

Economy
5:29 am
Fri June 1, 2012

Is Michigan's Economy Rebounding? Depends Who You Ask

Originally published on Fri June 1, 2012 9:04 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This election year we've seen a lot of cases where different people look at the same economic situation and come to different conclusions. And that seems to be happening in Michigan. It's America's comeback state - that according to its governor, Rick Snyder. Unemployment there is dropping, as the U.S. auto industry rebounds. And the state has a budget surplus for the first time in years.

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