Midday Roundup: Education that doesn't cost a latte

Coffee benefits. Starbucks is announcing plans today to offer employees a chance to get a college degree for next to nothing. Arizona State University is teaming up with the ubiquitous coffee company to offer an online degree program that students can pay for using grants, ASU financial aid, and a scholarship from Starbucks. After the first two years, Starbucks will reimburse employees for their out-of-pocket tuition costs, meaning employees who already have two years of college under their belts would be able to finish school at no cost. Employees must work at least 20 hours a week to be eligible, but they aren’t required to stay at Starbucks after they graduate.

Politically charged. Israeli troops have been searching house to house in the city of Hebron for three teenagers who went missing in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the militant group Hamas kidnapped them. Israeli spokesman Mark Regev blamed the kidnappings on the Palestinian Authority, but a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that was not the case. He said Israeli security controlled the area where the teens went missing. Today, Abbas publicly condemned the kidnappings.

The voice. Radio personality Casey Kasem died Sunday after a legal battle between his family members over his end-of-life wishes. He was 82. From 1970 to 2009, Kasem broadcast pop music countdowns in various forms. His original American Top 40 set the standard for countdown-style shows. As his health deteriorated from dementia, his second wife and his children from his first marriage fought over his medical treatment. Last week, a judge ruled his daughter could order hospital workers to discontinue his artificial feeding and hydration.

Manning speaks. Imprisoned military intelligence leaker Chelsea Manning wrote an editorial in Sunday’s New York Times criticizing how the United States led its military intervention in Iraq. “I believe that the current limits on press freedom and excessive government secrecy make it impossible for Americans to grasp fully what is happening in the wars we finance,” wrote Manning, who is serving a 35-year sentence for disclosing classified documents to Wikileaks. The editorial accused the U.S. military of suppressing dissidents and turning a blind eye to corruption in the 2010 election in Iraq.

Baseball legend. Hall of Fame baseball player Tony Gwynn has died of cancer at age 54. A rarity in professional sports, Gwynn spent his entire 20-year career with the San Diego Padres, choosing to stay rather than leave for bigger paychecks elsewhere. His terrific hand-eye coordination made him one of the game’s greatest contact hitters. He coached baseball at San Diego State University after retiring from the Padres. Doctors believe his cancer was caused by chewing tobacco.

Poached. Poachers have killed Satao, the largest documented elephant in Kenya. People who saw Satao said his tusks were so long they dragged in the dirt. Satao’s killers removed his tusks, mutilated his face, and left him in a swamp, where national wildlife workers discovered him. Ivory poaching has gained popularity in Africa because of the bustling ivory trade in China, which operates 150 legal ivory shops, according to the BBC.