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Linda Wertheimer As NPR's senior national correspondent, Linda Wertheimer travels the country and the globe for NPR News, bringing her unique insights and wealth of experience to bear on the day's top news stories.
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Linda Wertheimer

Tea Partiers Explain What Makes Them Boil

Darriel and Shelby Burnett. Shelby says she was unaware of what was going on in the country until she began watching Fox News. Now the government has "awakened a sleeping giant" in the Tea Party, she says. Tom Bullock/NPR hide caption

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The Tea Party In America

Tea Partiers Explain What Makes Them Boil

Members in Lynchburg, Va. — a town that sometimes identifies itself as "the gold buckle of the Bible Belt" — talk about why they felt inspired to get involved with the Tea Party.

Tea Partiers Explain What Makes Them Boil

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Middle East

Hezbollah Welcomes Iran's President To Lebanon

Even before he arrived, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's trip stoked tensions inside and outside Lebanon. Critics accuse him of trying to turn Lebanon into an Iranian base on the Mediterranean Sea. Others welcome him as the president of a country that spent hundreds of millions of dollars rebuilding Lebanon after the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel.

Hezbollah Welcomes Iran's President To Lebanon

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Law

Judge Rules Military Must Stop 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

The Pentagon has been ordered to stop enforcing its policy that bars gays from serving openly in the military. A federal judge in California issued the injunction in a case brought by the gay rights group Log Cabin Republicans.

Judge Rules Military Must Stop 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

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Europe

Clinton To Push For Economic Changes In Bosnia

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Sarajevo, the capital of ethnically-divided Bosnia-Herzegovina. The country just held elections. Clinton plans to urge the country's new leadership to make EU membership a priority.

Clinton To Push For Economic Changes In Bosnia

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Asia

Nobel Laureate's Wife Under House Arrest

A human rights group says the wife of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo was placed under house arrest after returning from visiting her husband in prison. Liu won the peace prize on Friday.

Nobel Laureate's Wife Under House Arrest

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Kitty Wells: The Queen Of Country Music
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

50 Great Voices

Kitty Wells: The Queen Of Country Music

Starting in the 1950s, Wells recorded hit after hit at a time when women didn't have hits in country music. When she performed, Wells delivered the goods with a country twang and a supple, powerful voice that reached right to the back of the house. She died Monday at the age of 92.

Kitty Wells: The Queen Of Country Music

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Economy

Summers To Leave Obama's Economic Team

White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers will leave the Obama administration at the end of the year. He's the latest member of the president's economic inner circle to depart, and leaves the administration having to pick a new team of advisers at a time when confidence in the economic recovery remains in short supply.

Summers To Leave Obama's Economic Team

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Africa

Insurgents Step Up Fight Against Somali Government

Somalia hasn't had a fully functioning government in nearly two decades. The government controls just a few blocks of the capital city Mogadishu. Militants are trying to overthrow that government and set up a strict Islamist regime. The insurgents, called al-Shabab, have staged a month-long offensive that has included suicide bombings.

Insurgents Step Up Fight Against Somali Government

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National

Report: Nearly 1 In 7 Americans Were Poor In '09

About 43.6 million people were poor last year in the United States. But the poverty rate didn't go as high as some had predicted. Demographers with the U.S. Census Bureau, which released the figures Thursday, said unemployment benefits helped to cushion some of the impact of the recession.

Report: Nearly 1 In 7 Americans Were Poor In '09

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Sports

Reggie Bush To Give Back 2005 Heisman Trophy

For the first time, a Heisman Trophy winner is giving back the award. Reggie Bush says he did not want the dignity of the Heisman stained by the scandal over his acceptance of hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts from two California-based marketing agents while he was Southern California's star running back.

Reggie Bush To Give Back 2005 Heisman Trophy

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The Tea Party In America

Tea Party GOP Senate Candidate Wins Big In Del.

The tea party movement is celebrating a major victory in Delaware. Conservative Christine O'Donnell has pulled off a stunning upset over nine-term Rep. Mike Castle in the Republican Senate primary. She'll face Democrat Chris Coons in November.

Tea Party GOP Senate Candidate Wins Big In Del.

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Middle East

Clinton On Mideast Talks: Pursue Peace This Year

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Abbas begin the second round of U.S. mediated talks in Egypt Tuesday. Secretary of State Clinton is there promising the U.S. will play a serious role in the negotiations. Her first task is to make sure the talks don't break down right away over the issue of settlements, since an Israeli moratorium is set to expire later this month.

Clinton On Mideast Talks: Pursue Peace This Year

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Sports

A Weekend Full Of Football, Tennis & Basketball

It was a big weekend in sporting news: The U.S. team won the World Basketball Championship for the first time in 16 years. The U.S. Open Men's Final has been postponed until Monday. And, the NFL had its first full day of action.

A Weekend Full Of Football, Tennis & Basketball

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Analysis

Congress Has 4 Weeks To Try To Get More Done

Experts don't expect Congress to get much more done before members have to go out and campaign for midterm elections. Is it a do-nothing Congress? Republicans would argue that this Congress has done way to much with the stimulus bill; health care and financial overhaul. The problem hasn't been that it hasn't gotten a lot done. The problem is, voters don't much like what lawmakers have done so far.

Congress Has 4 Weeks To Try To Get More Done

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Politics

Obama News Conference: Economy A Hot Topic

For the third time in a week, President Obama spoke about the economy, announcing a new head of the Council of Economic advisers Friday in a nationally televised news conference at the White House. He also continued to press his case that Republicans are responsible for the bad economy and are presenting no new ideas about how to fix it.

Obama News Conference: Economy A Hot Topic

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