A growth of 3 percent is not bad, given all the European turmoil. But there's a downside in the report. It shows the German economy shrinking a bit at the end of 2011.

The 20 detainees who stumbled down the gangway had been put on a nonstop flight from Kandahar, Afghanistan, to Cuba. The men came from all over the Middle East and Africa: Yemen, Sudan, Tunisia, Afghanistan. They all wore the same blackened goggles, earmuffs and orange socks as U.S. soldiers guided them from the plane by their elbows.

Tens of millions of people tune in every week to the Chinese dating show Take Me Out. It's pure entertainment: girls in skimpy dresses hoping for a date; sweaty, geeky guys stammering questions; and two effete hosts sporting matching bouffant hairstyles.

But as of last week, the show was bumped from prime time — part of China's latest clampdown against "excessive entertainment," which is itself a manifestation of a larger ideological campaign.

Consumers who sign credit card agreements that feature an arbitration clause cannot dispute fees or charges in court, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. The 8-to-1 decision drew immediate fire from consumer advocates.

To get a credit card, a consumer generally must sign a detailed agreement. In the fine print, almost always, is an arbitration clause that says that if consumers want to dispute fees, they must do so through arbitration, not in court.

Seven time zones and thousands of miles separate Russia's capital, Moscow, from the port city of Vladivostok on the Pacific Ocean. NPR journalists traveled the full length of the Trans-Siberian railroad and report on how Russia's history has shaped its people, and where, 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russians want their country to go.

First of three parts

Two decades after the collapse of communist rule, just where is Russia headed? Scholars, diplomats and poets are spending careers contemplating the question.

For the many reasons that the Republican presidential debates have been so popular, the main one is simply that they're live. Happening right before our eyes. When Rick Perry says "Oops," he's saying it just as we're hearing it. Live. Wow: "Oops."

This is why, whether you like sports or not — perhaps you'd desperately prefer NPR to have somebody else right now, talking about something really important, not sports — nonetheless, each month, you're charged about eight bucks on your cable bill for the privilege of not watching sports.

Melissa Block talks about the New Hampshire primary to NPR's Mara Liasson. She also talks to our political commentators E.J. Dionne, of the Washington Post and Brookings Institution, and Matthew Continetti, opinion editor of The Weekly Standard, about the results of the New Hampshire primary.

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

We're going next, though to Doug Wead, who is a campaign advisor to Texas Congressman Ron Paul. Doug Wead, welcome to the program.

DOUG WEAD: Hey, thank you very much.

BLOCK: And so far, looking like your candidate has come in a strong second in New Hampshire. Your take on tonight's results?

Melissa Block speaks with Andy Kohut of the Pew Research Center and our political commentators E.J. Dionne, of The Washington Post and Brookings Institution, and Matthew Continetti, opinion editor of The Weekly Standard, about the results of the New Hampshire primary.