On a bustling street in downtown Frederick last week, a group of businessmen chatted in rapid Spanish inside a new Cuban restaurant. Down the block, two Mexican-born painters listened to peppy Latin radio music as they touched up a storefront facade. Read full article > >

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In Frederick, English language law sows conflict amid Hispanic immigrant boom

The Supreme Court jousted for an hour Wednesday about whether the First Amendment allows the government to prosecute people for lying about earning military honors , and, if so, what else might be fair game. Read full article > >

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Supreme Court conflicted about prosecuting those who lie about military valor

KABUL — Five visiting U.S. senators took a hard line with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday, outlining issues that could endanger a long-term partnership between the two nations and emphasizing the importance of American-led night raids as U.S. forces withdraw from the conflict. Read full article > >

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U.S. senators, Afghan leaders discuss parameters for long-term partnership

Last month, McDonald’s devised a plan to wedge itself into the dense flow of self-promotion and micro-conversations that constitute Twitter. The fast-food giant had hoped to introduce some of the real-life farmers and producers who supply McDonald’s with potatoes, beef and other products under the organizing hashtags of #MeetTheFarmers and #McDStories. Read full article > >

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Eating meat, with a side order of conflicting emotions

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is widely expected to approve on Thursday a construction and operating license for new nuclear power reactors for the first time since 1978, giving Southern Co. the green light to build two new units at its existing Vogtle site in Georgia. Read full article > >

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NRC expected to give Georgia nuclear reactors the green light

Stephanie McAfee’s Diary of a Mad Fat Girl (NAL, $15) offers a fascinating tale, but not between its covers. The girl-buddy cape, starring a sassy, overweight Mississippi teacher, brims with local color but is burdened by too much plot and too little nuance. With an endearingly flawed narrator in a conflicted relationship, this is chick-lit territory that many talented writers — Jennifer Weiner and Rebecca Wells among them — have explored far more deftly. Read full article > >

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New in paperback: Stephanie McAfee’s ‘Diary of a Mad Fat Girl’

The number of civilians killed and injured in the Afghan conflict has risen for the fifth year in a row, a UN report reveals.

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Afghan civilian death toll rises

In a sign of just how unpopular Congress has become, rank-and-file senators hijacked this week’s debate over a narrow conflict-of-interest bill and turned it into the chamber’s most sweeping ethics debate in a generation. Read full article > >

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Minor Senate bill sparks major debate on ethics

A Scottish nurse wins the Robert Burns Humanitarian Award for risking her life to treat patients from both sides of the Libyan conflict.

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Nurse secures Robert Burns award

The Syrian army launches renewed assaults on the restive cities of Homs and Hama, activists say, as the UN prepares to discuss the conflict.

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Assault on restive Syrian cities

The visit, truncated by worries about volatile areas, revealed the limitations of the Arab League’s mission as the conflict shifted to clashes between armed groups and government security forces.

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In Syria, Arab League Monitors Face Severe Limits

TOKYO — The hulking system that once guided Japan’s pro-nuclear-power stance worked just fine when everybody moved in lock step. But in the wake of a nuclear accident that changed the way this country thinks about energy, the system has proved ill-suited for resolving conflict. Its very size and complexity have become a problem. Read full article > >

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After earthquake, Japan can’t agree on the future of nuclear power

To head off medical conflicts of interest, the companies would be required to disclose what they pay doctors for research, consulting, speaking, travel and entertainment.

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U.S. to Tell Drug Makers to Disclose Payments to Doctors

The use of air power has changed markedly during the long Afghan conflict, reflecting the political costs and sensitivities of civilian casualties and the increasing use of aerial drones.

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Afghan War Reflects Changes in Air War

The failure of an Arab League mission and a government as defiant as its opposition is in disarray have thrust Syria into what increasingly looks like a protracted and chaotic conflict.

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Syria, in Deep Crisis, May Be Slipping Out of Control