10:40am

Fri February 10, 2012
The Two-Way

VIDEO: NASA Releases Spectacular View Of Aurora Borealis From Space

Credit NASA

Using a new time-lapse technique, NASA was able to capture a spectacular view of how astronauts aboard the International Space Station see the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights.

As the AP says, NASA has released many videos of this before — just take a look at this stunning one released a couple of months ago — but this is time-lapse footage taken with high resolution cameras.

In any case, here's the video via BBC Mundo:

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10:18am

Fri February 10, 2012
Health Care

White House Offers 'Accommodation' On Contraception

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

On a Friday morning, it's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

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9:50am

Fri February 10, 2012
The Two-Way

Deal With Banks Isn't Only Way For Homeowners To Get Help, HUD Chief Says

Credit Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images
  • Michel Martin talks with HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan

The $25 billion settlement with five banks unveiled Thursday, which aims to give some mortgage relief and other help to homeowners who got hurt when the housing bubble burst before the 2007-2009 recession, has been viewed with skepticism by some folks in the nation's hardest-hit housing markets, as NPR's Greg Allen reported.

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9:36am

Fri February 10, 2012
The Two-Way

Stocks Take Dive, As Greek Bailout Deal Remains Uncertain

Credit Milos Bicanski / Getty Images

Just a day after it appeared that Greece and its eurozone partners had reached a deal, we're back where we've been for months: There are fiery protests on the streets of Athens, the markets and the euro are in turmoil and negotiations are at a tense point with four Greek Cabinet ministers tendering resignations over their opposition to austerity measures.

Here's the how the AP rounds up the latest:

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9:00am

Fri February 10, 2012
Politics

Secretary Donovan Talks Multi-Billion Deal

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan talks with host Michel Martin about the settlement reached yesterday between federal and state officials and major banks. It was an effort to address unfair banking practices that led to the mortgage crisis. President Obama praised the deal, but critics say the settlement is inadequate.

8:49am

Fri February 10, 2012
Shots - Health Blog

White House Bends On Birth Control Requirement For Religious Groups

Under increasing pressure, the White House has offered what it's calling an "accommodation" to religious groups on a requirement to cover birth control free of charge.

Even some Democrats, who generally support the policy of requiring most employers to offer no-cost contraception, were unhappy with rule's reach.

But the change unveiled by the White House isn't expected to completely quell the uproar raised by Catholics and others who say the policy violates their freedom of religion.

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8:26am

Fri February 10, 2012
Planet Money

The Undertaker Who Helps Big Banks Write Death Plans

Credit iStockphoto.com

The nation's big banks are writing death plans — living wills that spell out how, in a future crisis, they could be safely dismantled. The idea is that the death plans will help avoid another government bailout of the banks.

"You're technically writing your own funeral, down to the color of the flowers" says Dolores Atallo.

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7:25am

Fri February 10, 2012
The Two-Way

White House To Detail Changes To Controversial Contraception Rule

Reports are popping up on various newssites that, as The Associated Press puts it, "President Barack Obama will announce a plan to accommodate religious employers outraged by a rule that would require them to cover birth control for women free of charge, according to a person familiar with the decision."

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7:23am

Fri February 10, 2012
Politics

A Conservative's Tips For Finding The Right Mate

Credit Neil Harrison / iStockphoto

7:10am

Fri February 10, 2012
The Two-Way

Josh Powell Turned Out To Be 'A Monster,' Says Social Worker

The social worker who watched in horror last Sunday as a Washington state man blew up the house that his two young sons had gone into moments before says he had never before seemed dangerous.

But she knows now, Elizabeth Griffin-Hall tells ABC News, that "Josh Powell was really, really evil."

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