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Latin America
4:06 pm
Mon April 16, 2012

Panama Booms While Poor Watch From Afar

The Central American nation of Panama is booming. Fueled by a multibillion-dollar expansion of the Panama Canal, a thriving banking industry and capital flight from Venezuela, the tiny nation has the highest economic growth rate in the hemisphere.

But even as the government builds a subway system and markets the country as a tropical paradise for multinational corporations, not everyone is sharing in the prosperity.

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The Two-Way
4:05 pm
Mon April 16, 2012

Why Did The Rooster Cross The Road? To Get To A Chicken Restaurant

Credit WREG-TV
Gus, who has picked an interesting place to hang out.

Thank goodness he doesn't know what's going on inside.

Candice Ludlow of member station WKNO today helps All Things Considered ketchup ... er catch up ... on a story that's been cooking for a week or so in Tennessee.

It seems that a big red rooster has been hanging out in front of a restaurant in Collierville, Tenn., for the past few months.

But it's not just any restaurant.

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The End Of The Space Shuttle Era
4:02 pm
Mon April 16, 2012

Shuttle Discovery To Make Final Flight, Atop A 747

Credit Kim Shiflett / NASA
The space shuttle Discovery is loaded onto the back of a modified 747 at Kennedy Space Center on April 15. The plane will ferry the shuttle to Washington, D.C., on April 17, where it will be permanently installed at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

On Tuesday morning, space shuttle Discovery will become the first of NASA's three shuttles — plus a shuttle prototype — to travel to its new retirement home.

NASA flew its last shuttle flight in July. Since then, it's been prepping the spaceships to become museum displays. And even though the shuttles are headed to places like Los Angeles and New York rather than the space station, figuring out how to get them there has still been a major undertaking.

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Interviews
3:55 pm
Mon April 16, 2012

'Our Challenges Are Complex,' The First Lady Says

Credit Alex Wong / Getty Images
First lady Michelle Obama says raising her two daughters in the White House "has been less stressful than I would have imagined." Seen here at the White House in March, the first lady's new project aims to help military veterans and their families.

Originally published on Tue April 17, 2012 10:52 am

First lady Michelle Obama wears many hats in the White House. In addition to being President Obama's closest confidante, she's also a mother whose two daughters are growing up in one of the most public homes in America.

And as first lady, Mrs. Obama has taken on her own signature public issues, as well.

Her Let's Move campaign has brought attention to the growing epidemic of childhood obesity. She has encouraged children to eat right and get plenty of exercise.

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Shots - Health Blog
3:42 pm
Mon April 16, 2012

Plastic Surgeons Say Demand Is Surging For Chin Enhancements

Credit Maciej Laska / iStockphoto.com
Plastic surgeons see a surge in demand from those of us without naturally chiseled chins.

Originally published on Wed April 18, 2012 3:26 pm

Chin up. Literally.

A big group of plastic surgeons say that chin enhancement was the fastest growing surgical procedure they performed for cosmetic purposes in the U.S. last year — up 71 percent to 20,680 operations.

Now, it's still a small number, overall, compared with breast augmentation, the No. 1 procedure at 307,180. But those surgeries rose only 4 percent in 2011 compared with 2010.

Chin work was most popular out west, which is true for most cosmetic procedures. The Northeast came in second.

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Governing
3:40 pm
Mon April 16, 2012

Expert: Proud Secret Service 'Furious' Over Incident

Credit Carolyn Kaster / AP
President Obama speaks at the San Pedro Claver church in Cartagena, Colombia, on Sunday. An expert on the Secret Service tells NPR that Obama's security was never breached in the incident that led to 11 U.S. Secret Service agents being sent home amid allegations that they hired prostitutes in Cartagena.

The Secret Service, which has been offering protection to presidents since 1902, has long enjoyed one of the most sterling reputations of any government agency.

That reputation has been tarnished by allegations that agents hired prostitutes in Colombia in advance of President Obama's trip there.

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The Record
3:00 pm
Mon April 16, 2012

Andrew Love Of The Memphis Horns Has Died

Credit Gilles Petard / Redferns
Andrew Love (left) and Wayne Jackson pose for a studio portrait in 1965.

Saxophonist Andrew Love of the Memphis Horns has died. Love, who had Alzheimer's disease, died on April 12 at his home in Memphis. He was 70 years old.

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Around the Nation
2:38 pm
Mon April 16, 2012

For One Soldier, Rap Is A Powerful Postwar Weapon

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 9:53 am

When Jeff Barillaro came home from fighting the war in Iraq, he felt lost, like thousands of veterans do. He didn't have a mission anymore.

But now, through music, he's found one: Under the stage name Soldier Hard, Barillaro raps — about how war has changed troops and their families. Other vets and their family members are now turning to his music, because they say he's speaking to them.

On a recent morning, the National Guard Armory in Evansville, Ind., looks and sounds like any military base in the country.

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The Two-Way
1:35 pm
Mon April 16, 2012

Pulitzer Prizes Coming Up

(The awards were announced just after 3 p.m. ET.)

For its "distinguished ... reporting on significant issues of local concern," reporter Sara Ganim and The Patriot News of Harrisburg, Pa., have won a 2012 Pulitzer Prize for uncovering the so-called Penn State scandal.

Other prize winners, which were just announced, include:

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NPR Story
1:22 pm
Mon April 16, 2012

Op-Ed: North Korea Gets Too Many Second Chances

The United Nations Security Council issued a strong condemnation after North Korea's failed satellite launch attempt. Such condemnations were also issued in 2006 and 2009. In a piece in Foreign Affairs, Dartmouth College government professor Jennifer Lind argues that North Korea gets too many second chances.

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