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The Two-Way
8:02 am
Fri March 8, 2013

Pyongyang To Cut North-South Hotline, Cancel Non-Aggression Pact

Credit Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images
A North Korean soldier reacts as he patrols along the Yalu River near the Chinese border last month.

Originally published on Fri March 8, 2013 11:22 am

North Korea responded to new U.N. sanctions aimed at starving its nuclear program by vowing to cut a Cold War-style hotline and scrap a nonaggression pact with the South.

State-run media said North Korea "abrogates all agreements on nonaggression reached between the North and the South ... and also notifies the South side that it will immediately cut off the North-South hotline."

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NPR Story
7:47 am
Fri March 8, 2013

BP Could Still Settle Civil Case

Credit Albert H. Teich /

Originally published on Thu March 7, 2013 9:59 am

Testimony continues in week two of the BP oil spill trial in federal court. But one legal expert says the case could still reach a settlement.

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Politics
7:44 am
Fri March 8, 2013

Departing Obama Speechwriter: 'I Leave This Job Actually More Hopeful'

Credit Charles Dharapak / AP
Jon Favreau, President Obama's former chief speechwriter, is pictured on the South Lawn of the White House in 2010.

Originally published on Thu March 7, 2013 6:09 pm

Behind most politicians is a speechwriter, typing rapidly somewhere in a small office and trying to channel the boss's voice.

The man who has held perhaps the most prominent speechwriting job of the new millennium is Jon Favreau, a 31-year-old from Massachusetts who was President Obama's chief speechwriter until this month. He started writing for Obama when the president was just a senator in 2005.

He tells Audie Cornish, host of All Things Considered, that writing for the president means walking a line between two worlds.

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The Two-Way
7:39 am
Fri March 8, 2013

Pleasant Surprises: 236,000 Jobs Added; Jobless Rate Dips To 7.7 Percent

Credit Spencer Platt / Getty Images
The scene at a job fair in Manhattan earlier this month.

Originally published on Fri March 8, 2013 8:54 am

There were 236,000 jobs added to payrolls in February — many more than expected — and the jobless rate unexpectedly dropped by two-tenths of a point, to 7.7 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

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The Two-Way
7:24 am
Fri March 8, 2013

150 Years Later, Civil War Sailors Get Arlington Burial

Originally published on Fri March 8, 2013 6:04 pm

(Updated at 7 p.m. ET.)

More than 150 years after they died when their ship sank during a storm, two Union sailors from the Civil War were buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Friday.

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The Two-Way
7:08 am
Fri March 8, 2013

Top Stories: Jobs Report; Chávez Funeral

Credit Luis Acosta / AFP/Getty Images
In Caracas, Venezuela, early Friday, supporters of the late President Hugo Chávez were in the streets ahead of his funeral.
The Two-Way
7:04 am
Fri March 8, 2013

Book News: Hilary Mantel Has 'No Regrets' About Kate Middleton Remarks

Credit Getty Images
Catherine Middleton, the duchess of Cambridge, walking in Grimsby, England. A "jointed doll"?

Originally published on Fri March 8, 2013 7:10 am

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

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The Two-Way
6:42 am
Fri March 8, 2013

Cardinals Expected To Set Date For Start Of Conclave

Credit Vincenzo Pinto / AFP/Getty Images
Roman Catholic cardinals have been meeting at the Vatican to get to know each other better and to set a date for the start of the conclave that will choose the next pope. On Thursday, this cardinal was walking to one of those meetings.

Originally published on Fri March 8, 2013 10:41 am

Update at 11:36 a.m. ET. Starts Tuesday:

"The eighth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals has decided that the Conclave will begin on Tuesday, 12 March 2013," reads a statement just sent to reporters by the Vatican Press Office. It adds that:

"A pro eligendo Romano Pontifice Mass will be celebrated in St. Peter's Basilica in the morning. In the afternoon the cardinals will enter into the Conclave."

Our original post — "Cardinals Expected To Set Date For Start Of Conclave":

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Around the Nation
6:36 am
Fri March 8, 2013

Meteorologist Forced To Sit In Corner Over Bad Forecast

Originally published on Fri March 8, 2013 10:50 am

Many forecasters predicted a monster storm would hit Washington, D.C., but the nation's capital just got a bit of snow and rain. Channel 5 meteorologist Tucker Barnes did not blame the vagaries of the weather. He took a "timeout," shown on camera sitting in a corner during the broadcast.

Around the Nation
6:25 am
Fri March 8, 2013

'Joint' Committee's Name Gets Some Laughs

Originally published on Fri March 8, 2013 10:50 am

Colorado voters recently legalized small amounts of marijuana. State lawmakers must work out the details and regulations. They put together a special committee. Because it consists of members of both the state House and Senate, it is known by the phrase that such committee always are. Yes, it is the joint committee on marijuana regulation.

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