UPDATE: After Devastating Twisters, Tornado Threat Continues Through Monday

Credit National Weather Service / Norman Forecast Office

Authorities in Oklahoma are spending Monday searching through debris left behind by tornadoes responsible for at least two deaths.

A tornado that started near Norman Sunday afternoon swept the landscape, destroying as many as 35 mobile homes as it moved east toward Shawnee. 

Oklahoma's state medical examiner's office spokeswoman Amy Elliot identified the two people who are confirmed to have been killed during Sunday's storms as 79-year-old Glen Irish and 76-year-old Billy Hutchinson. Both men were from Shawnee.

Another storm that first hit Edmond produced a tornado that tracked through the north-central part of the state, hitting the town of Carney, destroying as many as 20 homes.

The National Weather Service says preliminary information from a damage survey team near Shawnee indicates EF4 intensity.

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Around the Nation
1:33 pm
Wed March 6, 2013

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Supreme Court's 'Heavyweight'

In his profile of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in this week's issue of The New Yorker, Jeffrey Toobin writes: "Ginsburg has suggested that she would like to serve as long as Louis Brandeis, her judicial hero, who retired at eighty-two." Ginsburg turns 80 this month and is marking her 20th year on the court. She has had cancer — colon and pancreatic — and her tiny, frail-looking stature leads many people to wonder if she'll be retiring soon.

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All Tech Considered
1:26 pm
Wed March 6, 2013

Spring Break For Geeks: SXSW Interactive Starts Friday

Credit Jack Plunkett / AP
At SXSW 2012, the app "Highlight" was touted but failed to break out like Foursquare or Twitter in years prior.

Originally published on Wed March 6, 2013 2:01 pm

Every year, the South By Southwest music, film and interactive festival gets larger, and navigating the blur of panels, parties and shows gets more daunting. The girth of it all is enough to keep many SXSW old-timers away from Austin this year.

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Books
1:26 pm
Wed March 6, 2013

A Fiendish Fly Recalls Kafka In 'Jacob's Folly'

Originally published on Wed March 6, 2013 1:30 pm

Man awakens to find out he has turned into an insect. And the Double Jeopardy question is, "What is Kafka's The Metamorphosis?" Well, what other response could there possibly be? Kafka all but cornered the market on that verminous plot in 1915; although, after nearly 100 years, the exclusivity clause may be about to expire. It takes a gutsy writer to pad in Gregor Samsa's sticky steps, but, by now, Rebecca Miller is clearly used to coping with the anxiety of influence and staying true to her own vision.

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NPR Story
12:58 pm
Wed March 6, 2013

Hugo Chavez: The Legacy Of A Polarizing Leader

Originally published on Wed March 6, 2013 1:12 pm

Transcript

LYNN NEARY, HOST:

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NPR Story
12:58 pm
Wed March 6, 2013

The Political Fallout Of Sequestration

Originally published on Wed March 6, 2013 1:05 pm

Transcript

LYNN NEARY, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Lynn Neary in Washington. Jeb Bush switches his views, Romney remarks on his regrets, and the president says he can't call on the force. It's Wednesday and time for...

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: A Jedi mind meld...

NEARY: Edition of the political junkie.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDINGS)

PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN: There you go again.

VICE PRESIDENT WALTER MONDALE: When I hear your new ideas, I'm reminded of that ad: Where's the beef?

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NPR Story
12:58 pm
Wed March 6, 2013

After Chavez, What's Next For Venezuela

Originally published on Wed March 6, 2013 2:53 pm

Transcript

LYNN NEARY, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Lynn Neary.

And as I've just mentioned, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died Tuesday. He led his country for 14 years. A passionate defender of the poor, Chavez had closed ties with Cuba's Fidel Castro, but alienated the United States with his socialist agenda. His politics reverberated throughout the region.

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The Two-Way
12:33 pm
Wed March 6, 2013

Guys, Your Color Blindness Might Be Messing With Kenya's Elections

Credit Gregory Warner / NPR
Kenyan election observers and voters in the mixed slum of Kiambiu — where the first fires started in Nairobi after the disputed presidential election of 2007 — vote in this year's elections. Could something as innocent as the color of the ballots and ballot boxes be contributing to voting "irregularities"?

Originally published on Mon March 25, 2013 1:44 pm

In Kenya, colorblindness may be contributing to more than just questionable sartorial combinations. Some observers say it may have something to do with the hundreds of thousands of spoiled ballots — a term for disqualified or invalidated votes — in Monday's presidential election, adding new delays to declaring a winner and raising the possibility of a costly and contentious runoff election in April.

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The Two-Way
12:18 pm
Wed March 6, 2013

Portland City Employee Is Arrested, Accused In Pakistan Terror Attack Of 2009

Credit Multnomah County Sheriff's Office
Reaz Qadir Khan, 48, was accused Tuesday of giving money and advice to terrorists. The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that Khan helped plan a suicide bomb attack on Pakistan's intelligence headquarters in 2009.

A Portland, Ore., resident was arrested Tuesday on charges of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. The FBI alleges that Reaz Qadir Khan, 48, gave money and advice to a man involved in a deadly 2009 suicide bomb attack on the headquarters of Pakistan's intelligence service in Lahore.

The attack resulted in an estimated 30 deaths and 300 injuries. Khan, a naturalized U.S. citizen, could face a maximum sentence of life in prison if he is found guilty. FBI agents arrested him at his home Tuesday morning.

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StateImpact Oklahoma
12:01 pm
Wed March 6, 2013

First Bill Signed Into Law in 2013 Undoes a Law Chesapeake Energy Helped Write

Credit Joe Wertz / StateImpact Oklahoma
Gov. Mary Fallin at her state of the state address in 2013.

Chesapeake Energy has been pushing for a new law to undo a previous law the company helped write.

On Tuesday, the new law was signed by Gov. Mary Fallin — the first bill signed by the Governor during the 2013 legislative session.

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The Salt
11:58 am
Wed March 6, 2013

Eating Eyeballs: Taboo, Or Tasty?

It wasn't the fish heads poking out of the Stargazy Pie that stopped more than a few of our readers cold. It was the eyeballs.

"Not a lot of food nowadays has eyes; what's up with that?" one reader asked in commenting on a recent Salt post that featured a photo of the historic dish, which involves whole fish (eyes and all) poking out of a pie.

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