It's All Politics
7:44 pm
Tue May 8, 2012

Gay Marriage Referendum Drives High Turnout In North Carolina

Originally published on Wed May 9, 2012 10:37 am

North Carolina voters decided to rewrite the state constitution, passing an amendment that makes the only recognized, domestic legal union a marriage between a man and a woman.

The AP made that projection based on an actual tally of votes. With 35 percent of the vote counted, 58 percent of those casting ballots voted in favor of the amendment, making North Carolina the 30th state to adopt such a measure.

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The Two-Way
6:50 pm
Tue May 8, 2012

CIA Informant Posed As A Would-Be Bomber To Foil Underwear Bomb Plot

Originally published on Tue May 8, 2012 7:05 pm

A new key detail has emerged in the foiled underwear bomb plot: NPR's Dina Temple-Raston reports that a CIA informant posed as a suicide bomber in order to persuade the al-Qaida branch in Yemen to hand over a new, more sophisticated underwear bomb.

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It's All Politics
6:10 pm
Tue May 8, 2012

Facing A Tough Primary, Lugar Encourages Everyone To Vote

Credit Darron Cummings / AP
Sen. Richard Lugar talks with Joe Purichia before voting on Tuesday in Greenwood, Ind.

Originally published on Wed May 9, 2012 10:37 am

The nearly four-decade career of Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar has come to an end. The Republican elder statesman, well known as an internationalist and as a moderate willing to reach across the aisle, lost his primary battle to state Treasurer Richard Mourdock, a conservative upstart backed by the Tea Party.

"My public service is not concluded," Lugar said during his concession speech, according to Reuters. "I look forward to what can be achieved in the Senate in the next eight months despite a very difficult national election atmosphere."

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Remembrances
5:52 pm
Tue May 8, 2012

Roman Totenberg's Remarkable Life And Death

Credit David L. Ryan / The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Totenberg teaches student Letitia Hom in his classroom at Boston University. Totenberg made his debut as a soloist with the Warsaw Philharmonic at age 11.

Originally published on Thu May 10, 2012 1:20 pm

My father, world-renowned virtuoso violinist and teacher Roman Totenberg, whose professional career spanned nine decades and four continents, died early Tuesday morning at the age of 101.

His death was as remarkable as his life. He made his debut as a soloist with the Warsaw Philharmonic at age 11, performed his last concert when he was in his mid-90s, and was still teaching, literally, on his deathbed. This week, as word flew around the musical world that he was in renal failure, former students flocked to his home in Newton, Mass., to see the beloved "maestro."

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Europe
5:18 pm
Tue May 8, 2012

Greece's Left Wing Tries To Form A Government

Credit Louisa Gouliamaki / AFP/Getty Images
Alexis Tsipras, leader of the Coalition of the Radical Left, or Syriza, speaks to the press in Athens on Tuesday, May 8, after the Greek president gave him a mandate to form a government. Tsipras has three days to put together a coalition. An attempt by a conservative party has already failed.

Originally published on Wed May 9, 2012 7:07 pm

In debt-burdened Greece, the president has given a left-wing coalition a mandate to form a new government, but it faces an uphill battle following an election in which no single party was dominant.

The Coalition of the Radical Left, known as Syriza, vehemently opposes the austerity program imposed by international creditors.

Syriza finished second in the vote Sunday, when Greek voters decisively rejected the tough conditions for international bailouts.

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World Cafe
5:13 pm
Tue May 8, 2012

First Aid Kit On World Cafe

Credit Courtesy of the artist
First Aid Kit.

Originally published on Tue May 8, 2012 6:15 pm

Named as a World Cafe: Next artist just this past March, the charming sister duo First Aid Kit returns with a full-length World Cafe session. Swedish siblings Johanna and Klara Söderberg are barely into their twenties, but they already have an international reputation for their rich harmonies and simple, rousing folk songs.

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The Salt
4:50 pm
Tue May 8, 2012

From Weed To Whimsy: Chefs Conquer Wild Foods With Butter And Oil

Originally published on Tue May 8, 2012 5:58 pm

At 8:30 p.m. last Friday, Mark Andrew Gravel was watching nervously as 40-odd assembled diners in the exposed brick basement of the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn plunged their forks into a plate of food he had just served.

This plate was piled with a curious combination of sunchoke (known to some as Jerusalem artichoke), olive, cattail heart, buttermilk, and whey.

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The Two-Way
4:37 pm
Tue May 8, 2012

A Presidential Debate, A Plunging Neckline And An Apology In Mexico

Originally published on Tue May 8, 2012 4:55 pm

It's no secret that Mexico has many very important problems, not the least of which is a drug war that has killed more than 47,000 people since President Felipe Calderón began his assault against cartels in 2006.

But during the first of two debates in run up to the July 1 presidential elections, the talk of the country is not policy differences. Instead, the talk since Sunday night has been the busty hostess who made her way on stage to hand out cards assigning the candidates a speaking order. Julia Orayen was wearing a long white dress with a plunging neckline.

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Election 2012
4:30 pm
Tue May 8, 2012

Enthusiasm For Romney Runs Low In North Florida

Credit Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/Getty Images
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney holds a rally in Pensacola, Fla., in January.

Originally published on Wed May 9, 2012 7:07 pm

Now that former candidates Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are endorsing Mitt Romney to be the Republican nominee for president, the GOP is working to get the rank and file to fall in line.

That's especially important in swing states like Florida. But in the primary, Romney struggled in the Panhandle of the Sunshine State — a bastion of conservative voters. And it might take more convincing for them to really get behind the former Massachusetts governor.

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Middle East
4:23 pm
Tue May 8, 2012

Palestinians Rally Around Prisoners On Hunger Strike

Originally published on Sun May 13, 2012 8:28 am

At least 1,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are on hunger strike in a growing protest movement that has captured the imagination of the Palestinian public. Daily demonstrations are taking place in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in solidarity with the hunger strikers.

The protest outside the West Bank's Ofer prison this past weekend is now familiar scene. For the past two weeks there have been daily rallies there, and across the West Bank. Some joke that holding the protests close to the prison makes it easy for Israeli authorities to arrest and detain them.

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