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The Two-Way
2:42 pm
Tue January 3, 2012

A Starbucks Coffee Will Cost 10 Cents More In Some Regions

If you, like me, order a tall coffee when you go to Starbucks, you'll be paying 10 cents more. The Seattle coffee chain is raising prices in the Northeast and across the Sunbelt with the exception of California and Florida.

Cities like Boston, New York, Atlanta and Dallas will also see an increase of about 1 percent on other drinks. Starbucks said its next bigger size, grande, will cost the same.

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Education
2:25 pm
Tue January 3, 2012

Online School Helps Grown-Ups Finish College

Credit Larry Abramson / NPR
Sherrie Shackleford studies teaching at Western Governors University from her Indiana condo, where she lives with her daughters, Aubrey (left) and Alissa (right).

There are an estimated 37 million Americans who have some college credit but no degree — and Western Governors University is trying to change that. The nonprofit online school is challenging many traditional concepts about higher education with a new approach aimed to help adult students finish college.

And after 15 years in existence, the school is catching on.

Reaching Out To Adult Learners

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It's All Politics
2:03 pm
Tue January 3, 2012

In Final Pitch To Iowa Voters, Gingrich Stresses Experience

Credit Andrew Burton / Getty Images
Gingrich with one of the many pieces of farm equipment he encountered on a last-minute campaign swing through Iowa. This tractor was on display at the Heartland Acres Agribition Center on Jan. 2 in Independence, Iowa.

Newt Gingrich is making his closing arguments to voters in the Mississippi River towns of Muscatine and Burlington in advance of Tuesday's Republican party caucuses and that argument boils down to this: Gingrich is better, smarter and more experienced than the rest.

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Deceptive Cadence
2:00 pm
Tue January 3, 2012

Aretha Franklin Is Looking For The Next Great Star ... Of Opera

Credit Rick Diamond / Getty Images
Will the Queen of Soul point the way to opera's next big talent?

American Idol, The Sing-Off, The Voice — there's no shortage of over-the-top, glitzy, ratings-driven music competitions on TV. And now Aretha Franklin is getting in on the singing contest circuit, but she's turning her searchlight on the world of classical music. That's right — the Queen of Soul is searching for the next great opera singer.

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Author Interviews
2:00 pm
Tue January 3, 2012

Presidential Election Of 1912 Saw Viable Third Party

Robert Siegel talks with Sidney Milkis, author of Theodore Roosevelt, the Progressive Party, and the Transformation of American Democracy, about the U.S. presidential election of 1912 — when there was a viable third party on the ballot: the Bull Moose Party.

Presidential Race
2:00 pm
Tue January 3, 2012

How Do The Iowa Caucuses Work?

Originally published on Tue January 3, 2012 8:19 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

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Presidential Race
2:00 pm
Tue January 3, 2012

Iowa Holds First-In-Nation Presidential Contest

Originally published on Tue January 3, 2012 8:19 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

And I'm Robert Siegel. All of the attention that Iowa has gotten in the past year comes to a head tonight. Nearly 2000 precincts across that state will record the first votes in the presidential nominating contest. At most sites, Iowans will write a name on a blank piece of paper and put it in a box.

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The Two-Way
1:35 pm
Tue January 3, 2012

Fed Will Now Forecast Interest-Rate Changes

The Federal Reserve will now tell the public its expectations for short-term interest rates. In the minutes of the Fed's Open Market Committee Dec. 13 meeting , the Fed said it would update that forecast four times a year, beginning after its Jan. 24-25 meeting.

The AP reports:

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Asia
1:34 pm
Tue January 3, 2012

U.S. Keeps Pressure On Myanmar For Political Change

Originally published on Tue January 3, 2012 8:19 pm

One of the more surprising moments in U.S. foreign policy last year occurred when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Myanmar, long ruled by a repressive military government and shunned as a pariah nation.

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The Two-Way
12:25 pm
Tue January 3, 2012

Body Found On Queen Elizabeth II's Country Estate

Credit Christopher Furlong / Getty Images
Police guard the entrance to woods on Kings Avenue where human remains were found on New Year's Day in King's Lynn, England.

A dog walker found a body on Queen Elizabeth II's Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England. The royals spend the holidays every year on the sprawling, 20,000-acre estate.

The Norfolk Constabulary issued a statement saying the female body was found on Sunday, while the Royals were at home, and that the office has launched a murder investigation.

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