The Salt
4:06 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

The Mystery Of the Ridiculously Pricey Bag Of Potatoes

Credit iStockphoto.com
How much for that bag of potatoes?

Originally published on Tue June 18, 2013 5:39 pm

On Monday we told you about allegations that America's potato growers had banded together in a price-fixing Potato Cartel.

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Shots - Health News
3:53 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

FDA Backs Off On Regulation Of Fecal Transplants

Credit Janice Carr / CDC/dapd
Bad bug: The bacterium Clostridium difficile kills 14,000 people in the United States each year.

Originally published on Tue June 18, 2013 3:57 pm

Federal regulators are dropping plans to tightly control a procedure that is becoming increasingly popular for treating people stricken by life-threatening infections of the digestive system.

The Food and Drug Administration says the agency will exercise enforcement discretion and no longer require doctors to get the agency's approval before using "fecal microbiota for transplantation."

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All Tech Considered
3:52 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

Mexico's Tech Startups Look To Overcome Barriers To Growth

Credit Mónica Ortiz Uribe for NPR
Enrique Lima is a co-founder of Publish 88, a Mexican startup that develops software for publishing companies.

Originally published on Tue June 18, 2013 6:18 pm

In the past decade, Mexico's tech industry has flourished, growing three times faster than the global average. Most of that growth has been fueled by demand from the United States. But as Mexico's startups strive to make it in foreign markets, they say they need more engineers and ways to finance their growth.

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Parallels
3:00 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

British Leader: Trend Setter, Or A Bit Too Casual?

Originally published on Tue June 18, 2013 3:29 pm

British Prime Minister David Cameron is sometimes picked on for his privileged background, and at the Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland, he sought to go casual.

Not only did he ditch the tie, as did other leaders, Cameron also shed his jacket and even rolled up his sleeves.

Not everyone was won over.

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The Two-Way
2:22 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

Where's Jimmy Hoffa? Everywhere And Nowhere

Originally published on Tue June 18, 2013 7:59 pm

If it's him, it's going to be a letdown.

For the better part of 40 years, the disappearance of former Teamsters President James Hoffa has been a source of fascination on par with Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster and the aliens in Roswell, N.M.

If the FBI finds and identifies his body, as agents are currently trying to do just outside Detroit, it will end the mystery and ruin the suspense, says Bob Thompson, a pop culture professor at Syracuse University.

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Parallels
2:11 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

U.S., Europe May Share Intelligence, But Not Privacy Rules

Credit Odd Andersen / AFP/Getty Images
Protesters demonstrate in Berlin on Tuesday on the eve of President Obama's visit to the German capital. Obama is expected to encounter a more skeptical Germany in talks on trade and secret surveillance practices.

Originally published on Tue June 18, 2013 3:55 pm

The United States and Europe stepped up cooperation on security issues after Sept. 11, 2001. But that doesn't mean they agree on everything. The latest point of friction: What are the rules when it comes to privacy rights?

The revelations about the National Security Agency's surveillance programs not only touched off a ferocious debate in the U.S. but also struck a nerve in Europe.

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The Two-Way
1:49 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

The House Hearing On NSA Surveillance In 3 Audio Clips

Credit Win McNamee / Getty Images
Sean Joyce, right, deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation testifies before the House Select Intelligence Committee on Tuesday.

Originally published on Tue June 18, 2013 5:21 pm

  • Deputy Attorney General James Cole
  • NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander

Administration officials defended the government's surveillance programs before the the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence today.

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Shots - Health News
1:00 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

How To Make Museums More Inviting For Kids With Autism

Credit Courtesy of Noelle Murphy
Dylan Murphy, 3, plays with a swan at the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia. It was his first trip to a museum that didn't overwhelm him.

Last January, Noelle Murphy and her family were on their way to the Please Touch Museum for children in Philadelphia. Right before they arrived, 3-year-old Dylan had an accident.

"He wet himself," Murphy said, "And we were thinking, 'Oh no, how are we going to deal with this?' "

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Parallels
12:51 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

With Inspiration From Turkey, Brazil Discovers Mass Protests

Credit Nelson Antoine / AP
A mass protest in Sao Paulo on Monday night was one of several across the country where demonstrators raised a host of grievances. Some demonstrators said they drew their inspiration from the protests in Turkey.

Originally published on Tue June 18, 2013 1:40 pm

They are young, they are angry and they have drawn inspiration from protest movements a world away in places like Turkey and the Middle East.

Tens of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets across the country Monday night, and more demonstrations are slated for the coming week. Brazil doesn't have a history of this kind of mass dissent, but it seems to be catching on very quickly.

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It's All Politics
12:15 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

6 Things We Just Learned About The IRS Scandal

Credit J. Scott Applewhite / AP
Lois Lerner, head of the IRS unit that decides whether to grant tax-exempt status to groups, leaves a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing in May.

Originally published on Tue June 18, 2013 1:24 pm

Hundreds of pages of transcribed interviews reveal that IRS employees in Washington were involved at an early stage in the improper targeting of Tea Party groups — but at least so far the trail stops well short of the White House.

Based on interviews with two longtime IRS employees working in the Cincinnati field office, there's no smoking gun, no direct connection to the Obama administration or even any indication that those involved in the flagging of conservative groups had political motives.

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