Pablo Picasso’s talent was so protean and absorptive, one could tell any number of stories with his drawings. But by focusing on a diverse selection of some of the finest works the artist made on paper during the first three decades of his career, the National Gallery of Art ’s new show, “Picasso’s Drawings, 1890-1921: Reinventing Tradition,” becomes a clear and concise synopsis of his early career. Read full article > >

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‘Picasso’s Drawings’ exhibit reveals the amazing early career of the artist

Is John W. Hinckley Jr., the gunman who in 1981 nearly killed President Reagan and wounded three other men, ready for more freedom from the psychiatric hospital where he has been held for three decades? A series of hearings starting Wednesday in the District’s federal court will determine just that. Since being found not guilty in the shooting by reason of insanity in 1982, Hinckley has spent most of his time confined at St. Elizabeths Hospital. In recent years, however, he has been granted more privileges and liberty, especially when it comes to visits to his mother’s luxury community in Williamsburg. Read full article > >

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More freedom for John Hinckley Jr. to be debated

Former DJ, television presenter and charity fundraiser Sir Jimmy Savile, whose entertainment career spanned more than three decades, has died, aged 84.

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DJ and TV presenter Savile dies

He was the only one-term American president in the past three decades, but plenty happened on his watch: the collapse of communism, the first Gulf War and a recession that helped usher him out of office. Now, George H.W. Bush’s presidency is revealed in greater detail, as the University of Virginia’s Miller Center opens its archive of oral history interviews about the 41st president, including conversations with Dick Cheney, James Baker, Robert Gates and Dan Quayle. Read full article > >

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Clint Eastwood for veep in 1988? An oral history of George H.W. Bush’s presidency.

Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed tied the knot Saturday after almost three decades together, in a ceremony that — like their engagement — was filmed for their A&E reality show, “Gene Simmons Family Jewels,” which returns to the airwaves tonight. The timing of the event has led some, including , ironically, fellow reality-TV bride Khloe Kardashian, to speculate that the wedding was held solely to amp up TV ratings. Read full article > >

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Gene Simmons, Shannon Tweed and reality-TV weddings: When is it staged and when is it love?

PARIS — France proudly presented next year’s budget on Wednesday as the first to cut spending since World War II, as it tries to convince nervous investors that it will get its debts under control. But economists balked at the claim and said the cuts in the 2012 budget are not substantial enough to meet deficit targets laid out by the government — or to reduce the country’s debt load. France hasn’t balanced its budget in three decades and for years flouted EU rules that require members to keep their deficits under 3 percent of GDP. Read full article > >

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France says it’s cutting budget for 1st time since WWII but experts say more needs to be done

The K Street office of Mark Bloomfield, president of the American Council for Capital Formation , is full of knickknacks collected in three decades of lobbying for cutting the capital gains tax. The coffee table has campaign buttons that read “Capital Gains = Better Jobs.” One wall displays a blown-up cartoon retracing the steps that led President Jimmy Carter to reluctantly sign a cut in the capital gains tax rate. On a shelf sits a framed, handwritten note from President George W. Bush in December 2003 that says: “Dear Mark, I got your treatise on taxes — many thanks. I will look it over with keen interest. Merry Christmas.” Read full article > >

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Capital gains tax rates benefiting wealthy feed growing gap between rich and poor

BEIJING — China’s new rich love luxury products — imported French handbags, Italian sports cars — and even more, they love to show off their bling. That seems to be creating headaches for China’s Communist rulers, who after three decades of exhorting their subjects to get rich are facing growing discontent over a widening income gap. Officials now talk about making sure wealth is more evenly distributed, and how to get the rich to tone it down. As the global economy melts down, and China tries to accelerate its shift to a more consumer-led growth model, Beijing’s leaders see luxury items as a lucrative revenue source. Many Chinese now buy luxury products in Hong Kong or abroad to avoid China’s high taxes, so officials are debating a move to slash tariffs to encourage consumers to shop at home. Read full article > >

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China’s newly rich are flaunting wealth — and giving Communist rulers a headache

KAFR EL-MESELHA, EGYPT — The main road in this dusty town on the Nile River Delta no longer bears the name of its most famous son. Hosni Mubarak Road is now simply Road No. 16. Gone too are the once ubiquitous mosaics and framed photos of the ousted Egyptian president. While millions of Egyptians celebrated Mubarak’s downfall three months ago as the rebirth of a nation, the mood in this village 45 miles north of Cairo was markedly subdued . Many here warned at the time that the revolutionaries were reckless enthusiasts without a morning-after plan. Mubarak, they argued, had kept the nation safe for three decades, and he deserved a dignified exit. Read full article > >

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After Egypt’s revolution, malaise spreads

Dozens of swans have been slaughtered around the UK this year, a serial cat killer is on the loose in Norfolk, and over the past three decades hundreds of horses have been mutilated. But how is serial animal violence investigated?

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Inside animal CSI

AT&T introduced Vonya McCann to the cellphone three decades ago. A group of men came to her office at the Commerce Department to demonstrate how a plastic push-button phone cradled in a hard Samsonite briefcase could place calls without wires. Now, as the head of Sprint Nextel’s Washington lobbying office, she’s emerged as a leading figure fighting to stop AT&T’s march to dominate the cellphone industry. Read full article > >

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Sprint’s fierce fighter against the AT&T, T-Mobile merger

Eleven-year-olds today have wider waists and are taller than their counterparts three decades earlier, a study suggests.

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Children’s waistlines ‘expanding’

Wild cheers erupted from tens of thousands of demonstrators in Cairo’s Tahrir Square as word spread that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had resigned, relinquishing power after three decades of iron-clad rule. The crowd chanted, “Egypt is free!” Watch now as crowds cheer

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Revolution in Egypt

For three decades, a social worker in Bern, Switzerland allegedly abused 114 children and disabled workers placed under his care. Police say the man, whose name has not been released, preyed on children as young as 1 year old. He was briefly…

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Swiss Social Worker Accused of Abusing 114

These clever and oblique short stories, written over three decades, highlight the breadth and diversity of Joseph McElroy’s vision.

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Topological Fiction