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Europe
3:46 am
Wed June 20, 2012

Oxford To Honor Suii Kyi After Years Of House Arrest

Originally published on Wed June 20, 2012 8:26 am

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

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Business
3:46 am
Wed June 20, 2012

The Last Word In Business

Originally published on Wed June 20, 2012 7:08 am

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And our last word in business is: supersized couch potato.

This week, Japanese electronics maker Sharp unveiled what it's calling the biggest LED TV on the planet. The 90-inch set has WiFi built in and you can buy it with a webcam option. You could, say, Skype with 50 people at once and see all their faces.

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Of course, you would need a lot of wall space and a fat wallet. It cost $11,000.

That's the business news on MORNING EDITION. I'm Linda Wertheimer.

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Asia
2:18 am
Wed June 20, 2012

Illegal Fishing, Molotov Cocktails, A Daring Escape

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 9:47 am

The State Department on Tuesday cited abuses in Thailand's huge fishing industry as part of an annual worldwide report on Trafficking in Persons. The report noted that men from Cambodia and Myanmar, also known as Burma, are trafficked aboard Thai ships and forced to work against their will. They include men like Vannak Prum, a Cambodian who spent three years on such a boat. Prum was among those honored at the State Department on Tuesday.

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Education
2:15 am
Wed June 20, 2012

A New Union Battle As Chicago Teachers, Mayor Clash

Credit M. Spencer Green / AP
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis speaks to reporters after casting her ballot in a strike authorization vote. Teachers voted overwhelmingly to authorize the first strike in 25 years if the city and the union can't come to terms this summer.

Originally published on Wed June 20, 2012 7:08 am

There hasn't been a school strike in Chicago for 25 years. But the current contract between Chicago teachers and the Chicago Public Schools expires at the end of next week, and tensions between the teachers union, the school district and Mayor Rahm Emanuel are ratcheting higher.

Chicago Teachers Union members outmaneuvered the mayor, school officials and anti-union education groups by overwhelmingly approving a measure that allows teachers to strike if contract negotiations fall flat.

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Sports
2:08 am
Wed June 20, 2012

Runner Has Eyes On Two Prizes: Olympics, Ph.D.

Originally published on Wed June 20, 2012 7:30 am

Among the dozens of athletes hoping to leap, throw or run their way to London as part of the U.S. track and field team is 24-year-old runner Shannon Leinert.

Leinert, who will compete in the 800-meter dash, has dreamed of the Olympics since she was 10 and winning races in St. Louis, her hometown. If that weren't enough, she's also working on a doctoral degree in special education.

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National Security
2:07 am
Wed June 20, 2012

Are Drones Obama's Legacy In War On Terrorism?

Credit Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP
President Obama's use of drones, and his direct involvement in whom they target, has both U.S. and international communities questioning the administration's secret drone policy.

Originally published on Wed June 20, 2012 9:17 am

The Obama administration's use of drones to kill suspected terrorists in foreign countries may be President Obama's biggest legacy in the fight against terrorism.

One privilege — or burden — of the Oval Office is that each inhabitant gets to decide how dirty to get his hands in wartime. President Truman made the ultimate decision to use the atomic bomb, while President Kennedy chose not to use a nuclear weapon in the Cuban Missile Crisis.

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Election 2012
2:06 am
Wed June 20, 2012

Obama's Immigration Move Disrupts Rubio's Dream

Credit Stan Honda / AFP/Getty Images
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., leaves the stage after speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations on May 31 in New York.

Originally published on Wed June 20, 2012 7:19 am

With a single policy directive last week, President Obama took control of an issue of special importance to Hispanics this election year. Obama announced illegal immigrants younger than 30 who are brought to the U.S. as children and who meet other standards will not be subject to deportation.

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Election 2012
2:04 am
Wed June 20, 2012

Big Political Donors Shy Away From Public Scrutiny

Credit Bo Rader / MCT /Landov
Charles Koch of Koch Industries speaks in 2007 about his book The Science of Success in Wichita, Kan.

Originally published on Wed June 20, 2012 9:19 am

Several dozen wealthy donors have taken advantage of this post-Citizens United world, writing seven-figure checks to political superPACs.

Yet it seems there's something wealthy donors weren't counting on when they wrote those checks — attracting attention, including from the political opposition and the media.

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Sweetness And Light
9:03 pm
Tue June 19, 2012

Title IX At 40: What Has Changed, And What's Next

Credit Gerry Broome / AP
The adoption of Title IX has spurred growth in women's collegiate sports, including soccer. But a women's pro league has struggled, cutting its season short this year. Here, Notre Dame celebrates winning the NCAA College Cup in 2010.

Originally published on Wed June 20, 2012 7:08 am

Saturday is the 40th anniversary of Title IX, which, although almost nobody anticipated it then, resulted in women's gaining the right to participate in sports commensurate with their numbers attending college.

Title IX not only had a huge effect on women's participation in sports, but also, culturally, it influenced the way both men and women view the idea of women and athletics. It's mattered greatly in our American society.

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The Two-Way
6:47 pm
Tue June 19, 2012

LIVE: President Obama Holds A News Conference

Credit Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images
President Barack Obama speaks during a press conference at the end of the G20 Summit of Heads of State and Government in Los Cabos, Mexico on Tuesday.

Originally published on Tue June 19, 2012 7:33 pm

China and Russia are not aligned with the United States and the rest of the international community on the subject of Syria, President Obama said during a news conference following the G20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico.

"It's not fair to say that Russia and China are signed on," Obama said.

The president said he had "candid" conversations with the leaders of both countries, which have rejected calls for international intervention in Syria. Russia has been accused by the United States of propping up the regime of Bashar Assad.

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