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Analysis

Thursday January 28, 2016

Study: When It Comes To Identifying As Multiracial, Gender Matters

January 28, 2016 • A new study shows that women with parents of different background are more likely to consider themselves "multiracial" than men.

Monday January 25, 2016

Outlook For Wages Brightens, But Not So For Wall Street

January 25, 2016 • The nation's business economists see higher wages coming for workers, but that good news did not cheer Wall Street investors on Monday. They continued to worry about supercheap oil prices.

Thursday January 21, 2016

Clinton Offers Bipartisan Olive Branch, But Is It In Season?

Hillary Clinton confers with Republican Sen. John McCain in 2013. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Clinton Offers Bipartisan Olive Branch, But Is It In Season?

January 21, 2016 • Talk of peace between the parties, as Hillary Clinton described in an NPR interview, will not appeal to everyone in this year of the angry activist. But Clinton hopes to survive the primaries.

Monday January 18, 2016

Clinton Finds Herself In A Real Debate As First Voter Tests Loom

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. and Hillary Clinton at the NBC News-YouTube Democratic presidential debate at the Gaillard Center on Sunday in Charleston, S.C. Stephen B. Morton/AP hide caption

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Stephen B. Morton/AP

Clinton Finds Herself In A Real Debate As First Voter Tests Loom

January 18, 2016 • Hillary Clinton went after Bernie Sanders' record on guns, but the senator took the fight to Clinton on her ties to Wall Street banks, including $600,000 in speaking fees from Goldman Sachs.

Sunday January 17, 2016

Path To U.S.-Iran Deal, Prisoner Swap Began Years Ago

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani presents the draft budget for the next Iranian fiscal year to the chairman of the Iranian Parliament Ali Larijani at the Iranian parliament in Tehran on Jan. 17, 2016. Anadolu Agency/Getty Images hide caption

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Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Middle East

Path To U.S.-Iran Deal, Prisoner Swap Began Years Ago

January 17, 2016 • While negotiations over a nuclear deal between the United States and Iran began two years ago, smaller efforts for diplomacy go back to the last decade.

Wednesday January 13, 2016

The Epic Web Comic That Reimagines The Legend Of Bruce Lee

Arambulo's character Jack Wong is based on Wong Jack Man, the famous martial artist who Bruce Lee fought in 1964. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

Code Switch

The Epic Web Comic That Reimagines The Legend Of Bruce Lee

January 13, 2016 • In a new Web series, Jeremy Arambulo presents his illustrated take on a fantastical — and real — showdown between the Hollywood star and another noted martial artist.

Obama Closes His Run Of Speeches To Congress With Appeal For Broad Reform

President Obama said he regrets that the rancor between the parties has grown during his watch. "I guarantee I'll keep trying to be better so long as I hold this office," he said. Susan Walsh/AP hide caption

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Susan Walsh/AP

Politics

Obama Closes His Run Of Speeches To Congress With Appeal For Broad Reform

January 13, 2016 • "It's one of the few regrets of my presidency," Obama said in a moment of self-critique, "that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better."

Monday January 11, 2016

State Of The Obama Economy: Far Better, But Still With Many Troubles

President Obama looks over a vehicle on the assembly line with autoworker Jeffrey Cook, during his tour of the Ford Motor Co. Chicago Assembly Plant in 2010. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP hide caption

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Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

Politics

State Of The Obama Economy: Far Better, But Still With Many Troubles

January 11, 2016 • The economy has improved dramatically in the Obama era. But problems still abound because of the soaring national debt, a deformed tax code, shrunken paychecks and a growing skills gap.

Goodbye Jobs, Hello 'Gigs': How One Word Sums Up A New Economic Reality

Linguist Geoff Nunberg notes that while workers in today's "gig economy" may have more freedom than they had in years past, they also have less security. Hong Li/Getty Images hide caption

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Hong Li/Getty Images

Opinion

Goodbye Jobs, Hello 'Gigs': How One Word Sums Up A New Economic Reality

Fresh Air

January 11, 2016 • Once used by '50s hipsters to connote a no-strings-attached job, "gig" has been co-opted by venture capitalists hyping the new economic order. Linguist Geoff Nunberg reflects on the word's resurgence.

Goodbye Jobs, Hello 'Gigs': How One Word Sums Up A New Economic Reality

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Friday January 8, 2016

The Two-Way

The Employment Outlook For 2016 Is Looking Much Brighter

January 8, 2016 • The Labor Department's latest jobs report provided reassurance that the domestic economy is on track for 2016. That was welcome news, given all of the gloomy reports coming out of China.

Thursday January 7, 2016

China's Woes Are Growing, Along With A Debate: Is It 2008 Again?

A sign promotes a real estate project last month in Kunming, China. Construction of residential and commercial properties has outpaced demand in China, a factor that some analysts cite in forecasting another global economic downturn. Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images hide caption

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Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images

The Two-Way

China's Woes Are Growing, Along With A Debate: Is It 2008 Again?

January 7, 2016 • China's economy and stock market are taking hits. Billionaire George Soros says it's setting the stage for another global meltdown. But others argue China's troubles will not trigger a crisis.

Tuesday January 5, 2016

Troubles Are Up In The Middle East, But Oil Prices Are Down. Huh?

Prices, as seen at a gas station in Woodbridge, Va., on Tuesday, are 21 cents a gallon cheaper than this time last year. The drop violates the historic rule that tension such as that currently between key producers Saudi Arabia and Iran causes the cost of a barrel of oil to rise. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

The Two-Way

Troubles Are Up In The Middle East, But Oil Prices Are Down. Huh?

January 5, 2016 • In the past, when political tensions increased, oil prices went up too amid supply risks. But now OPEC's power is down and U.S. oil supplies are much greater, helping hold prices steady.

What Hashtagged In 2015? Periods, Refugees And Nigerians At Hogwarts

Malaka Gharib/NPR

Goats and Soda

What Hashtagged In 2015? Periods, Refugees And Nigerians At Hogwarts

January 5, 2016 • If it didn't hashtag, did it really happen? We look back on the trendiest hashtags in global development in 2015.

Sunday January 3, 2016

Saudi Arabia, Iran Face Off As Sectarian Tensions Escalate After Executions

Iranian security forces stand guard as protesters demonstrate outside the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tehran. The crowd was decrying the execution of Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Saudi Shiite cleric, by Saudi authorities — an execution that has heightened sectarian tensions in the region. Anadolu Agency/Getty Images hide caption

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Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

The Two-Way

Saudi Arabia, Iran Face Off As Sectarian Tensions Escalate After Executions

January 3, 2016 • A cold war in the Middle East just turned a lot hotter. Saudi Arabia, a Sunni power, and Iran, a Shiite one, have long been bitter rivals, but they always maintained diplomatic relations — until now.

Saturday January 2, 2016

Long Before They Were 'Apparent Muslims,' Sikhs Were Targeted In U.S.

Darsh Singh, the first Sikh American to play basketball in the NCAA, became the subject of an Islamophobic meme earlier this year. LM Otero/AP hide caption

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LM Otero/AP

Code Switch

Long Before They Were 'Apparent Muslims,' Sikhs Were Targeted In U.S.

January 2, 2016 • Amrik Singh Bal was beaten in Fresno, Calif., as he waited for a ride to work. Bal, who is Sikh, is part of a long history of attacks on Sikhs in America.