Mark Memmott

Credit Doby Photography / NPR

Mark Memmott is one of the hosts of NPR's "The Two-Way" news blog.

"The Two-Way," which Memmott helped to launched when he came to NPR in 2009, focuses on breaking news, analysis, and the most compelling stories being reported by NPR News and other news media.

Before joining NPR, Memmott worked for nearly 25 years as a reporter and editor at USA Today. He focused on a range of coverage from politics, foreign affairs, economics, and the media. He's reported from places across the Unites States and the world, including half a dozen trips to Afghanistan in 2002-2003.

During his time at USA Today, Memmott, helped launch and lead three USAToday.com news blogs: "On Deadline;" "The Oval;" and "On Politics," the site's 2008 presidential campaign blog.

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7:06am

Mon April 30, 2012
The Two-Way

Over Pakistani Objections, U.S. Resumes Drone Strikes

Credit Asif Hassan / AFP/Getty Images

"CIA drone missiles hit militant targets in Pakistan on Sunday for the first time in a month, as the United States ignored the Pakistani government's insistence that such attacks end as a condition for normalized relations between the two perpetually uneasy allies," The Washington Post writes.

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3:03pm

Fri April 27, 2012
The Two-Way

Lehman Was Set To Pay 50 Execs $700 Million Just A Year Before Collapse

Credit Cate Gillon / Getty Images

Lehman Bros., the Wall Street giant, collapsed in September 2008 in the nation's largest bankruptcy and arguably kicked off a financial meltdown that helped drag the economy into the Great Recession.

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1:16pm

Fri April 27, 2012
The Two-Way

Major College Football Edges Closer To Playoffs

Credit Bill Haber / AP

"Major college football is on the verge of implementing a playoff, its own version of the final four — two semifinals and a title game," The Associated Press writes.

Or, as The Wall Street Journal reports:

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11:45am

Fri April 27, 2012
The Two-Way

Blind Activist Flees House Arrest In China

Credit AFP/Getty Images

8:36am

Fri April 27, 2012
The Two-Way

Economy Grew At 2.2 Percent Rate In First Quarter

Originally published on Fri April 27, 2012 9:12 am

The U.S. economy grew at a 2.2 percent annual rate in the first quarter of the year, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

That's down from the 3 percent pace in fourth-quarter 2011, but is still better than the 1.7 percent growth for all of last year.

The first-quarter figure will be revised twice, in each of the next two months.

We'll have more about the report shortly.

Update at 8:47 a.m. ET. Behind The Numbers:

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8:13am

Fri April 27, 2012

7:35am

Fri April 27, 2012
The Two-Way

It's Your Turn, New York: Space Shuttle Fly-By Set For This Morning

Originally published on Fri April 27, 2012 12:42 pm

Space nuts here in Washington, D.C., had their fun last week when a jumbo jet carrying space shuttle Discovery buzzed the nation's capital.

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7:09am

Fri April 27, 2012
The Two-Way

Deal To Move Marines From Okinawa Will Cut Their Presence About In Half

Credit Toshifumi Kitamura / AFP/Getty Images

The news overnight that the U.S. and Japan have reached an agreement to move about 9,000 U.S. Marines off the island of Okinawa means that slightly more than half of the Marines who have been stationed there will be heading to Guam and other places in the Pacific.

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11:26am

Thu April 26, 2012
The Two-Way

VIDEO: Norwegians Stand Up To Killer's Hate By Joining In Song

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8:48am

Thu April 26, 2012
The Two-Way

'Bring Andy Home:' Search For Missing Corgi Goes High Tech

Originally published on Thu April 26, 2012 6:27 pm

Credit The Bring Andy Home Facebook page

8:40am

Thu April 26, 2012
The Two-Way

Almost No Change In Jobless Claims Last Week

There were 388,000 first-time claims for jobless benefits last week, down just 1,000 from the week before, the Employment and Training Administration just reported.

And in another sign that the labor market's recovery remains sluggish, the agency said "the 4-week moving average was 381,750, an increase of 6,250 from the previous week's revised average of 375,500." That measure is said by economists to be a better gauge of the underlying trend in claims.

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6:31am

Thu April 26, 2012
The Two-Way

After Conviction, Pakistani Prime Minister 'Imprisoned' For Just A Few Minutes

Originally published on Thu April 26, 2012 5:15 pm

Credit Aamir Qureshi / AFP/Getty Images

Convicted today of contempt for refusing to push for the reopening of a corruption case involving Pakistan's president, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was given a prison sentence that lasted just a few minutes.

"The ruling ... appeared to be a compromise," The Associated Press writes, "but could still mean problems for him because he has been convicted in a court. That means he could face dismissal from office in the weeks, or more likely, months to come."

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6:00am

Thu April 26, 2012
The Two-Way

Conflicting Claims On Cause And Death Toll After Explosion In Syria

Originally published on Thu April 26, 2012 6:08 am

While activists inside Syria say government forces are responsible for an explosion today in the city of Hama, and that about 70 people were killed, President Bashar Assad's regime has a much different story. It says about 16 people were killed by an explosion at a bomb factory used by "armed terrorist groups," the BBC reports.

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5:19am

Thu April 26, 2012
The Two-Way

Liberia's Charles Taylor Facing Judgment In War Crimes Case

Originally published on Thu April 26, 2012 2:04 pm

Credit Jerry Lampen / AFP/Getty Images
  • NPR's Eric Westervelt reporting from The Hague

Former Liberian President Charles Taylor is guilty of "aiding and abetting" forces in Sierra Leone that committed war crimes and other atrocities during a war that lasted more than a decade and left more than 50,000 people dead, the Special Court for Sierra Leone ruled today.

Taylor, the first head of state since just after World War II to be judged by an international tribunal, "knew that his support" would assist and encourage fighters who were committing war crimes, the tribunal ruled. In return, he received so-called blood diamonds from Sierra Leone.

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1:31pm

Wed April 25, 2012
The Two-Way

Justices Signal Support For Arizona Immigration Law

Credit Karen Bleier / AFP/Getty Images

The early analyses of this morning's Supreme Court hearing on parts of Arizona's controversial immigration law are in, and the consensus is that the majority of justices will likely uphold the state's effort to reduce the number of people within its borders who may be there illegally.

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