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The Two-Way
6:17 pm
Tue May 14, 2013

Road Crew In Belize Destroys Ancient Pyramid

Credit Jaime Awe / Associated Press
What's left of the Nohmul pyramid after a construction crew virtually destroyed the 2,300-year-old Mayan structure.

Originally published on Tue May 14, 2013 6:53 pm

A construction crew in search of gravel to use as road filler used its backhoes to level one of Belize's largest Mayan pyramids.

"It's a feeling of incredible disbelief because of the ignorance and the insensitivity ... they were using this for road fill," Jaime Awe, the head of the Belize Institute of Archaeology, said of the destruction at the 2,300-year-old Nohmul pyramid, located in the Orange Walk/Corozal area.

"It's like being punched in the stomach. It's just so horrendous," Awe said Monday of the destruction thought to have occurred last week.

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Middle East
5:44 pm
Tue May 14, 2013

A Sign of Disunity? Iranian Candidates Jockey For Position

Originally published on Tue May 14, 2013 7:15 pm

Nearly 700 presidential hopefuls have thrown their names into the ring for Iran's June 14 presidential elections. But two last-minute entrants have altered the shape of the already-chaotic race: a former president once dismissed as a has-been and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator.

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Parallels
4:27 pm
Tue May 14, 2013

For Palestinians, Google's Small Change Is A Big Deal

Credit Ahmad Gharabli / AFP/Getty Images
Internet giant Google has recognized the Palestinians' upgraded U.N. status, placing the name "Palestine" on its search engine instead of "Palestinian Territories."

Originally published on Tue May 14, 2013 7:15 pm

The webpage Google.ps used to read "Google: Palestinian Territories." On May 1, the company quietly changed that regional search page to say "Google: Palestine."

Google didn't announce the name change, but it didn't have to. In a place where small gestures can carry great symbolism, Palestinians noticed right away.

"Everybody knows about it and they screenshot [and] post on Facebook: 'Yay Google, thank you,' " says Mohammad Kumboz, a 22-year-old graphic designer and computer programmer who lives in the Gaza Strip.

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Energy
4:17 pm
Tue May 14, 2013

India, China Could Soon Demand More Oil Than U.S. And Europe

Originally published on Tue May 14, 2013 7:15 pm

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Audie Cornish.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And I'm Melissa Block.

For years, we've understood the global oil landscape in fairly simple terms: Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries were the big producers of oil, the United States and its allies were the big oil buyers. But a report today from the International Energy Agency shows a different picture. Turns out the U.S. has become a star oil producer, as NPR's Tom Gjelten reports.

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Europe
4:17 pm
Tue May 14, 2013

Russia Orders Alleged U.S. Spy To Leave Country

Originally published on Tue May 14, 2013 7:15 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And now to Russia, where a U.S. Embassy employee has been ordered to leave the country, this after Russian authorities nabbed him in a highly publicized arrest. They charge the American as a CIA agent who was caught trying to recruit a Russian spy.

NPR's Corey Flintoff tells us more.

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Environment
4:17 pm
Tue May 14, 2013

'Ice Shove' Damages Some Manitoba Homes Beyond Repair

Originally published on Tue May 14, 2013 7:15 pm

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

In northern lakefront vacation spots such as Ochre Beach, Manitoba and Lake Mille Lacs, Minnesota, ice happens even in May. But what happened this past weekend was like something out of a science fiction movie.

(SOUNDBITE OF WIND)

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

This is the sound from a video recorded as constant strong winds pushed huge sheets of ice off a lake and onto the shore. Fingers of ice creeped farther inland and farther. It's as if the ice is alive.

(SOUNDBITE OF ICE SHOVE)

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World
3:28 pm
Tue May 14, 2013

Living On The Border, Driven — Literally — Underground

Credit Amy Isackson for NPR
Abimael Martinez, who was deported from Riverside, Calif., sits next to the hole he dug to live in beneath the banks of Tijuana's fetid river canal.

Originally published on Tue May 14, 2013 7:15 pm

After living underground in the United States — figuratively speaking — some undocumented immigrants deported to the Mexican border city of Tijuana are living in holes. These migrants have dug bunkers along Tijuana's sewage canal to protect themselves from police who routinely burn down their makeshift homes.

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Africa
3:05 pm
Tue May 14, 2013

The Enemy Inside: Rhino's Protectors Sometimes Aid Poachers

Originally published on Tue May 14, 2013 8:19 pm

It says a lot about the state of the war against poachers in Africa that the Lewa Conservancy, a private sanctuary in Kenya with 12 percent of the country's rhinos, recently appointed a CEO who has never studied zoology or biology. Instead, Mike Watson is an ex-captain in the British army.

His training has already come in handy. Take, for instance, a visit to a crime scene earlier this year: a rhino carcass splayed out in the mud.

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Parallels
10:32 am
Tue May 14, 2013

As Gamblers Gather, Thailand's Child Boxers Slug It Out

Originally published on Tue May 14, 2013 4:33 pm

Under the fluorescent lights of the boxing ring, the boy can barely see out beyond the elastic ropes that surround the fighting stage. The crowd and the festival that press in around him are shadowy outlines. But the boy can hear them.

"Chai Lorlam, 9 years old, 22.9 kilograms [just under 50 pounds]," the announcer says.

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The Two-Way
8:54 am
Tue May 14, 2013

Russian Security Service Claims To Have Uncovered CIA Agent

Credit Sergei Ilnitsky / EPA /Landov
In Moscow's Red Square, people still line up to visit Lenin's tomb. Though the Cold War is over, Russia and the U.S. keep watchful eyes on each other. Tuesday, Russian officials claimed to have uncovered a CIA spy.

Originally published on Tue May 14, 2013 7:09 pm

From Russia Today:

"Russia's counterintelligence agency has detained a CIA agent in Moscow trying to recruit an officer of the Russian secret service, the Federal Security Service (FSB) announced. The agent was operating under guise of career diplomat."

According to Reuters, the Russian foreign ministry has summoned U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul for a discussion.

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