The centerpiece of the governor’s legislation is to create a new state agency — the Justice Center for the Protection of People With Special Needs — with prosecutorial powers.

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Senate Passes Cuomo’s Bill Creating State Agency to Police Care of Disabled

A subsea turbine which uses tidal power to generate electricity has successfully completed initial tests off Orkney.

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Tidal turbine ‘performing well’

The discovery was as shocking as it was horrific: a camera with explicit photos of a child who attended Washington National Cathedral’s exclusive Beauvoir elementary school, which caters to some of the area’s most powerful families. Read full article > >

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Former D.C. teacher makes FBI ‘Most Wanted’ list after 2008 child porn discovery

SPEAKING THURSDAY at the Library of Congress, “Doonesbury” creator Garry Trudeau highlighted an intriguing dynamic of satire: The more the intended target reacts, he said, the more its practitioner gains the advantage. If the victim flinches or returns fire at a cartoon, the illustration only gains in power. Read full article > >

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PROFILES IN CARTOONING COURAGE: How artists in Syria, Iran and India wield their free-speech pens against powerful forces

People across Pakistan have begun to protest in the streets as they continue to be affected by power cuts of up to 18 hours a day.

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VIDEO: Pakistan crisis over power cuts

The sixth-graders are lighting up the room with their MacBook Airs, flipped open to Google, Wikipedia and YouTube for a physics assignment. Their classroom is decked out with touch-screen whiteboards, tablets and powerful WiFi connections able to handle a school full of children online at once. Read full article > >

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High-tech vs. no-tech: D.C. area schools take opposite approaches to education

Welcome to round eight of Spouse vs. Spouse , a series in which a couple of married food freaks, CNN’s Brandon and Kristy Griggs, square off in their Atlanta kitchen for culinary bragging rights – and invite you to weigh in, too. In each installment, Kristy and Brandon each make a creative variation on the same ingredient or dish – everything from pasta to seafood to cocktails to desserts. We serve both versions anonymously to our friends, who then judge which one they like better and why. We walk you through our kitchen process, bring the husband-and-wife smack talk and, of course, keep score. We also share our recipes here so that you can try them for yourself. Our theme: pork tenderloin Brandon: In the nine months we’ve been doing this dueling-recipe series, Kristy and I have sparred over appetizers, salads, pasta, soups, sliders, cocktails and desserts. One thing we hadn’t done, though, was face off over a big ol’ hunk of meat. Until now. After considering pot roast, lamb and some other beefy options, we settled on loin of pork – that friendly, malleable meat that’s on menus everywhere throughout the South, where we live. To a cook, the mild, delicate meat of pork tenderloin is like a blank canvas: It can take on an infinite number of flavors, depending on the marinades and seasonings you use. For many chefs, that means something fruit-based. I’ve served it successfully before with an apricot sauce, but I wanted to do something more original this time. (Maybe I was tired of my wife’s smack talk about how safe my dishes were.) After borrowing ideas from a couple of recipes and testing several cooking methods, I combined them all into one that worked best for me. I marinated the pork overnight, coated it in a dry rub of ground fennel seeds and other spices and seared it on all sides in a hot skillet to seal in its juices (roast pork can dry out easily). Then I transferred the pork to the oven and roasted it for about an hour. The flavor of the meat was already pretty good. Still, I needed to come up with a creative sauce to put it over the top. Apple? Cranberry? Yawn. Then, while scanning the preserves aisle of the grocery store I came across a jar of guava jelly. Bingo! I’m not a big fan of cloying sauces, so I mixed the guava with drippings from the pork and some other ingredients to give it a sweet-savory balance. Then I tweaked it further by adding some mint. Yes, I was serving my pork dish with a guava-mint sauce. The disaster potential was high. I was either going to hit a home run or strike out swinging. Kristy: Even though I’m leading my husband in this competition I went into this contest feeling less confident than usual, mainly because Brandon has been cooking pork loin for years, and he does it well. I, on the other hand, have been piggy challenged. I recently attempted to brine and cook a pork belly that turned into a rubbery mess. With that in mind, I took a decidedly different, simple approach: I slow-cooked the pork and served it Mediterranean-style (OK, very loosely Mediterranean-style), over couscous. So far, I’ve largely created my own recipes for our cook-offs, but this time I found a tasty-looking recipe on Mel’s Kitchen Café , which is run by a stay-at-home mother of four young boys (bless her heart). The dish is super easy to make: Gather a bunch of herbs, some chicken stock and a pork loin. Toss them in a slow cooker. Then enjoy the rest of your day while it cooks and your sucker of a husband sweats over the hot stove trying to perfect his rival dish. Six hours later, I was happy with the result. The loin was fairly tender and nicely shredded. The juices were savory and full of spice. And paired with the couscous, it looked good on the plate. Given Brandon’s rep for playing it safe in the kitchen, I figured I at least had an outside shot. Judging: Our friends/judges Judy and Ed liked both dishes. They scored them equally on presentation, and gave Kristy’s Mediterranean pork especially high marks for originality. But Judy found Kristy’s dish “a little dry,” while Ed thought it could have had a “more distinctive flavor.” And they were united in their appreciation for the guava-mint sauce. Judy said it was “delicious,” and Ed said he found himself dipping Kristy’s pork into Brandon’s sauce. Winner: Brandon’s pork with guava-mint sauce Overall score to date: Kristy 5, Brandon 4, with one tie Parting thoughts: Brandon: I was worried when the pork loin we bought for our cookoff ended up being chewier than the one I used in my test run. But it’s hard to screw up pork, really. All hail the power of the guava-mint! Kristy: You and your guava-mint jelly. Oh, you’re just so proud of yourself. Brandon: And you said my dishes were boring. Hah! You’ve exhausted your bag of kitchen tricks, but I’m just hitting my stride. We’re gonna be all tied up after next time. Kristy: (eye roll) Uh-huh. Next time it's gonna be broughten, and not by you. On to the recipes! Brandon’s Pork with Guava-Mint Sauce Marinade: 2 cups chicken broth 3 Tablespoons soy sauce 3 Tablespoons cider vinegar Juice of three limes 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 Tablespoon grated fresh ginger 1 Tablespoon sherry Pork rub: 2 lb boneless pork loin 2 bay leaves, center spine removed 1 Tablespoon fennel seeds 1 Tablespoon red pepper flakes Salt and pepper Olive oil Sauce: 1 cup chicken broth 1/4 cup pork drippings from pan 3 Tablespoons guava jelly 2 teaspoons port 1 Tablespoon sugar 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 2 teaspoons corn starch, mixed first with ¼ cup water, to thicken sauce 1 Tablespoon soy sauce 2 teaspoons mint bitters (or mint extract) Mix marinade ingredients together and refrigerate for at least four hours (preferably overnight) with pork in a large sealable plastic bag or container. Grind bay leaves, fennel seeds and red pepper flakes in coffee bean or spice grinder til coarsely ground, about 15 seconds. Add pinches of salt and pepper. Spread powdery mixture on a plate. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Pat loin dry, then roll in dry-rub mixture til coated on all sides. Heat two tablespoons oil in a large oven-proof skillet over moderately high heat (skillet should be hot but not smoking). Brown pork loin on all sides, turning with tongs, about 3-4 minutes total. Transfer skillet to oven and roast for 20 minutes; then lower heat to 350 degrees and roast for another 30-40 minutes or until done. (A meat thermometer inserted in the center of the loin should read at least 150 degrees.) While tenderloin is roasting, mix together all sauce ingredients except pork drippings in saucepan and simmer on low heat. Once pork is done, add drippings (about 1/4 cup) to sauce. Cook for five additional minutes, stirring occasionally and adjusting seasonings to taste. Slice pork loin into 1/2-inch wide pieces and array on serving plate. Pour sauce over the pork and serve. Kristy’s Mediterranean Pork 2 to 2 1/2 pounds boneless pork loin, trimmed of fat 1-2 Tablespoons olive oil 1 1/2 cups chicken broth 1/2 Tablespoons paprika 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder 2 1/4 teaspoon dried sage 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 1 teaspoon oregano 1 teaspoon basil Juice of one lemon 1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes 1 box couscous prepared according to package directions Combine the oil, broth and spices. Cut small slits into the pork loin. Place the pork in a slow cooker and pour the broth/spice mixture over the top of the pork. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 6-7 hours OR until the pork is tender. Remove the pork from the slow cooker and shred into pieces. Serve the meat and juices over couscous. Take Our Poll Previously: Soup showdown and Slider battle

