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Four major universities — Stanford, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania and University of Michigan — are joining forces with a startup called Coursera to offer free online classes in more than three-dozen subjects. The professors involved hope this kind of online interaction transforms higher education.

Member countries have pledged $430 billion to add to the International Monetary Fund's crisis-fighting arsenal. The aim is to amass enough resources to handle any further problems coming from the prolonged debt crisis in Europe, but the funds come with a few caveats.

More refugees are fleeing the fighting in Syria. Lynn Neary talks to European Union Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva about what officials are doing to help the internally displaced, and those who have fled to neighboring countries.

Kelly Ward, senior software engineer for Walt Disney Animation Studios, was tasked with bringing Rapunzel's locks to life in Disney's Tangled. The hair had to look realistic, but not too real — otherwise Rapunzel would be towing 80 pounds of hair behind her.

China has long dominated the sport of table tennis, winning almost every Olympic medal since 1992. That's not likely to change at this year's Summer Olympics, but one young American athlete may be on her way to giving China a run for its money.

Known as the Father of Loud, Jim Marshall helped a generation that included Pete Townsend and Jimi Hendrix redefine popular music by turning up the volume.

Mass disqualifications have thrown Egypt's upcoming elections into turmoil. In a surprise move, Egypt's election commission barred 10 of the 23 registered presidential candidates from next month's election.

Weekends on All Things Considered guest host Laura Sullivan speaks with NPR reporter Joseph Shapiro about the sentence of Shirley Ree Smith's "shaken baby" case. California Gov. Jerry Brown has commuted Smith's sentence. Despite her claims of innocence, Smith was convicted in December 1997, and has been free since 2006 awaiting the results of her appeals.

The University of Virginia's board of governors last month fired then rehired its president. One reason some board members called for her ouster was that she had not moved quickly enough to expand the university's online courses. On Tuesday, school officials plan to announce a partnership with Silicon Valley company Coursera that will do just that.

The battle for Syria appears to have reached a decisive stage. As fighting intensifies in Damascus, there's an urgent push under way to organize the rebel force. It is widely feared that the hundreds of groups fighting the regime will turn on each other in a struggle for power.