The Two-Way
3:22 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

'Days Of Rambo Are Over': Pentagon Details Women's Move To Combat

Credit Scott Olson / Getty Images
Women in the U.S. military will be integrated into front-line combat units by 2016, the Pentagon says. Here, female Marine recruits stand in formation during pugil stick training in boot camp earlier this year at Parris Island, S.C.

Women in America's armed services will have new options for what units they can join in coming years, the Pentagon says. The military said in January that it will end its combat exclusion that set a minimum size for units in which women could be deployed; the limit kept many women away from front-line combat units. The shift means women could join elite forces such as the Army Rangers and Navy SEALs.

Read more
The Salt
3:06 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 4:39 pm

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

Read more
All Tech Considered
2:52 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 5:18 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.

Read more
Parallels
2:29 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

British Leader: Trendsetter, Or A Bit Too Casual?

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.

Read more
Shots - Health News
2:08 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 Wed June 19, 2013 11:34 am

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."

Read more
Up In The Air
1:54 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

KCI Advisory Group Gets Lesson On Airport Operations

Credit Julie Denesha / KCUR
Terminal A at Kansas City International Airport is one of the three terminals that would be replaced under the single terminal proposal.

Kansas City’s airport advisory panel met in Union Station Tuesday morning.  Kansas City is looking at moving from its current three terminal layout to a new, single terminal.  Supporters of the new design say it’s a needed update to the 40-year-old structure because of security concerns. Opponents of the single terminal say the current system works well for travelers. 

The panel's co-chair, Bob Berkebile, says he learned a couple of things from what the group was calling airport school, and he notes getting informed is an important first step.

Read more
Parallels
1:42 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 2:55 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.

Read more
The Two-Way
1:22 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

Where's Jimmy Hoffa? Everywhere And Nowhere

Originally published on Tue June 18, 2013 6:59 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.

Read more
Afghanistan
1:07 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

A Look Ahead To The Future Of Afghanistan

Twelve years after the war began, Afghanistan's president announced Tuesday that Afghan forces officially assumed control of security for the country. U.S. and NATO troops will remain until the 2014 deadline, but the Afghan military is now expected to fight without NATO support.

Music Interviews
12:57 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

Samberg, Taccone And Schaffer: Three's Not A Lonely Island

Originally published on Wed June 19, 2013 12:11 pm

Pages