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The Two-Way
10:32 am
Fri June 14, 2013

Iranians Go To Polls In Vote To Replace Ahmadinejad

Credit AFP/Getty Images
Ali Akbar Velayati, a conservative presidential candidate, shows his ink-stained finger as he votes at a polling station on Friday.

Originally published on Fri June 14, 2013 6:02 pm

Millions of Iranians cast ballots Friday in elections to replace incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a race that is being characterized as a potential challenge to the country's ruling Islamic clerics.

A slate of conservatives tacitly backed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are facing off against the lone moderate, Hasan Rowhan, a former nuclear negotiator.

Other candidates include Saeed Jalili, also a nuclear negotiator; Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf; and Khamenei's diplomatic adviser, Ali Akbar Velayati.

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The Two-Way
9:08 am
Fri June 14, 2013

2 Killed, 379 Homes Destroyed By Wildfire In Colorado

Credit Tom Cooper / Getty Images
A fire that's been burning since Tuesday continues to consume acreage near Colorado Springs in Black Forest, Colorado.

Originally published on Fri June 14, 2013 7:37 pm

While firefighters are holding the line, the Black Forest fire northeast of Colorado Springs is being called the most destructive in Colorado history.

Update At 7:35 p.m. ET. Progress Reported

The fire is now 30 percent contained, officials say.

"We had a real good day without wind," says federal incident commander Rich Harvey. "I think the rain had a tremendous impact. So, some things finally turned in our favor."

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The Two-Way
7:47 am
Fri June 14, 2013

With Game 4 Win, Heat Even Championship Series Against Spurs

Credit Getty Images
LeBron James of the Miami Heat goes up for a shot against Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs during Game 4 of the NBA Finals at the AT&T Center in San Antonio on Thursday.

Originally published on Fri June 14, 2013 10:26 am

With a 109-93 win, the Miami Heat evened their championship series against the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night.

As The Miami Herald put it, the game served as a dazzling display for Miami's Big Three:

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The Two-Way
7:44 am
Fri June 14, 2013

Book News: CIA Nominee Catches Grief Over Bookstore Erotica Readings

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

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The Two-Way
7:09 am
Fri June 14, 2013

U.S. Says Syria Crossed 'Red Line'; Now What?

Credit Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP/Getty Images
A Syrian female rebel monitors the movement of Syrian government forces in the Sheikh Maqsud district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo in April.

Originally published on Fri June 14, 2013 1:34 pm

  • NPR's Deb Amos On Morning Edition
  • NPR's Michele Kelemen On Morning Edition
(This post was last updated at 1:31 p.m. ET.)

On Thursday, the United States revealed that it now has "high confidence" that the Syrian regime had used chemical weapons against rebel forces.

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The Two-Way
7:31 pm
Thu June 13, 2013

Lost In 1968 Battle, Marine's Dog Tag Found Again

Credit Facebook
After a photo of Lanny Martinson's dog tag was placed on Facebook and elsewhere, Marines and veterans helped track him down. Martinson lost the tag in Vietnam in 1968.

Originally published on Thu June 13, 2013 9:08 pm

Lanny Martinson was a 23-year-old Marine sergeant in Vietnam when he last held his dog tags. In the 45 years since, he thought they were gone forever, lost in the mad rush to save his life after he and other Marines walked into a minefield.

He'll soon be getting one of those dog tags back, after a network of people worked together to find the tag's owner. When they contacted him, Martinson was just at the point of filing papers to request new dog tags, all these years later.

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The Two-Way
5:43 pm
Thu June 13, 2013

4 Exchanges You Should Listen To About NSA Surveillance

Credit J. Scott Applewhite / AP
FBI Director Robert Mueller is sworn in on on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Thursday.
  • Mueller Responds To Nadler
  • Mueller Explains Importance Of Program
  • Mueller Explains Relation To Fourth Amendment
  • Mueller Responds To Collins

Today was round two on Capitol Hill.

After the Senate Appropriations Committee questioned the director of the National Security Agency, the House Judiciary Committee grilled FBI Director Robert Mueller.

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The Two-Way
5:10 pm
Thu June 13, 2013

Report: U.S., Europe Conclude Syria Used Chemical Weapons

Credit AFP/Getty Images
Syrian rebel fighters hold a position Thursday in the northwestern town of Maaret al-Numan. At least 93,000 people, including more than 6,500 children, have been killed in Syria's civil war.

Originally published on Thu June 13, 2013 8:19 pm

The White House has "high confidence" that the Syrian regime is using chemical weapons against rebel forces, and the U.S. is prepared to offer military assistance to the opposition, a senior administration official said Thursday.

Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said that an estimated 100 to 150 Syrians have been killed in attacks using sarin gas, although the figure "is likely incomplete."

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The Two-Way
4:16 pm
Thu June 13, 2013

American Airlines To Add More Seats To 737s, MD-80s

Credit Tom Pennington / Getty Images
Room for a few more seats? An American Airlines Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

Originally published on Thu June 13, 2013 4:47 pm

If you thought your coach-class seat lacked legroom now, American Airlines has some bad news: It's probably going to get worse.

American plans to add seats to its Boeing 737s and McDonnell Douglas MD-80s, which account for about two-thirds of the airline's entire fleet of jetliners. The move was disclosed in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

Here's American vice president of flight service Laurie Curtis quoted in the Airline Biz Blog.

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The Two-Way
3:05 pm
Thu June 13, 2013

In Gay America, Optimism Abounds As Stigma Persists, Pew Says

Credit David McNew / Getty Images
A new survey of more than 1,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender adults finds that more than 90 percent feel more accepted in society than they did 10 years ago. Here, a woman displays her pro-gay T-shirt at the L.A. Pride Parade in West Hollywood last Sunday.

Originally published on Thu June 13, 2013 3:48 pm

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans say they feel more accepted in society than they did 10 years ago, and they're overwhelmingly optimistic that the trend will continue. But a sweeping new Pew Research Center survey also finds persistent levels of stigmatization and secrecy in the community.

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