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The Two-Way
12:23 pm
Sun June 16, 2013

Senator: NSA Leaks Caused Terrorists To Change Tactics

Credit Alex Wong / Getty Images
Sens. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., speak to the media about the controversial National Security Agency programs.

Originally published on Sun June 16, 2013 1:22 pm

Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss tells NBC's Meet The Press on Sunday that information leaked to the media by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden has caused terrorists to change their tactics to thwart detection.

Asked if Snowden, believed to be in hiding in Hong Kong, qualified as a "traitor" who should face U.S. justice, Chambliss, R-Ga., replied, "If he's not a traitor, then he's pretty darn close to it.

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The Two-Way
11:39 am
Sun June 16, 2013

How Do You Say 'Born To Ride' In Latin?

Credit Andrew Medichini / Associated Press
Pope Francis blesses a sick or disabled person wearing Harley-Davidson garb in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican on Sunday.

Originally published on Sun June 16, 2013 1:24 pm

Pope Francis blessed a thundering parade of thousands of bikers on Sunday as Harley-Davidson riders descended on Rome to celebrate the motorcycle maker's 110th anniversary.

The Associated Press reports that the Harley's patented super-loud engines nearly drowned out the Latin recitation of "Our Father."

The AP writes:

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The Two-Way
11:01 am
Sun June 16, 2013

U.S. To North Korea: Dismantle Nuke Program, Then We'll Talk

Credit Handout / Getty Images
The North and South Korean delegations meet at the border village of Panmunjom last week. The talks quickly fell apart.

Originally published on Sun June 16, 2013 1:23 pm

The White House says it's open to "senior-level" talks proposed by North Korea, but only if Pyongyang lives up to its U.N. obligations to dismantle its nuclear weapons program.

National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said Sunday that North Korea must meet "its obligations to the world." The U.S. will judge Pyongyang by "its actions and not its words," she said.

Earlier Sunday, Pyongyang proposed the high-level discussions with the U.S. just days after its direct talks with rival South Korea fell apart.

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The Two-Way
10:22 am
Sun June 16, 2013

Jordan Says It's Ready If Syria Becomes Danger

Credit Jim Young / AFP/Getty Images
Secretary of State John Kerry (left) meets with Jordan's King Abdullah at the Dead Sea last month.

Originally published on Sun June 16, 2013 12:41 pm

Jordan's King Abdullah says his country stands ready to respond to any threat from a spillover of the civil war in neighboring Syria, a day after the U.S. announced it would leave fighter jets and Patriot missiles in his country after joint military exercises end this week.

"If the world does not help as it should, and if the matter becomes a danger to our country, we are able at any moment to take the measures to protect the country and the interest of our people," Abdullah said, speaking to graduating military cadets.

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The Two-Way
8:41 am
Sun June 16, 2013

Iran's President-Elect Meets With Caution In West

Credit Atta Kenare / AFP/Getty Images
Iranians celebrate the victory of moderate presidential candidate Hasan Rowhani (portrait) at Vanak square in northern Tehran on Saturday.

Originally published on Sun June 16, 2013 12:46 pm

Hasan Rowhani's stunning presidential election victory in Iran has opened the door for improved relations with the West, but the U.S. and Israel remain cautious about making progress on their key demand — dismantling Iran's nuclear program.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said the international community "must not give in to wishful thinking or temptation and loosen the pressure on Iran for it to stop its nuclear program."

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The Two-Way
8:22 am
Sun June 16, 2013

Syrian Strife Draws In Neighbors, Global Players

Credit Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP/Getty Images
A Syrian rebel aims his sniper rifle at Syrian government forces in the Sheikh Maqsud district of Aleppo, in April.

Originally published on Mon June 17, 2013 10:49 am

The conflict in Syria may be first and foremost a civil war, pitting the Shiite-dominated regime of President Bashar Assad against mostly Sunni insurgents. But the region's turbulent geopolitics have turned it into a proxy fight that has drawn in the rest of the region as well as the U.S and other global powers.

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NPR Story
7:38 am
Sun June 16, 2013

Colorado Springs Learns To Live With Fire

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Colorado is often the site of devastating forest fires, but the city of Colorado Springs has been hit particularly hard as of late. In the span of just one year, more than 800 homes have been destroyed from wildfires in and around the city. This time last year, it was the Waldo Canyon fire, and now it's the Black Forest fire. NPR's Kirk Siegler spent the week in Colorado Springs and sent this report.

