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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.

Yesterday millions of people watched a man free fall from 24 miles above earth, breaking the sound barrier, and then watched as Felix Baumgartner glided down into the New Mexico desert.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Here he's coming. And there you can see by the approaching shadow, he's just about there. (Unintelligible) the world record holder.

Japan's Softbank has announced it will spend $20 billion to take a majority stake in Sprint-Nextel. The deal will provide Sprint, the third largest carrier in the U.S. market, with some much needed cash. It also gives Softbank the opening it's been looking for to break into the U.S. market.

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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

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

In recent days, the name Malala has reverberated around the world. She's the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot in the head by the Taliban. She was targeted because she blogged about what life is like for a child living under Islamist militant rule and she publicly campaigning against Islamist' ban on girls' education.

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Scotland took a step towards independence today, at least a step towards a vote on the subject. British Prime Minister David Cameron met in Edinburgh with the head of the semiautonomous Scottish government. And together, they signed off on an independence referendum to be held in two years.

But as Vicki Barker reports, it's not clear people in Scotland want independence.

VICKI BARKER, BYLINE: The two men smiled as they exchange copies of the agreement for each other to sign.

ALEX SALMOND: Here, there you go.

Each week, All Things Considered and Lenore Skenazy, author of the book and blog Free-Range Kids, have brought you "Another Thing," an on-air puzzle to test your cleverness skills. The contest wraps up this week with one final installment of listener responses.

Last week's challenge: A Norwegian study found that couples who split chores equally are more likely to divorce. Come up with the name of a country song about a chore-splitting couple.