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Middle East
4:43 pm
Tue March 20, 2012

Turkey Resists Calls To Arm Syrian Rebels

Credit Anonymous / AP
Syrians living in Turkey and human-rights activists stage a protest on Feb. 4 outside the Syrian consulate in Istanbul to condemn the killings in Syria. Calls are growing louder for Turkey to intervene in the violence in neighboring Syria by helping the rebels and civilians there.

The rising civilian death toll in Syria is accompanied by mounting calls to arm the Syrian opposition. And Turkey, a NATO country that shares a long, rugged border with Syria, is often mentioned as a likely transit point.

Turkey has become increasingly critical of the Syrian regime, but Ankara is thus far reluctant to send significant arms across the border or use its large military to create a humanitarian corridor inside Syria.

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Shots - Health Blog
4:36 pm
Tue March 20, 2012

Is Anesthesia A Luxury During Colonoscopy?

Credit Ted Thai / Time & Life Pictures/Getty Image
No anesthesia here: A patient watches his colonoscopy as it happens at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York.

Doctors often let patients decide how much sedation they'd like when they have a colonoscopy.

But whether you're put under by an anesthesiologist may depend a lot more on where you live and who gets paid than patient preference, according to a new study.

Big bucks are involved. It would cost an extra $8 billion a year if anesthesia services were used for all 20 million endoscopies and colonoscopies performed each year, because an anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist has to be paid, too.

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The Salt
3:54 pm
Tue March 20, 2012

There's More To Fixing Food Deserts Than Building Grocery Stores

Credit Tim Boyle / Getty Images
Concepsion Alcantar-Alvarez looks through her cart in the check-out line at a Food 4 Less store in Chicago.

There has been a lot of talk about what's wrong with food deserts. First lady Michelle Obama, for one, says far too many people can't access the fruits and vegetables they need to be healthy.

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Shots - Health Blog
3:44 pm
Tue March 20, 2012

Medicaid And A Tale Of Two Miami Hospitals

The federal health law's expansion of Medicaid will cover some 16 million more Americans in the government program for the poor, if that part of the law survives the legal challenge it faces in the Supreme Court beginning next week.

Florida is leading 25 other states in that challenge, but that hasn't stopped two of Miami's most prominent hospitals from preparing for the Medicaid expansion.

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It's All Politics
3:43 pm
Tue March 20, 2012

The Candidates On Tuesday: All Eyes On Illinois, But Campaigning Nationwide

Credit Steven Senne / AP
Jim Wilson of Buckingham, Va., who supports Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, walks past a bus during a Romney campaign stop Monday in Springfield, Ill.

As Illinois Republicans vote in their presidential primary, only one GOP candidate is expected to be in the state. Mitt Romney planned what he hopes to be a victory party Tuesday night in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg.

Newt Gingrich is campaigning in Louisiana, which votes on Saturday.

Ron Paul is in California, which doesn't vote until June.

And Rick Santorum is in Pennsylvania, his home state, which votes on April 24.

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Law
3:11 pm
Tue March 20, 2012

Without Parole, Juveniles Face Bleak Life In Prison

Credit Andrew Kent / Getty Images
Charles Dutton is an award-winning actor. But as a juvenile, he wound up in prison for manslaughter and other crimes.

We hear a lot about juvenile offenders when they commit a crime — and again, when they're sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison. But not much is known about what happens after the prison gates slam shut.

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The Two-Way
2:55 pm
Tue March 20, 2012

Clue In Old Photo Leads To New Search For Amelia Earhart's Plane

Originally published on Wed March 21, 2012 12:21 pm

New analysis of a photo taken in 1937 has led investigators to think it might show a piece of the landing gear from aviator Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Electra plane, which disappeared in June that year somewhere in the South Pacific.

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World Cafe
2:32 pm
Tue March 20, 2012

Anaïs Mitchell On World Cafe

Credit Courtesy of the artist
Anais Mitchell has a penchant for storied poetry and a deep reverence for the expressiveness of folk music.

Vermont folk singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell's confessional ballads and strong, emotive singing have earned her comparisons to Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan and Gillian Welch.

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The Two-Way
2:19 pm
Tue March 20, 2012

Strong 7.9 Preliminary Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Mexico

Credit Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP/Getty Images
Many people went into the streets after the strong quake rocked Mexico City.

Originally published on Tue March 20, 2012 4:25 pm

The USGS says an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 hit southwest Mexico today.

The United States Geological Survey says it was 6.2 miles deep and about 120 miles east of Acapulco.

We'll have more on this story as it develops.

Update at 3:54 p.m. ET. Back To Normal:

NPR's Jason Beaubien, reporting from the Zocalo area of Mexico City, says officials report no deaths and no major damage.

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The Two-Way
1:20 pm
Tue March 20, 2012

NYTimes.com Cuts Free Articles To 10 Per Month, From 20

To "strengthen our ability to continue providing the world's most insightful and investigative reporting in journalism," The New York Times says that starting in April it will limit non-paying NYTimes.com visitors to 10 free articles per month, down from the current 20.

The Times adds that:

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