1:42pm

Fri January 27, 2012
It's All Politics

Obama Revs Up House Democrats For Election-Year Fight

Originally published on Mon January 30, 2012 7:09 am

Credit Haraz N. Ghanbari / AP

President Obama flew out to Maryland's Eastern Shore on Friday to fire up his rank and file in Congress.

House Democrats have spent the past few days in their annual retreat, regrouping and strategizing for the year to come. Lawmakers say their hopes for success — in the economy and in politics — depend on sticking together and sending the same message to Americans.

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1:30pm

Fri January 27, 2012

1:01pm

Fri January 27, 2012
Middle East

U.N. Atomic Agency To Visit Iran For New Probe

Credit Ronald Zak / AP

A senior delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency visits Iran on Sunday in a renewed attempt to probe aspects of Iran's nuclear program that could be connected to nuclear weapons work.

For years, the IAEA has been trying to get answers to some very uncomfortable questions about Iran's nuclear program.

Iran insists it has only a peaceful, civilian nuclear program, and so far it has refused to discuss evidence that it is engaging in some nuclear weapons work. But international pressure on Tehran is growing.

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12:53pm

Fri January 27, 2012
It's All Politics

Heading Into Final Fla. Swing., GOP Candidates Keep Courting Latino Voters

Credit Charles Dharapak / AP

Fresh from Thursday night's debate, the two leading Republican presidential candidates, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, traveled across Florida on Friday.

Gingrich and Romney spent the morning in Miami, where they are both looking to shore up support from Florida's Hispanic community.

Gingrich started the day talking to an influential business group, the Latin Builders Association. Later, he spoke before the Hispanic Leadership Network — a group devoted to building Republican support among Latinos.

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12:45pm

Fri January 27, 2012
The Two-Way

In Egypt: Charges, Trial Could Be Next, Says Sam LaHood

While he says it is "patently false" for anyone to say that the International Republican Institute offices he directs are in any way behind the anti-government protests in Egypt, American Sam LaHood told All Things Considered host Melissa Block this afternoon that he's been warned by the organization's attorney that he and others may soon be charged and brought to trial by authorities there.

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12:25pm

Fri January 27, 2012
Shots - Health Blog

Scratching An Ankle Is Hard To Beat

Credit Arman Zhenikeyev / iStockphoto.com

There are few more sybaritic pleasures than scratching an itch.

But according to a study just out in the British Journal of Dermatology, the intensity of the scratching delight varies with the location of the itch.

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12:18pm

Fri January 27, 2012
It's All Politics

Obama Vs. Gingrich? More Reasons GOP Fears The Matchup

Credit Scott Audette / Reuters /Landov

It's not that the panicked Republican establishment needed more fodder for its attack on GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich as the wrong man to take on President Obama this fall.

They've managed quite nicely themselves over the past few days, piling on the pugnacious former House speaker, circa mid-1990s, in direct proportion to Gingrich's rise in the polls in Florida and nationwide.

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12:15pm

Fri January 27, 2012
The Two-Way

Facebook's IPO Filing Could Come Next Week, 'Wall Street Journal' Says

We've been hearing it would happen for quite a while, so keep that in mind when you read this scoop. The Wall Street Journal says:

"Facebook Inc. could file papers for an initial public offering as early as next week and is currently looking at a deal that would value the social network between $75 billion to $100 billion, said people familiar with the matter."

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11:50am

Fri January 27, 2012
The Two-Way

'Barefoot Bandit' Gets 6 1/2 Years On Federal Charges

Colton Harris-Moore, who gained international fame for being the so-called Barefoot Bandit, was just sentenced by a federal judge to 6 1/2 years in prison.

But since the time is to be served while he finishes out the 7 years in prison that he was sentenced to by a state court last December, it looks like Harris-Moore won't actually be spending any additional time behind bars.

The Associated Press reminds us that in 2010:

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11:34am

Fri January 27, 2012
Shots - Health Blog

Heavy Doctors Avoid Heavy Discussions About Weight

Credit iStockphoto.com

Research already demonstrates that physicians are sometimes uncomfortable talking about weight with their obese patients. Now, a new study shows that the doctors' weight makes a difference too.

Physicians who pack on the pounds discuss weight loss less frequently with obese patients than doctors who have normal body mass indexes (18 percent versus 30 percent), according to the report published this week in the medical journal Obesity.

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