For some intrigue at the start of this new year, take a look at the secret diplomacy under way between the United States and the Taliban . Most observers are skeptical the process will produce any breakthroughs, but it’s interesting that the talks are taking place at all. Read full article > >

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The challenge of getting the Taliban to the table

Just part of the process, he says.

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Newt’s Digs Don’t Faze Romney

The government is to overhaul the way people in England are checked to see if they are suitable to adopt children, as part of plans to speed up the process.

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New overhaul of adoption checks

Your neighborhood post office slated for closure might be saved — at least for now. The U.S. Postal Service said Tuesday it will delay the closure or consolidation of thousands of post offices across the country in response to requests from lawmakers who said the process should be stopped while Congress debates legislation to overhaul the cash-strapped mail agency. Read full article > >

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Postal Service delays closing post offices

Under pressure from nations vulnerable to climate change and their European allies, delegates to U.N. talks in Durban, South Africa, debated Friday whether to launch a process that could forge a new global warming pact by 2015. Talks were extended into Saturday as negotiators haggled over the language that would govern the process. Read full article > >

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Delegates debate how to craft new climate pact by 2015

KABUL — The Afghan government will convene more than 2,000 Afghans from across the country this week to debate the country’s future relationship with the United States , a gathering that has drawn criticism from a skeptical political opposition that describes the process as antiquated and illegitimate. Read full article > >

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Karzai to convene loya jirga, a meeting of Afghans, on U.S. relationship

The best college coaches are real teachers. The trick is to get rid of the clowns who think they’re paid seven figures to watch film and run slush funds. If an NCAA Division I coach isn’t capable of teaching a class to the general student body, they shouldn’t be employed. Coaches are at once overpaid yet underappreciated as instructors. We should ask more of them — and in the process, make it harder for college presidents to rationalize hiring frauds. Read full article > >

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The best NCAA coaches are teachers, so why shouldn’t they all have to try?

Melissa McCarthy seemingly can do no wrong this year. She caught the attention of American moviegoers in “ Bridesmaids ” and has capitalized on that by getting cast in several upcoming projects, including Judd Apatow’s “ Knocked Up ” follow-up, “This Is Forty,” and a comedy with Jason Bateman. She scored an Emmy Award two weeks ago for her performance on CBS’s “Mike & Molly” and got her own beauty pageant-winning moment on live television in the process. Read full article > >

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Melissa McCarthy: The next great ‘Saturday Night Live’ host?

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is poised to take action on safety standards for table saws, eight years after concerns about injuries were brought to its attention. Lengthy study of the issue, bureaucratic hurdles and a crush of other regulatory work prolonged the process, commissioners and consumer advocates said. In the meantime, table saws used by hobbyists, shop class students and other consumers caused an estimated 10 amputations on average a day, according to government statistics. Read full article > >

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Consumer Product Safety Commission to discuss stricter regulations for table saws

BERLIN –World markets plunged Thursday after the Federal Reserve took a dramatic step to help revive the U.S. economy — and in the process sent a message that America’s financial malaise seems unlikely to dissipate any time soon. Key European and Asian indexes were down more than 4 percent. Investors took the Fed’s surprise action to purchase longer-term bonds–an effort to push down long-term interest rates even further–as a sign that it felt the U.S. downturn could last for a long time. That pessimism added to a growing sense that the international economy is approaching a precipice. Read full article > >

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World markets fall sharply after Fed action on bonds

The State Department will remove a major roadblock to construction of a massive oil pipeline stretching from Canada to Texas when it releases its final environmental assessment of the project as soon as Friday, according to sources briefed on the process. The move is critical because it will affirm the agency’s earlier finding that the project will have “limited adverse environmental impacts” during construction and operation, according to sources familiar with the assessment who asked not to be identified because the decision has not been made public. Read full article > >

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State Department review to find pipeline impact ‘limited,’ sources say

IRBIL, Iraq — In the twilight of the U.S. military occupation of Iraq, Ann Hampton and Lorie Southerland are here to help finish a mission their children started. Fearing that the U.S. government and the American people are giving up too soon on a country that still needs help, the women are making their own long-term commitment to the country and, in the process, coming to grips with why the United States came here in the first place. Hampton’s only child, Army Capt. Kimberly N. Hampton , 27, was shot down over Fallujah in January 2004, becoming the U.S. military’s first female helicopter pilot killed in action. Roughly three years later, Southerland’s son Army Spec. Michael J. Rodriguez , 20, was killed by a truck bomb at a military outpost in Sadah, in northeastern Iraq Read full article > >

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In Iraq, two U.S. mothers with a mission

NEW DELHI — From Facebook to fasting, from a crowd-sourcing Web site to a crowd-pulling yoga guru, India’s campaign against corruption has taken many forms and enlisted millions of followers this year. In the process, it has lit a fire under the government and sparked a debate about how to strengthen this country’s democracy. “People power is bigger than everything, and this movement is bigger than the government and its ministers,” said Anna Hazare . “This fire will spread.” The 70-year-old disciple of Mahatma Gandhi staged a hunger strike in April that brought the movement to life. Read full article > >

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India’s anti-corruption movement aims to galvanize democracy

HAVANA — A Venezuelan vice president says President Hugo Chavez is recovering well a day after undergoing surgery in Cuba for a pelvic abscess. Chavez is “very up to date on all issues relating to our country,” Venezuelan Vice President Rafael Ramirez says, adding that he had saw Chavez personally on Friday following the procedure, and again on Saturday. “Comandante Chavez is well, and in the process of recuperation,” he said in comments broadcast on Cuba’s Saturday evening state-run newscast. Read full article > >

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Venezuela’s Chavez recovering after surgery, staying abreast of issues concerning his country

The DUP announce that Finance Minister Sammy Wilson is to carry out a review of the process for the appointment of special advisors.

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Stormont advisors review ordered