Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Mining giant Cleveland Cliffs gets bigger with merger
  Minnesota's biggest mining company has just gotten bigger. Ohio-based Cleveland-Cliffs has announced a merger that will add dozens of coal mines to its portfolio.4:44 p.m.
• Judge refuses to change protest route for RNC
  A federal judge has denied a group of protesters' request for a new march route during the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.5:21 p.m.
• McCain lays out his plans for education
  In an address before the NAACP today, presumptive Republican nominee John McCain talked about his plan for education.5:24 p.m.
• Shakeup at the Southern Theater
  A shakeup in leadership at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis has artists who use the space concerned about the future.5:26 p.m.
• Minnesota Slowdown: Tracing the roots of a sliding economy
  It was only about 10 months ago that talk of a recession in this country started heating up. But the beginnings of the slowdown in Minnesota can be traced back several years, to a time when the state was adding thousands of jobs a month, and gas was less than $2.50 a gallon.5:30 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• In Wake Of Prisoner Swap, Israel Mourns, Reflects
  Two Israeli soldiers return home in coffins, two years after their kidnapping sparked a month-long war between Israel and Lebanon. They were sent back in exchange for Israel's release of five Lebanese prisoners. The country now reflects on the consequences of negotiating with Hezbollah.
• Lebanese Celebrate Return Of Five Prisoners
  Five Lebanese prisoners and the bodies of almost 200 others held in Israel are being turned over to Lebanon in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers captured in a Hezbollah raid in 2006.
• Lang Lang: A Life In Music, So Far
  Coming from meager beginnings in middle-class China, the 26-year-old superstar pianist describes his drive to be the best in the world — and the struggles along the way — in his new autobiography, Journey of a Thousand Miles.
• Consumer Prices Spike
  Soaring energy and food prices have sent inflation up at the fastest rate in nearly two decades. The U.S. Labor Department says the consumer price index increased 1.1 percent in June. Meanwhile, energy prices rose by 6.6 percent.
• Job Loss Worries Hit Ohio Workers Hard
  More than 75 percent of Ohioans say it's hard to find a job in their area, a new poll finds. For two Ohio families, such worries have meant changes in budgets that translate into changes in living — from how they eat to where they drive.
• Bartering Gains Steam
  If you're a small-business owner and can't afford that new air conditioner, there is an alternative: barter. Barter networks have popped up all over. Mike Krane, president of Green Apple Barter Services in Pittsburgh, says people can barter everything from breast implants to flat-roof repairs.
• Russian Satellite Debris Poses Hazard
  NASA is tracking some 500 pieces of debris from a Russian spy satellite that mysteriously exploded in March. Since then, it has broken up twice, including last month. Some of the pieces have come close to the international space station.
• China Panda Center Copes With Sagging Tourism
  Two months after a massive earthquake struck China, a panda research base is struggling with major losses in revenues caused by a slowdown in tourism following the disaster. A new book about a panda named Jingjing is being launched to help raise money for the center.
• McCain Walks Tightrope On Immigration
  John McCain has long been the GOP presidential contender with the best shot of winning Latino voters, because he's long argued for a path to citizenship in any overhaul of immigration laws. But lately, he is also emphasizing border security to appeal to his party's conservatives.
• Canada Reacts To Guantanamo Video
  The video of the interrogation of Canadian detainee Omar Khadr at Guantanamo Bay became public Tuesday. Colin Freeze, a reporter at The Globe and Mail in Toronto, says the Canadian government is of the view that the U.S. legal system must take its course.

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