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Latin America
11:01 pm
Mon February 6, 2012

Drought Ravages Farms Across Wide Swath Of Mexico

Originally published on Tue February 7, 2012 3:51 am

In the central Mexican state of Zacatecas, 76-year-old Genaro Rodarte Huizar rides his donkey along a dry riverbed. On his left is a dried out pasture; on his right is what used to be a cornfield; now it's just long furrows of gray, dusty dirt.

Rodarte says that for the past two years, the crops that he's planted here have failed. Normally, he plants beans and corn to feed his family, and oats to sell. He says he hasn't harvested anything because the land is too dry and there's no water.

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Middle East
11:01 pm
Mon February 6, 2012

Jews With Ties To Iran And Israel Feel Conflicted

As tensions between Israel and Iran ratchet up, one community is caught in the middle: Iranian Jews living in Israel. There are some 250,000 people of Persian descent living in Israel, and they maintain strong ties with their homeland.

As a result, they are uniquely conflicted over the possibility of war between the two countries.

In a small cluttered apartment in Jerusalem, Naheet Yacoubi cooks a traditional Persian meal for her Shabbat dinner. Originally from Tehran, she came to Israel when she was a child.

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Latin America
11:01 pm
Mon February 6, 2012

United Opposition A Challenge To Venezuela's Chavez

Credit Ariana Cubillos / AP
Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles (center) waves to supporters on Oct. 12, 2011. Capriles is the front-runner in the opposition primary election to pick a candidate to run against President Hugo Chavez. The primary is scheduled for Feb. 12.

Originally published on Tue February 7, 2012 3:51 am

The opposition to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has tried everything to end his long rule: huge protests, a coup and an oil strike. Nothing has worked, but now opposition leaders have coalesced into a united and focused movement that is preparing to choose one candidate to run against the president, posing the strongest electoral challenge to Chavez's populist rule.

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Education
11:01 pm
Mon February 6, 2012

UC Students Propose Alternative To Tuition Increases

Chris LoCascio, a junior at UC Riverside, feared that there was no end in sight for tuition increases at the University of California. The state kept cutting subsidies, students kept protesting, but no one had any answers. So he and other students decided to turn the discussion on its head.

What if, he says, "instead of charging students upfront for their education, students would attend the UC with no upfront costs whatsoever"?

Under the Fix UC proposal, the bill would not come due until students graduate and start making money.

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Around the Nation
11:01 pm
Mon February 6, 2012

Alabama's Immigration Law May Get A Second Look

Credit Dave Martin / AP
Protesters march outside Alabama's Capitol in Montgomery on Nov. 15 during a demonstration against the state's immigration law.

Originally published on Tue February 7, 2012 12:00 pm

Whoever said "all P.R. is good P.R." probably never had dozens of protesters gathered in front of the office calling them "Hitler."

That's what happened during a recent lunchtime in the Birmingham, Ala., business district, as students from several local colleges held a mock funeral in front of a bank. They accuse the company of funding private detention centers where they claim illegal immigrants have died.

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Middle East
5:55 pm
Mon February 6, 2012

As Syrian Violence Worsens, U.S. Diplomats Leave

President Obama says it's time for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down. Yet Monday's decision to shut down the U.S. Embassy in Damascus reflected the deteriorating conditions in a country that appears locked in a protracted conflict with no end in sight.

"The closing of the U.S. Embassy is a clear signal to the international community that it's not safe for diplomats in Syria," says Sen. Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat.

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The Two-Way
5:44 pm
Mon February 6, 2012

Remembering Roger Boisjoly: He Tried To Stop Shuttle Challenger Launch

Credit AP
Engineer Roger Boisjoly examines a model of the O-Rings, used to bring the Space Shuttle into orbit, at a meeting of senior executives and academic representatives in Rye, New York in Sept. 1991.

Roger Boisjoly was a booster rocket engineer at NASA contractor Morton Thiokol in Utah in January, 1986, when he and four colleagues became embroiled in the fatal decision to launch the Space Shuttle Challenger.

Boisjoly was also one of two confidential sources quoted by NPR three weeks later in the first detailed report about the Challenger launch decision, and the stiff resistance by Boisjoly and other Thiokol engineers.

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The Two-Way
5:13 pm
Mon February 6, 2012

Heartbreak And Victory, Kyle Stanley's Week In The PGA

Professional golfer Kyle Stanley will forever remember Super Bowl Sunday 2012. And not because he's an over-the-top New York Giants — or Madonna — fan.

But because he won the unglamorously-named Waste Management Phoenix Open on Sunday. And for Stanley, there was nothing trashy about his final round 65 that secured a one-shot victory and his first on the PGA tour.

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The Two-Way
4:31 pm
Mon February 6, 2012

Greece Delays Decision On Terms Of Bailout

Credit Petros Giannakouris / AP
IMF representative Bob Traa is seen inside an elevator as he arrives a government office building before meeting Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos in Athens on Monday.

Much to the dismay of the economic world, Greece said it was delaying negotiations on the terms of its bailout package today. Basically, Greece's political leaders could not agree on accepting tough, new austerity measures that are tied to receiving the 130 billion euro bailout.

The Guardian reports:

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Election 2012
4:25 pm
Mon February 6, 2012

In Colorado, Voters Reserve The Right To Choose

Credit Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
An attendee holds American flags during a rally Saturday in Colorado Springs, Colo. The rally was for Republican Mitt Romney, but a new study says the number of newly declared independents is outpacing new registration for either Republicans or Democrats in the state.

Originally published on Mon February 6, 2012 6:33 pm

At the upscale Cherry Creek Mall in Denver, Scott Kardos, 24, said he's not interested in being either a Democrat or a Republican.

"I don't really identify with either party," said Kardos, a recent college graduate with an electrical engineering degree, who was shopping with his girlfriend and her parents. "A lot of the things I agree with the Republican side, and a lot of things I agree on the Democrat side. So, can't really decide on either one, and I flip-flop pretty much every other election on who I'd rather vote for."

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