NPR News

The country's spiraling unemployment rate continues to take a particular toll on men. The "he-cession," as it's sometimes called, has hit African-American men especially hard, increasing their unemployment rate to more than 17 percent last month.

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Flood victims argued the widening of a navigation channel maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers and subsequent loss of protective wetlands turned the channel into a speedway for the hurricane's storm surge. A federal judge in New Orleans agreed and awarded damages of about $720,000 to four people and a business.

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The State Ethics Commission said probable cause exists on several allegations tied to a three-month investigation into Mark Sanford's travel and campaign finances. Details of the charges — which should include whether the accusations involve civil or criminal allegations — were expected to be released next week.

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Hershey, hoping to expand its overseas presence, has lined up a potential partner, Italian candymaker Ferrero International SA, in a possible bidding war for British candy maker Cadbury PLC. The combination could have the financial firepower to top a $16.4 billion hostile bid by Kraft Foods Inc.

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Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to try the alleged Sept. 11 conspirators in federal courts has elicited sharply divided responses from Capitol Hill, the American public and victims' families. Holder says his decision is driven by evidence, not politics.

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Setting up a historic year-end debate, the Senate Democratic leader introduced long-awaited legislation to reshape the nation's health care system. The measure aims to cover 31 million uninsured Americans over 10 years.

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Attorney General Eric Holder told senators Wednesday "failure is not an option" in the prosecution of Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Holder explained his rationale to bring Mohammed and four other terrorism suspects to the U.S. for a civilian trial.

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Conservationists worried about overfishing on the Pacific island of Kiribati persuaded fishermen to pick coconuts instead. The strategy backfired: Coconut oil production increased, but so did fishing. It turns out, fishermen who earned more money in coconut agriculture had more leisure time — which they spent fishing.

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is expected to outline a new health care bill soon designed to meet President Obama's goal of expanding coverage without adding to the deficit. Reid wants to bring the measure to the Senate floor in the next few days.

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Cuban leader Raul Castro has maintained an abusive system that his brother put in place to repress dissent, according to Human Rights Watch. The report also calls for a change in U.S. policy, lifting the longtime trade embargo in favor of more targeted sanctions.

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The International Olympic Committee has stripped Bahrain's Rashid Ramzi of his gold medal from the Beijing Games. In taking his medal for the 1,500 meters, the IOC said Ramzi committed anti-doping violations. Four other athletes were also sanctioned for doping.

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Some say moving kids from the Children's Health Insurance Program to health exchanges would add stability, but others fear they could lose benefits and their families could face higher co-payments for coverage.

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Two instruments from the Hubble Space Telescope, including the camera that corrected an early flaw in the telescope, are now on exhibit at the Smithsonian. The camera, about the size of a baby grand piano, is responsible for some of Hubble's most astounding photos.

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Under the deal, Iran would send low-enriched uranium to Russia for further enriching and then to France to be converted into fuel rods, which would be returned to Iran. This would reduce the stockpile of material that Iran could enrich to a higher level and possibly use to make nuclear weapons.

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The U.S. economic downturn and tighter border security has not deterred migrants from Central America seeking to enter the United States. But they are being abused in new and alarming ways. Tens of thousands of them are robbed, kidnapped and even killed attempting to cross Mexico.

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A top Iraqi official vetoed the country's election law Wednesday, throwing plans to hold parliamentary elections in January into disarray. The move could unravel hard-won compromises, and it could complicate U.S. efforts to withdraw U.S. combat troops next year.

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Attorney General Eric Holder appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday to defend his decision to put alleged Sept. 11 terrorists on trial in New York. He says the public and the nation's intelligence secrets can be protected during a public trial in civilian court.

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Investigators are still trying to determine whether alleged Fort Hood gunman Nidal Hasan was a radical Islamist ideologue or an alienated loner. The U.S. has focused significant intelligence resources on the question of radicalization in recent years, but they admit the dynamics are still not well understood.

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Iraq's Sunni Arab vice president vetoed part of a key election law, a move that could delay national polls slated for January even as the top U.S. commander in Iraq said the timetable for American troop drawdown is on track.

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Construction of new homes plunged last month as builders waited to see whether lawmakers would extend a tax credit for homebuyers. Building permits, an indicator of future housing activity, fell 4 percent. In a separate report, consumer prices edged up 0.3 percent in October as energy and new car prices both advanced.

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