National Security
12:01 am
Tue March 27, 2012

For U.S. Analysts, Rethinking The Terror Threat

Credit Joji Thomas / AP
U.S. officials are looking more closely for signs of state-sponsored terrorism these days. In this attack, Israel blamed Iran for bombing a car belonging to the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi, India, on Feb. 13. The wife of an Israeli diplomat was injured. Iran denied it was involved.

There has been a subtle shift taking place in the intelligence community in recent months.

Intelligence and law enforcement officials say analysts and experts who have been tracking al-Qaida for more than a decade have been quietly reassigned. Some are being moved completely out of al-Qaida units. Others are being asked to spend less time watching al-Qaida and more time tracking more traditional foes — like state-sponsored terrorists.

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The Two-Way
6:44 pm
Mon March 26, 2012

'Decorah Eagle Cam:' A Beak Breaks Through First Egg

Credit Raptor Resource Project
A close up view of mom, on the nest in Decorah, Iowa.

A quick update on the Decorah Bald Eagle cam that we've been keeping track of and became quite the sensation last year.

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It's All Politics
5:55 pm
Mon March 26, 2012

Outside The Court, Protesters Face-off Over 'Obamacare'

Credit John Rose / NPR
Amid a crowd of Tea Party activists, a supporter of President Obama's health care overhaul displays a sign outside the Supreme Court on Monday.

As U.S. Supreme Court justices opened their historic three-day hearing of arguments on President Obama's health care plan, hundreds of protesters from across the country flocked outside the court singing, chanting and arguing with one another.

Supporters and opponents of the law engaged in a sing-song call-and-response debate just in front of the court's towering marble steps.

"We love Obamacare!" shouted supporters.

"No, we don't!" responded members of the Tea Party Patriots, one of the most vocal and disapproving groups of the law present at the court Monday.

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The Salt
5:36 pm
Mon March 26, 2012

Does A Chocolate Habit Help Keep You Lean?

Credit Philippe Huguen / AFP/Getty Images
Researchers say some compounds in cocoa may help us fend off fat.

A new study finds that people who eat chocolate several times a week are actually leaner than people who don't eat chocolate regularly.

Really, we asked? Last time we checked chocolate was loaded with fat and sugar. But this new research, along with some prior studies, suggests chocolate may favorably influence metabolism.

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The Two-Way
5:36 pm
Mon March 26, 2012

After Failed R-Rating Appeal, Bullying Documentary Will Be Released Unrated

Credit Lee Hirsch / The Weinstein Company
Alex, one of the kids who struggles with bullies in Lee Hirsch's documentary Bully.

The documentary Bully will be released unrated.

The decision from the Weinstein Company comes after a very public appeal for the Motion Picture Association of America to overturn its decision to give the bullying documentary an R-rating, which meant anyone younger than 17 would not be permitted without a parent.

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It's All Politics
5:30 pm
Mon March 26, 2012

Santorum Would Consider VP Offer From Romney, Man He Daily Derides

If on winning the Republican presidential nomination Mitt Romney needs a vice presidential running mate with the proven ability to use a New York Times correspondent as a rhetorical punching bag, Rick Santorum could be available.

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The Two-Way
4:43 pm
Mon March 26, 2012

Sarkozy Says France Will Bar Some Muslim Clerics

In the aftermath of the Toulouse shootings, French President Nicholas Sarkozy said his country would bar some Muslim clerics from entering the country.

According to Al Arabiya, Sarkozy said he spoke to the Emir of Qatar to request that Yousef Al-Qarwadi, an Egyptian who is considered one of the most prominent Sunni Muslim clerics, not be allowed to travel to France.

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Middle East
4:33 pm
Mon March 26, 2012

Saudi Institute Seeks To Build A Bridge To The West

Credit EPA/Landov
Under King Abdullah's rule, Saudi Arabia has gradually opened up to the West. The country recently established its first institute to study the West. Here, the king is shown at the Gulf Cooperation Council summit in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Dec. 19.

When Fahad A. Alhomoudi was studying for his doctorate in Islamic studies at Canada's McGill University in 2000, he discovered something that bothered him.

"There is, in almost every American and European university, a center for Middle Eastern or Islamic or Arab studies," the Saudi professor recalled in a recent interview in his office in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. "But there was not a single center with a focus on the West in the Middle East."

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Credit Doby Photography / NPR

Melissa Block is a 28-year veteran of NPR and has been hosting All Things Considered since 2003, after nearly a decade as an NPR correspondent.

Frequently reporting from communities in the center of the news, Block was in Chengdu, China, preparing for a weeklong broadcast when a massive earthquake struck the region in May 2008. Immediately following the quake, Block, along with co-host Robert Siegel and their production team, traveled throughout Sichuan province to report extensively on the destruction and relief efforts. Their riveting coverage aired across all of NPR's programs and was carried on major news organizations around the world. In addition, the reporting was recognized with the industry's top honors including a Peabody Award, a duPont-Columbia Award, a National Headliner Award and the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi Award.

Throughout her career, Block has covered major news events for NPR ranging from on-the-scene reporting from the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the days following Hurricane Katrina to a series from Texas gauging the impact of the Iraq War on the surrounding communities. Her reporting after the September 11, 2001 attacks was part of coverage that earned NPR a George Foster Peabody Award. Block's reporting from Kosovo in 1999 was cited among stories for which NPR News won an Overseas Press Club Award.

Shots - Health Blog
4:28 pm
Mon March 26, 2012

Reading Between The Lines Of Monday's Supreme Court Arguments

Credit John Rose / NPR
Demonstrators in support of President Obama's health care overhaul march outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday opened three days of oral arguments over the constitutionality of the insurance requirement embedded in President Obama's landmark health care law with a simple question and an obscure 1867 law.

The question: Does the court even have the right to hear the health care challenge, given that the Anti-Injunction Act prevents federal courts from taking cases where taxpayers are trying to prevent the government from "assessing or collecting" taxes?

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