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?

Peter Gelb, the general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, is in a sticky situation when it comes to the ailing James Levine, the ensemble’s music director.

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The Dilemma of James Levine and the Metropolitan Opera

When China’s largest offshore petroleum producer launched a $1 billion oil rig this summer from Shanghai, Lt. Gen. Juancho Sabban, the commander of Philippine military forces 1,500 miles away in the South China Sea, began preparing for trouble. The drilling platform, said China, would soon be heading in the general’s direction — southward into waters rich in oil and natural gas, and also in volatile fuel for potential conflict. Read full article > >

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In South China Sea, a dispute over energy

The Republican debate in Iowa tonight is not likely to change the outcome on Saturday at the Ames straw poll. That contest depends on how well the candidates have constructed a network of supporters and how adept they are at routing those supporters to Ames. A GOP consultant this year decried this as akin to FedEx: Who can get the most “packages” there on time. But the debate is in large part for the Republican primary audience in the rest of the country and to some extent the general electorate as well. Read full article > >

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Jennifer Rubin:
Ten things to look for in tonight’s debate

So it turns out Donald Trump got the joke after all. Or maybe he was the one who put one over on everyone else. Either way, the reality-TV star and real estate mogul has concluded that the time has come to end it. “After considerable deliberation and reflection, I have decided not to pursue the office of the presidency,” Trump announced in a statement Monday. But he added: “I maintain the strong conviction that if I were to run, I would be able to win the primary and, ultimately, the general election.” Read full article > >

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Donald Trump says he won’t run for president in 2012

Canada’s embattled prime minister clashes with opposition leaders in the first of two televised debates, ahead of the general election on 2 May.

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Canada leaders clash in TV debate

A top general in Yemen joined the anti-government protest movement and will order his troops to protect protesters demonstrating against the country’s long-time president, the general told reporters in Yemen.

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Yemen generals back protests

Half of men in the general population may be infected with human papillomavirus, or HPV, the virus that causes women to develop cervical cancer, according to a study released Monday. When spread to women through sex, HPV can lead to cervical cancer,…

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Study: Half of Men May Have HPV

“We are winning” in Afghanistan, says Gen. David H. Petraeus. President Obama declares that the December military review shows we are “on track.” No doubt the president and the general are right: We will keep “making progress” for as many months or years as we choose to fight what is now America’…

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The costs of war

Part of the proposed deal struck between President Obama and Republican legislators is a one-year, two-percent “tax holiday” on payroll taxes—the taxes that fund Social Security. The idea is being sold as a no-loss gift to wage earners: They keep an extra 2 percent of their paychecks and there’s no loss to the Social Security trust fund because the shortfall is made up out of the general treasury. read more

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Don’t Compromise Social Security

A specially convened court is to rule on whether ex-immigration minister Phil Woolas broke the law by making false claims before the general election.

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Court to rule on Woolas election

A documentary following Lord Mandelson in the run-up to the general election paints “a pretty accurate picture” of ministerial life, he says.

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Mandelson documentary ‘accurate’

Mass protests over pension reforms in France are continuing to cause havoc across France, and opinion polls show 70% of the general public are ‘dissatisfied’ with President Nicholas Sarkozy’s performance.

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Pension protests continue in France

Baroness Warsi alleges the Conservatives failed to win an overall majority at the general election because Labour benefited from fraud.

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Warsi alleges Labour vote fraud

The Unionist Unity candidate, who lost out in the general election to Sinn Fein’s Michelle Gildernew by four votes, begins a legal challenge on Monday over the result.

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Connor to begin legal challenge