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Middle East
9:01 pm
Wed January 25, 2012

Growing Pressures Prompt Plunge In Iranian Currency

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Credit Atta Kenare / AFP/Getty Images
An Iranian man counts banknotes after exchanging a gold coin for cash in Tehran on Monday. Gold coins were being exchanged for over 10 million rials as the Iranian currency continues to lose value against the U.S. dollar.
Credit Behrouz Mehri / AFP/Getty Images
On Jan. 24, the exchange rate plummeted to 23,000 rials to the U.S. dollar. For years, the value of the Iranian currency was artificially maintained. Now, international sanctions and domestic politics are forcing a devaluation.
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The value of Iran's currency — which had been sliding steadily for months — took another plunge this week. Faced with new economic sanctions from the U.S. and Europe, the rial now seems to be in free fall.

But at least part of the dive could be linked to currency manipulation by the government itself in an effort to fund candidates in upcoming elections.

In images posted on the Internet, hundreds of Iranians are seen gathered outside the headquarters of the Bank Melli in Tehran Monday. They wanted to buy dollars, but there were no dollars to be had.

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Planet Money
9:01 pm
Wed January 25, 2012

No, Hedge Funds Can't Foreclose On The Acropolis

Credit DIMITAR DILKOFF / AFP/Getty Images
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By editor

Originally published on Mon May 7, 2012 9:12 am

Greece is broke. But there's no blueprint for a country to declare bankruptcy, so Greece's creditors are sort of making things up as they go along.

"You're taking some sort of loss," Hans Humes of Greylock Capital Management told me. "But it's like, how much of a loss do you take? There's this thing called sovereign immunity. You can't go in and take the Acropolis."

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Space
9:01 pm
Wed January 25, 2012

Want To Make A Giant Telescope Mirror? Here's How

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Credit Giant Magellan Telescope
Giant Magellan Telescope
Credit Ray Bertram / Steward Observatory
Temperatures inside this giant oven will reach 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit. Large blocks of glass inside the oven will melt as the whole oven spins around at a rate of five times per second, creating a curved and smooth telescope mirror.
Credit Ray Bertram / Steward Observatory
The pieces of glass that technicians are arranging inside the rotating oven will melt down into the curved surface of the telescope mirror. Each piece of glass is hand-inspected.
Credit Ray Bertram / Steward Observatory
After the mirror is cast, it moves to the Large Polishing Machine, where the mirror's shape is refined and perfected — down to the millionth of an inch.
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Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 8:05 am

The world's largest mirrors for the world's largest telescopes are made under the football stadium at the University of Arizona.

Why there? Why not?

"We wanted some space, and it was just used for parking some cars, and this seemed like a good use," says Roger Angel.

Angel is the master of making big mirrors for telescopes. For 30 years he has been using a method called spin casting to make the largest solid telescope mirrors in the world.

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Middle East
9:01 pm
Wed January 25, 2012

For Turkish Journalists, Arrest Is A Real Danger

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Credit AP
Hundreds of journalists protest the arrests of members of the media, including Ahmet Sik (poster on the right) and Nedim Sener (center) in Ankara, Turkey, in March 2011. Critics say the government is trying to stifle dissent by arresting journalists — for doing their job.
Credit Mustafa Ozer / AFP/Getty Images
Rakel Dink, the widow of murdered journalist Hrant Dink, walks with thousands of people people during the ceremony commemorating her slain husband.
Credit AP
Ahmet Sik, an investigative reporter and a journalism professor, was arrested nearly a year ago, prompting huge outcry. He has been charged with aiding and abetting a terrorist organization.
Credit Getty Images
Thousands of people in Istanbul participated in a rally on Jan. 19 that marked the fifth anniversary of the murder of journalist Hrant Dink by an ultranationalist teenager. Many Turks condemn a recent court ruling that found no official involvement in the killing — a verdict that even one of the judges expressed discontent with.
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Originally published on Thu January 26, 2012 8:42 am

In the wake of the Arab Spring, some Muslims in North Africa are looking across the Mediterranean to Turkey as a potential model of a state that can be modern, Islamic and democratic.

But some analysts in the region say that model is flawed, and they are questioning Turkey's human-rights record and its dealings with the press.

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Business
9:01 pm
Wed January 25, 2012

Quiznos Gives Up Control To Stave Off Bankruptcy

Credit Rob Kim / Landov
A man walks by a Quiznos franchise in New York City. The sandwich chain has given up part of its ownership to a private equity firm in order to restructure its debt and avoid bankruptcy.
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By Ben Markus

Quiznos narrowly avoided bankruptcy this week when the sandwich chain shifted ownership to private equity firm Avenue Capital in exchange for erasing some debt.

The recession and poor management have hit the Denver-based sub-maker hard. The company once boasted more than 5,000 restaurants, but 40 percent of them have now shut their doors.

Andre Bonyadian owns nine Quiznos franchises in and around Los Angeles.

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