All Things Considered

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Rapper Baloji was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo but raised in Belgium. He's built a reputation for incorporating Congolese music into his mix, though he mostly raps in French, his deep voice full of cocky brashness. You can catch his vibe without translation, but it's worth reading the liner notes to get his messages, as well. Baloji raps with brazen ease about the indignities of life as an African in Belgium, but also the tragic, bloody history of his homeland on his second album, Kinshasa Succursale.

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This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.

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The United Nations special envoy for Syria says that country has agreed to a six-point peace plan. Envoy Kofi Annan called it a positive step toward ending the violence that. The U.N. now estimates that the conflict has cost more than 9,000 lives. But still, the violence continued and it has spilled over into northern Lebanon, according to witnesses.

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This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Robert Siegel.

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He's been a congressman, a governor, the head of a bank, and now he wants to be president. Buddy Roemer of Louisiana was running as a Republican. He dropped out of that race and is now seeking the nomination of the Reform Party and of Americans Elect, a new online platform for third-party candidates. Buddy Roemer says he won't take contributions of more than $100 and he won't take PAC money.

A new study finds that people who eat chocolate several times a week are actually leaner than people who don't eat chocolate regularly.

Really, we asked? Last time we checked chocolate was loaded with fat and sugar. But this new research, along with some prior studies, suggests chocolate may favorably influence metabolism.

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This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

And I'm Robert Siegel.

If you were expecting three days of Supreme Court arguments over the health care law to kick off with a bang, think again. Today's arguments began like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: The Anti-Injunction Act imposes a pay-first-litigate-later rule that is central to federal tax assessment and collection.

A new political scandal has hit Britain's ruling Conservative Party. A senior official has resigned over an influence-peddling scheme uncovered by a British newspaper.

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Well, if the arguments inside the courtroom today were not as exciting as what was going on outside the court, they were, of course, important. In fact, today's arguments will determine whether the case even gets to proceed.

We're joined now by NPR health policy correspondent Julie Rovner to explain more about what happened today and what will happen over the next two days. Julie, welcome back.

JULIE ROVNER, BYLINE: Nice to be here.