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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

The Record

Rising Postal Rates Squeeze Small Record Labels

Postal rates for domestic first-class mail went up just a penny this week, but for businesses that ship packages internationally — like small record labels — the rate increases are much larger.

January 29, 2013 When postal rates went up this week, labels who ship CDs and LPs saw rates jump. They say the costs will make their way to music fans.

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Research News

Bird, Plane, Bacteria? Microbes Thrive In Storm Clouds

The eye of Hurricane Earl in the Atlantic Ocean, seen from a NASA research aircraft on Aug. 30, 2010. This flight through the eyewall caught Earl just as it was intensifying from a Category 2 to a Category 4 hurricane. Researchers collected air samples on this flight from about 30,000 feet over both land and sea and close to 100 different species of bacteria.

January 29, 2013 Microbes can thrive in extreme environments, from inside fiery volcanoes to down on the bottom of the ocean. Now scientists have found a surprising number of them living in storm clouds tens of thousands of feet above the Earth. And those airborne microbes could play a role in global climate.

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Poetry

Rare Robert Frost Collection Surfaces 50 Years After His Death

American poet Robert Frost, shown here in 1955, died on Jan. 29, 1963. Now, 50 years after his death, a rare collection of letters, audio and photographs sheds new light on his religious beliefs.

January 29, 2013 Jonathan Reichert, professor emeritus at the State University of New York at Buffalo, has donated a rare collection of Robert Frost's letters, photographs and audio files to the school. The materials chronicle the decades-long friendship between the poet and Reichert's father, rabbi and poet Victor Reichert.

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Africa

Tunisia's Salafis: 'A Danger' Or Preachers Of God's Law?

A demonstrator shouts anti-government slogans as he stands in front of the Justice Ministry in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, on Nov. 6, 2012, as part of a demonstration by radical Salafi Muslims protesting against the imprisonment of hundreds of Salafist militants.

January 29, 2013 Critics call the country's Salafis a threat to the ideals of economic prosperity, civil liberties and gender equality. The Salafis insist that only their rigid interpretation of Islamic law can govern Muslims. Their stand puts Tunisia's moderate Islamist leaders in a difficult position.

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Asia

In China, Beware: A Camera May Be Watching You

The use of security cameras such as these, looking out over Tiananmen Square in Beijing, is on the rise in China. Critics say the government is using them to discourage dissidents.

January 29, 2013 There are an estimated 20 million to 30 million surveillance cameras in China — or about one for every 43 people. Officials say the cameras help fight crime and maintain "social stability." But critics say the government uses them to monitor and intimidate dissidents.

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Arts & Life

From Aleppo, An Artifact Of A Calmer Age

The silken tassel on this skull cap, woven in Aleppo around 1800, recalls a more prosperous and tranquil time in that now-beleaguered Syrian hub.

January 29, 2013 The ongoing violence and tumult in Syria's largest city belie a richer, more prosperous past. One small object — a finely woven hat — offers evidence of life in a thriving cultural hub.

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Media

Facebook Co-Founder Chris Hughes Redesigns 'The New Republic'

North Carolina-born Chris Hughes attended Harvard University, where he shared a room with his Facebook co-founder, Mark Zuckerberg. He bought a majority stake in the venerable magazine The New Republic in 2012, and is the magazine's publisher and editor-in-chief.

January 29, 2013 Hughes, 29, is the publisher of the 98-year-old magazine. He's facing the same challenges other print media owners do: how to marry in-depth news articles with screens that seem to be getting smaller and smaller. Hughes tells Steve Inskeep it's a task he's prepared to tackle.

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It's All Politics

Key Player In '94 Assault Weapons Ban: 'It's Going To Be Much More Difficult' Now

President Clinton speaks to a member of the House on Aug. 11, 1994, lobbying for votes for the crime bill.

January 29, 2013 Since the assault weapons ban passed in the mid-1990s, Congress has had little appetite for gun control measures. "I think it was a very different time in 1994. I don't think there's very many lessons to learn from that," says Ted Kaufman, who was then-Sen. Joe Biden's chief of staff.

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Monday, January 28, 2013

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