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Shots - Health News
6:39 am
Sun June 16, 2013

Coping On Father's Day Without Dad

Originally published on Sun June 16, 2013 9:29 am

Steven's father had been diagnosed with cancer. The doctors didn't think he would make it. Pale and bald, he didn't look himself. Steven wanted to take a picture, made a video, just in case. Dad refused. "I got so mad," Steven remembers. "I regret not just coming up to him and saying, 'Dad, five minutes.' "

Steven's dad died on June 12, 2011. "The only time I can hear his voice is on our answering machine for two seconds," Steven says. "Hi, Heinz family, leave a message."

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The Two-Way
6:16 am
Sun June 16, 2013

Wave Of Attacks Leaves At Least 30 Dead In Iraq

Originally published on Sun June 16, 2013 6:23 am

A string of deadly attacks that appeared to be coordinated car bombings and shootings killed at least 30 people and left many more wounded across Iraq on Sunday, the Associated Press reports.

The AP has more:

"Most of the car bombs hit Shiite-majority areas and were the cause of most of the casualties, killing 26. The blasts hit half a dozen cities and towns in the south and center of the country.

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Politics
5:05 am
Sun June 16, 2013

Why Both Sides Want Gay Marriage Settled By The States

Credit Jonathan Ernst / Reuters/Landov
Anti-gay marriage protesters (left) try to persuade same-sex marriage supporters to get out of the way of their march in front of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court may rule on gay marriage this week. Advocates both for and against are glad the issue didn't reach the court any sooner.

They didn't want a repeat of the abortion issue. With its landmark decision in Roe v. Wade, the high court stepped in and guaranteed a right to abortion but also triggered a backlash that has lasted for 40 years.

With same-sex marriage, by contrast, legislators and voters in nearly every state had the chance to make their feelings known before the Supreme Court weighs in.

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News
5:05 am
Sun June 16, 2013

My Father, The Pilot

Originally published on Sun June 16, 2013 10:38 pm

My dad was a mild-mannered guy. Never bragged. Hated sports. Mom won the arguments. He was an avocado farmer near Santa Barbara, but being dad was his No. 1 job.

He read me bedtime stories, never missed a piano recital or a family dinner. And he played it safe: Dad's idea of adventure was driving his Ford Taurus to town without the wiper fluid filled to the top.

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Around the Nation
6:25 pm
Sat June 15, 2013

Water Wars: Who Controls The Flow?

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 7:39 pm

So often, we take water for granted. We turn on the faucet and there it is. We assume it's our right in America to have water. And yet, water is a resource. It's not always where we need it, or there when we need it.

Rivers don't follow political boundaries — they flow through states and over international borders. And there are endless demands for water: for agriculture, drinking, plumbing, manufacturing, to name just a few. And then there's the ecosystem that depends on water getting downstream.

So what are our legal rights when it comes to water? And who decides?

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World
5:14 pm
Sat June 15, 2013

In Istanbul's Taksim Square, Cue The Piano Man

Amid the protests and clashes in Istanbul's Taksim Square, a pianist has been hauling in his instrument at night to entertain the crowds. Each time he does, the raucous crowd stills itself while he plays. In between tunes, chants rise up and he stands on his piano bench to conduct the crowd.

Middle East
5:03 pm
Sat June 15, 2013

Obama's Dilemma: Arming The Syrian Rebels

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 6:19 pm

The White House is taking its first tentative steps toward arming Syrian rebels. Host Jacki Lyden speaks with James Fallows, national correspondent with The Atlantic, about the U.S.' ongoing struggle to determine when is the right time to intercede. They also discuss moderate candidate Hasan Rowhani's victory in the Iranian presidential election.

Author Interviews
5:03 pm
Sat June 15, 2013

Telling Stories About Ourselves In 'The Faraway Nearby'

Originally published on Sat June 15, 2013 6:19 pm

Rebecca Solnit begins her new memoir, The Faraway Nearby, with a question: "What's your story?"

"It's all in the telling," she says. "Stories are compasses and architecture; we navigate by them, we build our sanctuaries and prisons out of them, and to be without a story is to be lost in the vastness of the world that spreads in all directions like arctic tundra or sea ice."

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