Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
6:07 pm
Fri October 26, 2012

U.S. Soccer Star Abby Wambach Plays Not My Job

Credit Doug Pensinger / Getty Images

Originally published on Sat October 27, 2012 11:24 am

Since Wambach sounds kind of like wombat, we figure Abby should know everything about the cuddly marsupials. We've invited her to play a game called "You're good at soccer, but can you carry your young in a pouch?" Our quiz will take about four minutes ... and will probably have more scoring than 90 minutes of soccer.

Wambach is a multiple gold medalist, holds the best goals-per-game ratio in U.S. soccer history and has just been nominated for FIFA Women's World Player of the Year.

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National Security
5:57 pm
Fri October 26, 2012

As Jihadists Spread, Connecting The Dots Proves Hard

Credit Adama Diarra / Reuters /Landov
The Ansar Dine group in northeastern Mali is among the Islamist factions proliferating in North Africa and the Middle East. Officials have focused on possible links between these groups and al-Qaida, but counterterrorism experts say understanding the differences is just as important.

More than a year after popular protests rocked the Arab world, U.S. intelligence officials are struggling to understand the myriad of Islamist groups that have filled the vacuum.

Those groups run the gamut from moderate believers who are willing to give the political process a try to violent extremists. The difficulty is figuring out which is which.

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World
5:57 pm
Fri October 26, 2012

What's A Lake Doing In the Middle Of The Desert?

Originally published on Fri October 26, 2012 8:39 pm

One place you don't expect to see waves lapping against the shore is in the middle of a desert. But that's exactly what's happening deep inside the United Arab Emirates, where a recently formed lake is nestled into the sand dunes, and a new ecosystem is emerging.

Drive through the desert in the United Arab Emirates, and all you see mile after mile are red, rolling dunes. Maybe some occasional trees or shrubs, but otherwise a dry, red sandscape.

And then, suddenly, a bright blue spot comes into view. It must be a mirage, you think. But it's not.

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Solve This
5:57 pm
Fri October 26, 2012

In A Shift From 2008 Race, Obama's Hush On Climate

Credit Steen Ulrik Johannessen / AFP/Getty Images
A boat skims through the melting ice in the Ilulissat fiord, on the western coast of Greenland, in 2008. The glacier is the most active in the Northern Hemisphere, producing 10 percent of Greenland's icebergs, or some 20 million tons of ice per day. But experts say the glacier is in bad shape because of climate change.

This story is part of a two-part series about the presidential candidates' climate policies. Click Here For The Story About Mitt Romney

Both presidential candidates have all but ignored climate change during this election season. Mitt Romney would not make it a priority if he were president.

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Presidential Race
5:57 pm
Fri October 26, 2012

Romney: Obama's Policies Slowed The Recovery

After a week full of campaigning across several battleground states, Mitt Romney delivered an economic policy address in Ames, Iowa, on Friday.

House & Senate Races
5:57 pm
Fri October 26, 2012

Akin Slowly Regains Support After 'Legitimate Rape'

Less than two weeks out from the election, the Democratic Senate seat the GOP figured would be easiest to pick off seems maddeningly out of reach. In Missouri, Republican candidate Todd Akin remains dogged by his "legitimate rape" comment. Mainstream Republican groups have stayed away from the race, and Democrat Claire McCaskill appears to be in good shape to win a second term.

It's All Politics
5:57 pm
Fri October 26, 2012

Economists: Romney's 12 Million Jobs Target Realistic, Even If He Loses

Credit Rick Bowmer / AP
Alan Shull attends a job fair in Portland, Ore., on April 24.

As the election draws closer, the economy and jobs remain top issues in the presidential race.

President Obama points to the improvement in the labor market since he took office in the midst of a downward spiral.

Both he and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney have five-point plans for improving the economy, although their strategies differ.

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Movie Reviews
5:57 pm
Fri October 26, 2012

Navigating The Shift From Complex To Cineplex

David Mitchell's epic philosophical novel Cloud Atlas was widely considered unfilmable — even by its author — when it came out in 2004. That's because the book's ornate structure, with stories nested inside stories across five centuries, seemed too complicated to be taken in quickly in a movie. But those complications were what attracted The Matrix's Andy and Lana (nee Larry) Wachowski, and Run Lola Run's Tom Tykwer to the project. Turning complexity into cineplexity is kind of what they do.

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Remembrances
5:57 pm
Fri October 26, 2012

Cultural Historian Jacques Barzun Dies At 104

Credit Eric Gay / AP
Pioneering cultural historian Jacques Barzun was the author of dozens of books and essays on everything from philosophy to music to baseball. He died Thursday in San Antonio at the age of 104.

Jacques Barzun, one of the most influential historians, educators and thinkers of the 20th century, died Thursday, just one month shy of his 105th birthday. Barzun seemed to have a limitless capacity to understand and translate complex ideas — about the evolution of Western culture, what it means to be free, and even the value of American baseball. He shared his observations in numerous books and magazine articles and at Columbia University, where he held forth for half a century.

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Shots - Health News
5:40 pm
Fri October 26, 2012

FDA Says Massachusetts Pharmacy Knew Of Sterility Problems For Months

Credit Dominick Reuter / Reuters /Landov
A Framingham police officer keeps watch as federal agents search the New England Compounding Center company in Framingham, Mass., on October 16.

In a highly unusual step, the Food and Drug Administration has released a report of inspections it conduct this month of the Massachusetts pharmacy at the center of a national outbreak of fungal infections.

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