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The Two-Way
10:56 am
Tue April 9, 2013

Purging Candidates Offers Pakistan A Bit Of Comic Relief

Originally published on Tue April 9, 2013 12:05 pm

The culling of candidates in the run-up to Pakistan's May 11 election is providing the country some badly needed levity.

The "Pakistani Inquisition," as it's been dubbed, has election commission officials grilling office-seekers on their Islamic bona fides.

Many have stumbled badly, only to be disqualified.

But not Mussarat Shaheen, who performed impeccably. The former dancer — fabled for her Pushto films — was asked by an official in the city of Dera Ismail Khan to recite a verse of the Holy Quran, to test her mettle as a candidate for the National Assembly.

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The Salt
10:22 am
Tue April 9, 2013

Arsenic In Beer May Come From Widely Used Filtering Process

Credit istockphoto.com
The process that turns this beer crystal clear also may impart trace amounts of arsenic.

Originally published on Tue April 9, 2013 6:08 pm

Beer lovers might be alarmed to hear that beer can pick up small amounts of arsenic as it's filtered to be sparkly clear.

But researchers in Germany reported Sunday that they've found arsenic in hundreds of samples of beer, some at levels more than twice that allowed in drinking water.

When we checked in with experts about arsenic and the filtering process, which is also widely used in the wine industry, they weren't too surprised. That's because the filtering agent in question, diatomaceous earth, is a mined natural product that contains iron and other metals.

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The Two-Way
9:02 am
Tue April 9, 2013

Earthquake Rocks Southern Iran, Gulf States

Originally published on Tue April 9, 2013 3:55 pm

UPDATE at 3:40 p.m. ET: Death Toll Rises

Bushehr provincial governor Fereidoun Hasanvand tells state TV that the death toll has reached 37 people, with 850 injured, including 100 who were hospitalized.

We updated this post with new information at 12:15 p.m. ET

A strong earthquake in a sparsely populated area of southern Iran has killed at least 30 people and injured 800, according to Iran's state media.

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The Two-Way
7:54 am
Tue April 9, 2013

Thatcher's Funeral Set For April 17

Credit Luke MacGregor / Reuters /Landov
A Union flag flies at half staff over the Houses of Parliament, and next to the Big Ben clock tower, in honor of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who died Monday.

Originally published on Tue April 9, 2013 10:09 am

British Prime Minister David Cameron's office announced Tuesday morning that "Lady Thatcher's funeral service will take place on Wednesday, 17 April 2013 at St Paul's Cathedral."

The "Iron Lady" — former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher — died Monday in London following a stroke. She was 87.

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The Two-Way
7:20 am
Tue April 9, 2013

North Korea's Warnings Bore More Than Alarm Those In South

Credit Lee Jae-Won / Reuters /Landov
Two women sit at a cafe Monday in central Seoul, South Korea. While North Korea has been issuing threats on a daily basis, many South Koreans say they're more bored than worried.

Originally published on Tue April 9, 2013 1:25 pm

  • On 'Morning Edition': Frank Langfitt reports from Seoul

There were more ominous-sounding words from North Korea on Tuesday. Pyongyang warned tourists and foreign companies in South Korea to leave for their own safety because a nuclear war may be imminent.

It was the latest in a string of threats in recent days.

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Remembrances
4:34 am
Tue April 9, 2013

Britain's Only Female Prime Minister: Margaret Thatcher

Originally published on Tue April 9, 2013 9:14 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Now, as we consider the legacy of Margaret Thatcher, the question arises about her significance as the only woman to serve as British prime minister, and the first woman to lead a government of a major Western nation. Kim Campbell, who briefly served as Canada's first woman prime minister in the early 1990s, put it this way last night on the "PBS NewsHour."

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "PBS NEWSHOUR")

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Asia
4:34 am
Tue April 9, 2013

Pakistan's Campaign Season Is In Full Swing

Originally published on Tue April 9, 2013 9:14 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

People in Pakistan will go to the polls next month to select a new parliament, and election fever is already building. The country faces chronic energy shortages, deepening economic problems and the specter of violence, as entrenched militants threaten to disrupt the vote. NPR's Julie McCarthy brings us this report from a very active campaign trail in Pakistan.

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Asia
4:34 am
Tue April 9, 2013

South Koreans Ignore Threats From The North

Originally published on Tue April 9, 2013 9:14 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm David Greene.

Well, in recent weeks, we have heard that Seoul, the capital of South Korea, will become, quote, a sea of fire. North Korea has said its enemies' windpipes will be, quote, totally cut. Today, North Korea urged tourists and foreign companies to leave South Korea in case of war. These are just some of the threats North Korea has been hurling. But instead of scaring South Koreans, all this blood-thirsty rhetoric seems to be mostly boring them.

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The Two-Way
4:41 pm
Mon April 8, 2013

Climate Change Could Equal Teeth-Rattling Flights

Credit AFP/Getty Images
Fly the bumpier skies?

Originally published on Mon April 8, 2013 6:23 pm

Buckle up — climate change could make this a bumpy flight.

That's according to a newly published study by two British scientists who say increased levels of CO2 in the atmosphere will make "clear air turbulence" — which can't be easily spotted by pilots or satellites — more common over the North Atlantic. That means the potential for gut-wrenching flights between the U.S., Europe and points east.

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World
3:20 pm
Mon April 8, 2013

A Close-Up Of Syria's Alawites, Loyalists Of A Troubled Regime

Originally published on Mon April 8, 2013 9:59 pm

The film on Syria's Alawite community isn't finished yet, but filmmaker Nidal Hassan's favorite scenes are beginning to take shape.

It opens with fireworks on New Year's Eve in Tartous, Syria. "May God preserve the president for us," one young man yells in a reference to Syrian leader Bashar Assad.

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