Shots - Health Blog
1:42 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

FDA Approves First New Weight-Loss Drug In More Than A Decade

Credit Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
Belviq, the first new prescription drug in years to help people lose weight, is expected to be available in four to six months.

Originally published on Thu June 28, 2012 12:34 pm

For the first time in 13 years, the Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug to help people lose weight.

The FDA gave the green light to Arena Pharmaceuticals to sell Belviq, or lorcaserin generically, a twice-a-day pill that suppresses appetite and appears to affect metabolism by influencing levels of the brain chemical serotonin.

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The Two-Way
1:38 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

Puny Humans: Robot Plays Rock, Paper, Scissors With 100 Percent Accuracy

Credit Ishikawa Oku Laboratory
A robot hand playing rock, paper, scissor.

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 1:49 pm

The Salt
1:05 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

Just What Your Summer Beer Needed, Frozen Foam

Credit Kirin

Apparently, it is just what it looks like — frozen foam, on a beer.

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Shots - Health Blog
12:41 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

A Guide To The Cleanest And Filthiest U.S. Beaches

Credit Reed Saxon / AP
San Juan Creek meets the Pacific Ocean at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, Calif. The poor water quality off Doheny State Beach put in a list of worst beaches in the U.S.

Originally published on Mon July 2, 2012 9:58 am

If you thought sharks were the scariest threat at the beach, you might consider the lowly bacteria lurking in shore waters instead.

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Author Interviews
12:38 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

Why Flying Is No Fun (And May Be More Dangerous)

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 12:53 pm

After the airline industry was deregulated in 1978, flying changed considerably.

Some of those changes have improved commercial flying, but others have made the skies much less friendly, says journalist and airline veteran William J. McGee.

McGee's new book, Attention All Passengers, details how airlines are cutting costs through regional carriers, outsourcing airline maintenance, mishandling baggage and overbooking airplanes.

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The Two-Way
12:24 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

ACLU Will Defend KKK In Bid To Adopt Stretch Of Ga. Highway

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 1:08 pm

Considering it a First Amendment case, the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia has decided to defend a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in its bid to adopt a stretch of Georgia highway.

As Korva reported earlier this month, Georgia transportation officials turned down the group's request, saying "encountering signage and members of the KKK along a roadway would create a definite distraction to motorists."

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It's All Politics
12:06 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

Where's The Bathroom? Half Of All State Lawmakers Will Be New On The Job

Originally published on Fri June 29, 2012 6:26 am

In the land of legislative freshmen, sophomores can be kings.

That's a dynamic that will play out around much of the country after the fall elections. Come January, about half the nation's roughly 7,400 legislators will be totally new on the job or have only two years' experience, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

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Election 2012
11:50 am
Wed June 27, 2012

What Issues Really Matter To Latinos?

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 3:45 pm

Transcript

VIVIANA HURTADO, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Viviana Hurtado. Michel Martin is away. Coming up, a recent survey shows finances are the most common source of conflict for U.S. couples. We talked to one of our regular money coaches to help you and your significant other maybe avoid an argument before it starts.

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The Two-Way
10:43 am
Wed June 27, 2012

Violence In Syria Is As Bad, Or Worse, Than Before Ceasefire, U.N. Says

Credit AFP/Getty Images
May 26, 2012: In this picture provided by the Syrian opposition's Shaam News Network, people watch the mass burial of victims in Houla.

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 1:50 pm

From The Associated Press:

"The U.N.'s deputy envoy for Syria, Jean-Marie Guehenno, [has] told the U.N. Human Rights Council that the violence in Syria has 'reached or even surpassed' levels seen before the April 12 ceasefire agreement and that a six-point peace plan forged by his boss, U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, 'is clearly not being implemented.' "

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Shots - Health Blog
10:36 am
Wed June 27, 2012

Feds Move To Curb Abusive Debt Collection By Nonprofit Hospitals

Credit Minnesota Public Radio/Jeffrey Thompson
Deb Waldin testifies about her experience with a debt collector at a Minnesota hospital during a hearing led by Sen. Al Franken in St. Paul, Minn., in late May.

Deb Waldin was in agony when she arrived at the emergency room of Fairview Southdale, a nonprofit hospital in suburban Minneapolis. On a scale of 1 to 10, she says her pain was at 12.

She turned out to have kidney stones. But before she got the diagnosis, while she was still lying on a gurney waiting to see a doctor, she was approached by a debt collector from a company called Accretive Health.

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