9:19am

Wed August 10, 2011
The Two-Way

Philip Levine Named As America's New Poet Laureate

Credit Gary Kazanjian / AP

America has a new poet laureate today, as the Library of Congress names Philip Levine in the one-year position. He will succeed W.S. Merwin in the post. Born in Detroit in 1928, Levine has used his poetry to examine blue-collar life, often embroidering everyday events with a sense of myth.

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9:04am

Wed August 10, 2011
It's All Politics

Wisconsin Republicans Repel Democrats, Retain State Senate Control

Credit Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

It was certainly closer than Wisconsin's Republicans would have preferred, but in the end they successfully repelled Democrats who sought to wrest away control of the state Senate and break GOP dominance over the Badger State's government.

Democrats fell one Senate seat short of the three they needed to take over that chamber in the state's largest recall election ever in which six seats were contested.

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8:50am

Wed August 10, 2011
Europe

Cameron Promises Order As British Rioting Continues

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 11:34 am

British Prime Minister David Cameron vowed Wednesday to do "whatever is necessary" to halt massive riots that have swept London and other major cities in recent days — the worst such violence to hit the country in decades.

A wave of arson and looting that started in parts of London on Saturday has spread to other cities, including Manchester and Birmingham.

Cameron, who has recalled Parliament from its summer recess for an emergency debate on the riots, said police have drawn up contingency plans to "do whatever is necessary to restore law and order onto our streets.

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8:48am

Wed August 10, 2011
Opinion

New Republic: Risky Approach On Education Reform

Credit Charles Dharapak / AP

Simon van Zuylen-Wood is a reporter-researcher at The New Republic.

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8:48am

Wed August 10, 2011
Opinion

Foreign Policy: Downgrade Good As Gold, Literally

Credit iStockphoto.com

Elizabeth Dickinson is a freelance journalist and former assistant managing editor at Foreign Policy.

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8:48am

Wed August 10, 2011
Opinion

Weekly Standard: President Cheats On School Reform

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Joy Pullmann is managing editor of School Reform News and an education research fellow at The Heartland Institute.

The president has decided to take a tack on the largest federal education law he certainly wishes were available in budget battles: bypassing Congress and legislating through administrative agencies by offering states waivers in exchange for education policies he favors.

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8:00am

Wed August 10, 2011
The Two-Way

Whole Foods: Ramadan Promotion Has Not Been Canceled

Credit Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Looking to set the record straight, the Whole Foods grocery chain says it is "still carrying and promoting halal products for those that are celebrating Ramadan this month."

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Credit Doby Photography / NPR

Mark Memmott is one of the hosts of NPR's "The Two-Way" news blog.

"The Two-Way," which Memmott helped to launched when he came to NPR in 2009, focuses on breaking news, analysis, and the most compelling stories being reported by NPR News and other news media.

Before joining NPR, Memmott worked for nearly 25 years as a reporter and editor at USA Today. He focused on a range of coverage from politics, foreign affairs, economics, and the media. He's reported from places across the Unites States and the world, including half a dozen trips to Afghanistan in 2002-2003.

During his time at USA Today, Memmott, helped launch and lead three USAToday.com news blogs: "On Deadline;" "The Oval;" and "On Politics," the site's 2008 presidential campaign blog.

7:25am

Wed August 10, 2011
The Two-Way

Markets On Rise; London Calmer, But Rioting Elsewhere In U.K.

Credit Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images

Good morning.

Financial markets in Asia and Europe have rallied today, extending the rebound that began on Wall Street Tuesday afternoon after the Federal Reserve said it plans to keep interest rates at rock-bottom levels for the next two years in a bid to help keep ailing economies from weakening further.

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Andrea Seabrook covers Capitol Hill as NPR's Congressional Correspondent.

In each report, Seabrook explains the daily complexities of legislation and the longer trends in American politics. She delivers critical, insightful reporting – from the last Republican Majority, through the speakership of Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats' control of the House, to the GOP landslide of 2010. She and NPR's Peter Overby won the prestigious Joan S. Barone award for their Dollar Politics series, which exposed the intense lobbying effort around President Obama's Health Care legislation. Seabrook and Overby's most recent collaboration, this time on the flow of money during the 2010 midterm elections, was widely lauded and drew a huge audience spike on NPR.org.

An authority on the comings and goings of daily life on Capitol Hill, Seabrook has covered Congress for NPR since January 2003 She took a year-and-a-half break, in 2006 and 2007, to host the weekend edition of NPR's newsmagazine, All Things Considered. In that role, Seabrook covered a wide range of topics, from the uptick in violence in the Iraq war, to the history of video game music.

A frequent guest host of NPR programs, including Weekend Edition and Talk of the Nation, Seabrook has also anchored NPR's live coverage of national party conventions and election night in 2006 and 2008.

Seabrook joined NPR in 1998 as an editorial assistant for the music program, Anthem. After serving in a variety of editorial and production positions, she moved to NPR's Mexico Bureau to work as a producer and translator, providing fill-in coverage of Mexico and Central America. She returned to NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C. in the fall of 1999 and worked on NPR's Science Desk and the NPR/National Geographic series, "Radio Expeditions." Later she moved to NPR's Morning Edition, starting as an editorial assistant and then moving up to Assistant Editor. She then began her on-air career as a weekend general assignment reporter for all NPR programs.

Before coming to NPR, Seabrook lived, studied and worked in Mexico City, Mexico. She ran audio for movies and television, and even had a bit part in a Mexican soap opera.

Seabrook earned her bachelor's degree in biology from Earlham College and studied Latin American literature at UNAM - La Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. While in college she worked at WECI, the student-run public radio station at Earlham College.

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