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NPR Story
12:00 pm
Fri February 3, 2012

Listening In On The Brain To Decode Speech

Reporting in PLoS Biology, researchers write that they were able to correlate words a person was hearing to specific electrical activity in the brain. Study co-author neuroscientist Robert Knight discusses future applications of this research and concerns that it amounts to mental wiretapping.

Health Care
11:56 am
Fri February 3, 2012

Komen Issues Apology In Planned Parenthood Flap

Originally published on Fri February 3, 2012 11:57 am

Transcript

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

NPR's Business News starts with a reversal from the Komen Foundation. The Susan G. Komen For The Cure Foundation has just announced that it will not pull its funding for Planned Parenthood after all. The breast cancer charity endured a massive backlash when it announced, earlier this week, it would no longer give Planned Parenthood money for breast cancer screening. NPR's Julie Rovner joins us to explain the turnaround. And Julie, what exactly did the Komen Foundation say this morning?

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The Two-Way
11:53 am
Fri February 3, 2012

BBC Accuses Iran Of 'Bullying' Its Persian Service Employees

Saying officials have undertaken yet another campaign of "bullying and harassment" of its Persian service staff, the BBC called on the Iranian government to "repudiate the action of its officials."

In a blog post, the BBC's Director General Mark Thompson also called on the international community to "put maximum pressure on Iran to desist in this campaign of intimidation, persistent censorship and a disturbing abuse of power."

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Business
11:45 am
Fri February 3, 2012

January's Jobless Rate Shows Spurt Of Growth

The Labor Department said the economy added 243,000 jobs in January, well beyond many economists' expectations. The unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent.

The Two-Way
11:20 am
Fri February 3, 2012

Rights Group Says Syrian Security Forces Detained, Tortured Children

Credit Alessio Romenzi / AFP/Getty Images
A young boy carries the Syrian-rebel adopted flag during an anti-regime demonstration in the Syrian village of al-Qsair, not far from Homs.

Human Rights Watch has a harrowing report out today about what it says is the targeting of children by Syria's government forces.

"Children have not been spared the horror of Syria's crackdown," Lois Whitman, children's rights director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "Syrian security forces have killed, arrested and tortured children in their homes, their schools or on the streets. In many cases, security forces have targeted children just as they have targeted adults."

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Education
11:00 am
Fri February 3, 2012

Las Vegas Principal Hopes To Beat The Odds

Nevada has the lowest high school graduation rate in the country. But now a multi-million dollar federal grant is helping one district turn its schools around. Host Michel Martin speaks with a principal who spent last Saturday knocking on the doors of students who dropped out, encouraging them to come back to school.

The Swing State Project
10:37 am
Fri February 3, 2012

Battered By The Bust, Nevada Voters Search For Slivers Of Hope

Credit Becky Lettenberger / NPR
Las Vegas resident Jillian Batchelor, 29, voted for Obama in 2008 but says now, "I'm voting Republican all the way this time."

The brutal recession has wracked Nevada, where soaring unemployment and foreclosure numbers tell the story of the state's misery. But its importance as a swing state in the 2012 presidential contest has only been enhanced in the four years since it went for Democrat Barack Obama.

The Two-Way
10:35 am
Fri February 3, 2012

Komen Foundation Now Says It Will Continue Grants To Planned Parenthood

The Susan G. Komen Foundation just announced it will be providing grants to Planned Parenthood for that organization to use in basic screening and educating women about breast cancer.

"We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities."

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Shots - Health Blog
10:35 am
Fri February 3, 2012

In Reversal, Komen Reinstates Funding For Planned Parenthood

After days of controversy, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation has said it will reinstate funding for Planned Parenthood.

Earlier this week, the foundation moved to discontinue funding of breast cancer screening by Planned Parenthood. The Associated Press reported the change came because of a new Komen policy forbidding grants to organizations under official investigation.

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The Two-Way
10:03 am
Fri February 3, 2012

Reports: Two American Women Freed In Egypt

NBC News, al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya are reporting that police in Egypt say two American women and an Egyptian tour guide have been released by gunmen who kidnapped them earlier today near the Red Sea

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