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Spouse vs Spouse: pork tenderloin

There are few places in the world where the opportunity for solar power is more blindingly obvious than India. There are also few industries where the possibility of collaboration between India and the United States is more tantalizing. Read full article > >

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U.S., India glimpse a bright future together in solar power

The “Power Players” editions of “Jeopardy!” — taped in D.C. last month — will be broadcast Monday night through Friday at 7:30 on WJLA ABC 7. To warm up, read my behind-the-scenes profile of host Alex Trebek , take our quiz on the 28-year-old show and view the following photo gallery of Trebek through the years. The lineup of celebrity contestants, plus outtakes from my interview with Trebek, are after the jump. Read full article > >

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‘Jeopardy! Power Players’ schedule announced

In August 2005, Raghuram Rajan, an economist at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, predicted the financial crisis. And he did it at possibly the least friendly of venues: a conference of high-powered economists who had convened in part to honor Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. Read full article > >

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Larry Summers vs. the long-termers

LONDON — Voters in France and Greece redrew Europe’s political map Sunday in a powerful backlash against the German-led cure for the region’s debt crisis: painful austerity. In France, voters swept Francois Hollande into the nation’s highest office, ejecting President Nicolas Sarkozy and bringing the Socialists back to the Elysee Palace for the first time in 17 years. Along with Germany’s Angela Merkel, the blunt-talking Sarkozy was a chief architect of Europe’s push to restore confidence in the euro through tough fiscal discipline. In contrast, Hollande vowed to focus on economic growth, arguing that the singular emphasis on spending cuts has weighted down Europe with recessions and soaring unemployment. Read full article > >

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French, Greek voters say no to austerity

A violent crackdown on protesters in the country’s largest city could complicate matters for President Bashar al-Assad, who has deftly maneuvered to stay in power throughout the uprising.

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Aleppo Clash Poses Risk of Widening Syrian Revolt

In a city where the rich and influential like to see their names emblazoned on university buildings and museum wings, Frank Pearl so craved anonymity that he was regarded as the most powerful unknown man in Washington. Read full article > >

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Frank Pearl, D.C. financier and philanthropist, dies at 68

Exam boards could be fined for mistakes in test papers under new powers granted to the exams regulator Ofqual.

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Exam boards face fines for errors

Exam boards could be fined for mistakes in test papers under new powers granted to the exams regulator Ofqual.

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Exam boards face fines for errors