Syracuse and Pittsburgh have begun the formal process of leaving the Big East by applying to join the Atlantic Coast Conference, an A.C.C. official said Saturday.

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Big East Exit Is Said to Begin for Syracuse and Pittsburgh

NEW ORLEANS — A parade of long-shot candidates was warmly received by thousands of GOP activists meeting here for the Republican Leadership Conference, an annual gathering that this year turned out to be more of a pep rally than a testing ground for potential presidents. For all the affection and accolades that greeted the candidates’ red-meat rhetoric, it was clear that the rank-and-file is already turning its focus to the more practical question on the horizon: Who among the field has the best chance of beating Barack Obama next year? Read full article > >

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Republican activists keep their sights on Obama at conference

Head teachers vote overwhelmingly in favour of staging a ballot on whether to strike over plans to curb their pensions, at their conference in Brighton.

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Heads vote to ballot on pensions

Nick Clegg tells Lib Dems gathering in Sheffield for their conference to “hold your nerve” amid mass protests at government cuts.

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Defiant Clegg to rally Lib Dems

The ongoing unrest in Egypt cast a long shadow Saturday over the Munich Security Conference, a gathering set up to address global security issues.

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Clinton: Mideast hit by ‘perfect storm’

How do you explain writing this conference off to your boss? The Catholic church recently held a conference for exorcism training, part of the church’s increased battle against demonic spirits. The reason for the training? Demonic possession, or at…

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Catholic Church Training More Exorcists

I know there are some of you out there who can’t get enough of this subject. If you happen to  be near the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on 22nd St, N.W., in Washington tomorrow at 9 a.m., you can come hear me and some actual worthies discuss this subject at a panel sponsored by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Info on the conference can be found here. (I’m sure if you just slip the guy at the door top-secret documents related to Iran’s missile program, he’ll let you in.) My panel includes General Yaacov Amidror, Admiral Ken Pollack, and Private First Class Reuel Gerecht. Our panel is scheduled to be followed by Gary Samore, the Obama Administration’s top non-proliferation expert.

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Continuing the ‘Will Israel Bomb Iran?’ Discussion

The International Tolstoy Conference lasts four days and is held on the grounds of Yasnaya Polyana, the estate where Tolstoy was born, lived most of his life, wrote War and Peace and Anna Karenina, and is buried. . . .

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ELIF BATUMAN—The murder of Leo Tolstoy:
A forensic investigation

Help fund Scott Wilson’s elegantly-designed watch straps for iPod Nanos Whether reinventing the conference room or coming up with cleverly customizable iPhone cases , when designer Scott Wilson puts his mind to something, you can expect a quality product with tech-driven industrial design in its DNA. His latest project —watch straps seizing on the ability to use Apple’s new iPod Nanos as a multitouch watch—does just that, introducing first-rate engineering and premium materials to complement the “impeccable quality of Apple products.” TikTok ($35) integrates a snap-in dock so that wearers can easily pop the Nano in and out of the sturdy base. The other design, LunaTik ($70), makes for a more permanent way to convert a Nano into a watch, encasing the device in stainless steel and securing it to the wrist with high-grade silicone rubber. Wilson has put the two designs on Kickstarter to get the project going, funders will get watches for their support, including the option of getting a snazzy red limited-edition version.

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TikTok and LunaTik

Get ready for heated trade debates on Capitol Hill, because this news won’t be taken lightly by anyone. A new study from the Conference Board, a respected global business research group, forecasts the global economy picking up speed in the next decade,…

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China May Surpass U.S. Economy in Two Years

Rep. Mike Pence’s decision to step down as GOP Conference Chair may start the first battle between the Tea Party and the GOP establishment. On the Tea Party side is Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota-sources tell NBC News she may run for Pence’s spot. But…

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Bachmann May Run For Conference Chair

David Cameron will use his conference speech to warn of the impact of spending cuts – after apologising for not including changes to child benefit in the party’s election manifesto.

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Cameron to warn cuts ‘not easy’

The Daily Politics sent Liberal Democrat culture spokesman Don Foster to see what the Tories get up to at their conference and wondered what Lady Thatcher would have thought.

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Lib Dem at large at Tory conference

New Labour leader Ed Miliband is expected to mark a break with the past in his conference speech.

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Miliband to shun Blair-Brown era