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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8:20am

Tue April 10, 2012
The Two-Way

Tips Led To Tulsa Shooting Suspects' Arrests; Police Say They've Confessed

The key moment in the manhunt for suspects in a murder spree that terrorized African-Americans in Tulsa, Okla., came Saturday morning when a tip was called in to the city's Crime Stoppers hotline, the Tulsa World says.

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7:45am

Tue April 10, 2012
The Two-Way

Syria Says It Is Pulling Troops Back, Activists Say Army Continues To Attack

Originally published on Tue April 10, 2012 7:58 am

Credit Germano Assad / AP

On this day when a U.N.-brokered cease-fire was supposed to go into effect in Syria, "activists reported military attacks on two towns ... even as the government claimed its military forces have begun pulling out" of some areas, The Associated Press reports.

The BBC says:

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7:15am

Tue April 10, 2012
The Two-Way

George Zimmerman Launches Website And Seeks Support, Lawyer Says

Credit TheRealGeorgeZimmerman.com

A new website — TheRealGeorgeZimmerman.com — was indeed launched over the weekend by the Florida man who shot and killed a black teenager in an incident that has ignited a national discussion about race relations and racial profiling, one of his attorneys tells local news outlets in Orlando, Fla.

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8:00pm

Mon April 9, 2012
The Two-Way

Paintball Journalism? Ex-Army Ranger, Journalists Trade Shots With Hezbollah

Credit vice.com

"Paintballing With Hezbollah Is The Path Straight To Their Hearts," says the headline at the Vice.com newssite.

In a quest to get to better know members of the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, four Western journalists and a former U.S. Army Ranger last year arranged to play paintball in Beirut with some men who said they were among the group's fighters.

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6:30pm

Mon April 9, 2012
The Two-Way

Maryland Says Mega Millions Winner Has Come Forward

The second of three winning tickets in last month's $656 million record-breaking Mega Millions lottery has been turned in, officials at the Maryland Lottery just announced.

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5:35pm

Mon April 9, 2012
The Two-Way

Obama's Off His Game — Basketball, That Is

Credit Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images

Four years ago, then-candidate Barack Obama famously sank a 3-point shot when he visited U.S. troops in Kuwait who had gathered in a gym to hear from the Democratic senator. The video was a cable TV favorite for a day or two.

Today, the first hoopster's shot wasn't dropping, as Politico reports.

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4:25pm

Mon April 9, 2012
The Two-Way

Here's How And Why Bubba Watson Hit The Shot That Won The Masters

  • Jaime Diaz on Watson's swing
  • Jaime Diaz on how Watson learned to do that
  • Jaime Diaz on Watson's ADD

Hours and hours of hitting little plastic golf balls and learning to make them twist and turn and bend and bounce in almost any direction.

That's one reason why golfer Bubba Watson was able to hit a shot Sunday that most duffers could never make — and do it to win this year's Masters Tournament.

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1:30pm

Mon April 9, 2012
The Two-Way

Facebook Is Buying Instagram

"I'm excited to share the news that we've agreed to acquire Instagram and that their talented team will be joining Facebook," Mark Zuckerberg just announced.

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12:18pm

Mon April 9, 2012
The Two-Way

Trayvon Martin Prosecutor: Investigation Continues, No Grand Jury

Originally published on Mon April 9, 2012 1:53 pm

The special prosecutor investigating the Feb. 26 shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin announced this morning she will not be taking the case to a grand jury this week.

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12:40pm

Fri April 6, 2012
The Two-Way

VIDEO: Rapping Federal Worker Adds To Evidence Of Waste And Excess

Credit House Oversight & Reform Committee

11:35am

Fri April 6, 2012
The Two-Way

Check It Out: St. Louis Keeps Adding To Its Chess Prowess

We're seeing headlines today about an entire college championship team moving from one school to another. And though the story's about two months old, it's still so unusual and has enough interesting angles to warrant passing along.

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10:24am

Fri April 6, 2012
The Two-Way

Life In Prison For Man Who Planted Pipe Bomb In Colorado Mall

Credit AP

Earl Albert Moore, who in April 2011 on the 12th anniversary of the Columbine school shootings placed a pipe bomb in a nearby Colorado shopping mall, has been sentenced to life in prison.

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9:35am

Fri April 6, 2012

8:34am

Fri April 6, 2012
The Two-Way

Just 120,000 Jobs Added, But Jobless Rate Dips To 8.2 Percent

Originally published on Fri April 6, 2012 10:37 am

Credit NPR

The nation's unemployment rate edged down to 8.2 percent in March from 8.3 percent in February, but only 120,000 jobs were added to private and public payrolls the Bureau of Labor Statistics said this morning in a report that was less positive about the labor market's health than economists had expected.

Prior to the news, forecasters had predicted BLS would say about 200,000 jobs were added to payrolls last month.

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8:10am

Fri April 6, 2012

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