Naomi Grimley has been to meet the Speaker for a tour of his official rooms inside the Palace of Westminster.

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VIDEO: Speaker of the House shows off his bed

BEIJING — The U.S. and Chinese governments maintained their official silence Saturday on the whereabouts of the blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng , but local and overseas activists said the two sides were locked in a delicate diplomatic negotiation over the fate of the dissident who fled from house arrest last Sunday and is thought to be in Beijing under U.S. protection. Read full article > >

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Chen Guangcheng, Chinese dissident, went to U.S. Embassy for protection, friends say

Get ready for this: J.K. Rowling is in the midst of penning a “Harry Potter” encyclopedia, confirming the long-standing rumor on her official website.

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Rowling penning ‘Potter’ encyclopedia

Get ready for this: J.K. Rowling is in the midst of penning a “Harry Potter” encyclopedia, confirming the long-standing rumor on her official website.

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Rowling penning ‘Potter’ encyclopedia

Bee Gee Robin Gibb is in a coma after suffering from pneumonia, his official website says.

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Robin Gibb in coma with pneumonia

Via NOAA: “Irene has been retired from the official list of Atlantic Basin tropical storm names by the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) hurricane committee because of the fatalities and damage it caused in August 2011 and will be replaced by Irma.”

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Goodnight, Irene: Hurricane retired from list of storm names

The president’s senior advisers walked into the Roosevelt Room at 8:29 a.m., refreshing the screens on their BlackBerrys in a race to see the monthly employment numbers first. Their daily planning meeting in the White House always felt a bit futile on this one Friday a month, because nobody knew what to plan for, exactly. It was “JOBS DAY,” the words capitalized and bolded on their official White House calendars, because the 8:30 a.m. release of economic data could redefine what came next. Read full article > >

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‘Jobs Day’: An economic and political obsession

China hits out at US criticism over Syria, with the official Communist Party newspaper describes it as “super arrogant”.

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China condemns US Syria critique

BAGHDAD — While U.S. troops left Iraq two weeks ago, Saturday marked the official end of the security agreement between the two countries, and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was quick to take political advantage of the occasion via the podium and a text message to citizens. Recipients reported getting their texts over a period of at least 75 minutes. Read full article > >

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Maliki celebrates end of U.S.-Iraq pact

LONDON — Britain faced pointed criticism from across the English Channel on Tuesday for thwarting a European Union pact aimed at shoring up the foundations of the euro. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said London’s refusal to compromise left the rest of Europe no choice but to move ahead without it , while another official warned that Britain — which had sought assurances that London’s financial district would not be harmed by future E.U. rules — must still submit to regional regulations, like it or not. Read full article > >

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Europe tense over British veto at summit

Adele’s album 21 has become the UK’s biggest-seller of the 21st century, according to the Official Charts Company.

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Adele overtakes Winehouse record

The Speaker is captured on canvas by British artist Brendan Kelly for the official Speaker’s portrait.

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Commons unveils Bercow portrait

For the moment, let’s say we’re not buying the official, nothing-to-see-here story the White House is dishing about the gaping hole being ripped into the lawn outside the Oval Office. Let’s say we suspect the construction crews that have been dipping their backhoes into the most secure soil in the free world are doing something more complex than mere utility work. Read full article > >

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In the nation’s capital, underground is where it’s at

The Census Bureau on Monday released a new, comprehensive poverty measure that painted an even more dismal picture of the nation’s economic landscape than the official measure from two months ago. The report found that 49.1 million Americans — 16 percent of the population — lived in poverty in 2010, which is higher than the 46.2 million Americans found to live in poverty by the official measure released in September . Read full article > >

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Census Bureau measures more Americans living in poverty

If you’re a tourist riding Metro’s Red Line, and you accidentally get off at NoMa-Gallaudet U, where are you? The name “Gallaudet” might ring a bell, but “NoMa” is likely to leave you scratching your head. On Thursday, Metro’s board of directors changed the official name of the New York Ave-Florida Ave-Gallaudet U stop — what many have just referred to as “New York Ave.” — to NoMa-Gallaudet U. Read full article > >

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New York Avenue Metro stop is getting a new name. Will hipness follow?