We bring you this morning's headlines; and Dr. Wendy Chung, pysician and genetics professor at Columbia University discusses the recent case in which a judge ruled that a genetics company cannot patent cancer genes.

More than 4,300 human genes have been patented by private companies or academics. But yesterday, a Federal District Court in Manhattan ruled that Myriad, a biopharmaceutical company, could no longer hold the patent on several genes, including two that are closely associated with breast and ovarian cancer. The ruling has reignited an ethical debate over whether a gene - something that exists naturally and in every human - can become intellectual property. 

• WASHINGTON TAKEOUT: President Obama announced yesterday that he would lift some bans on off-shore drilling in a future, comprehensive environmental bill he hopes to get to congress before the 2010 elections. Takeaway Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich, explains the politics behind the move. 
• FINANCE TAKEOUT: 2009 was a record year for the nation’s top hedge fund managers. Louise Story, Wall Street and finance reporter for our partner The New York Times, gives us a sneak peek at surprising earnings data that shows that the top 25 earning managers pulled in a collective $25 billion last year alone.

Census workers have begun to go out into the streets to get an accurate number of homeless, itinerant and otherwise "uncountable" citizens. Meanwhile, we go to India, where the world's biggest census starts today as the country aims to get an accurate picture of their 1.2 billion citizens.

When you see a favorite local retailer close down, you often wonder what might have happened if you'd stepped in to help drive business. A group of retailers in Harlem are trying a new way to stay afloat in the face of the bad economy. In the latest episode of "The Value," Farai Chideya reports on an initiative called The Power of One.

In a mere 48 hours, Apple will release its widely anticipated and newest product: the iPad. As with every other Apple product launch — including that of the iPod and iPhone — crowds are expected to line up around the block on Saturday, hours before the stores open, to buy iPad on opening day. But some might wonder: what’s the point? Won’t these early adopters just be wasting half a day, paying too much money, and buying a glitch-filled experiment?

President Obama unveiled plans to expand oil and natural gas drilling off the coasts of the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and north coast of Alaska, yesterday. If implemented, the move is expected to decrease the country's dependency on foreign fuels, please oil and gas companies and Republicans, but anger those on the left and environmental groups.

• RUSSIA TAKEOUT: Doku Umarov, a former Chechen separatist has claimed responsibility for the two sucide bombings on Moscow's subway earlier this week. In a four-minute video, he addressed Russians, saying, "I promise you the war will come to your street, and you will feel it in your own lives and on your own skin." The BBC's Sarah Rainsford joins us from Moscow with more on Umarov.
• LISTENERS RESPOND: Are you tired of the 9 to 5 grind? Do you wish you could have more flexible office hours? Our listeners certainly do. We hear your suggestions for better and more productive ways to get through the work day.

The city of Memphis was recently dubbed "the hunger capital" of the U.S. That's because a poll co-sponsored by Gallup and the Food Reasearch Action Center that was released earlier this year showed that more than a quarter of people in the Memphis Metropolitan Area had trouble putting food on the table in 2009.

The March 13th assasination of a pregnant U.S. consulate worker and her husband brought significant attention to the violence plagued border town of Ciudad Juarez. Two weeks later, following the arrest of a gang member associated with the shootings a less conspiratorial picture of what happened on that tragic day seems to be emerging.

According to a 2009 Department of Education study, ten percent of black students and 22 percent of Hispanic students did not graduate from high school on time, compared to only six percent of white students.  A similar disparity in scores between white and minority students on national reading and math tests has remained largely the same since the mid-1990s.

The U.S. military is preparing for an unprecedented move, working to get thousands of troops into Afghanistan from Iraq. Transporting so many people and billions of dollars worth of equipment poses unique and dangerous logistical challenges for the military. The scale of the operation is vast and private contractors are working alongside troops to meet the August deadline.