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From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Audie Cornish.

And we begin this hour with news from inside Syria. The Syrian government has announced it will cease military operations tomorrow for four days to mark the beginning of Eid al-Adha. It's one of the holiest events on the Muslim calendar. Reaction has been mixed among Syria's rebels, and as the truce was announced, heavy fighting continued in several areas.

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After plenty of hype, today Microsoft officially released its new operating system, Windows 8. The company calls the software its biggest change in 17 years. For the first time, the system runs on personal computers and on tablet devices, and Microsoft is banking on it as the companies take it to the future, as NPR's Steve Henn reports.

STEVEN SINOFSKY: Welcome, everyone, to Windows 8.

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Mitt Romney has also been flying all over the country, hitting as many battleground states as he can. But today, the Republican left his plane behind and boarded the big blue Romney bus to focus on just one state, Ohio.

NPR's Ari Shapiro has this story about Romney's tour of one of the most contested states in the campaign.

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If you enjoy travel, you might consider running for the White House. Just today, President Obama is visiting not one, not two, not three, but four states and then flying home in time for bed. On his schedule, rallies in Florida, Virginia and Ohio and a trip to Chicago to cast his vote for himself, of course. Early voting is one message the president has been pushing on two-day whirlwind trip across the country.