Europe
1:06 pm
Mon March 5, 2012

Neighs Have It: Horse Tale Ensnares British Leader

Credit Dave Hogan / Getty Images
In this photo from 2009, David Cameron (left) attends a book launch for Charlie Brooks in London. Cameron, who has since become Britain's prime minister, went to Eton with Brooks, husband of Rebekah Brooks, the former News International executive toppled by Britain's phone-hacking scandal. The latest twist in that scandal involves Rebekah Brooks, Cameron and a retired police horse.

In Britain, there's a long waiting list of British animal lovers hoping to take in aging police horses. Once retired, the horses aren't supposed to be ridden again.

Unless, it seems, you're Rebekah Brooks, the former tabloid editor and chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's News International, or David Cameron, the man who would become Britain's prime minister.

The ongoing inquiry into the relationship between the police and news media has uncovered a new scandal: Scotland Yard appears to have loaned Brooks a police horse back in 2008.

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Music Reviews
12:54 pm
Mon March 5, 2012

Bruce Springsteen's Hard-Bitten Pop Optimism

Credit Danny Clinch
Bruce Springsteen's 17th album, Wrecking Ball, has a little taste of almost every style he's ever played, including classic E Street rock 'n' roll.

Ever since The Rising in 2002 — and arguably since 1984's Born in the U.S.A.Bruce Springsteen releases have functioned as State of the Union addresses as much as pop LPs. Wrecking Ball does, too, beginning with its Occupy-era lead single "We Take Care of Our Own," an anthemic bit of wishful thinking which, like "Born in the U.S.A.," seems easy to misinterpret by 180 degrees if you don't pay attention to the verses between the chorus.

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The Salt
12:38 pm
Mon March 5, 2012

Sustainable Sushi: See The Video. But Don't Eat The Eel

Credit Matteo De Stefano / IStockPhoto.com
Odds are the local sushi joint's fish is less than sustainable.

Sushi seems like the perfect modern food: Light, healthful and available at seemingly every supermarket in the nation. But is it sustainable?

That's the question behind "The Story of Sushi," a new video that's been pulling a lot of clicks in the past week. Maybe that's because its adorable format, with tiny, handcrafted figures used to tell the tale, stands in stark contrast to its depressing message: Most of the sushi we snarf up is harvested using unsustainable methods.

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It's All Politics
12:04 pm
Mon March 5, 2012

New Yorker Cover Puts New Twist On Old Romney Shaggy Dog Story

Credit New Yorker cover

Robert Staake, the cover artist for the New Yorker's March 12 cover took a story that's an oldie but goodie — Mitt Romney strapping the kennel containing Seamus the family dog atop the family car during a vacation road trip — and gave it a new spin with Rick Santorum filling in for the dog.

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News
12:00 pm
Mon March 5, 2012

Holder Addresses Killing Of American Terrorism Suspects

Attorney General Eric Holder spoke in Chicago on Monday on the legal rationales for targeting and killing Americans suspected of terrorism overseas. Carrie Johnson talks to Melissa Block.

The Two-Way
11:45 am
Mon March 5, 2012

In Egypt These Days, Lying About A Nose Job Can Bring A Politician Down

It was more than 30 years before Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak lost his grip on power, though many of his people had long suffered under his oppressive regime.

It took less than a week for "a newly minted ultra-conservative Islamist member" of the post-Mubarak parliament in Egypt to be forced to resign because he lied about getting a nose job.

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The Two-Way
11:37 am
Mon March 5, 2012

E.U. Mulls Mandatory Quotas To Close Gender Gap At Executive Level

Credit Yves Logghe / AP
European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Viviane Reding addresses the media at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels on Monday.

The European Union's justice commissioner says companies have not done enough voluntarily to narrow the gender gap at the top of publicly traded European firms.

Viviane Reding said self regulation has not worked, so it may be time to consider quotas.

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The Two-Way
11:15 am
Mon March 5, 2012

Report: 'McCain To Call For Air Strikes On Syria'

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will later today become the first senator to call for U.S.-led air strikes on the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Foreign Policy magazine's The Cable blog reports:

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Education
11:02 am
Mon March 5, 2012

Tough-Love Reading Laws Target Third-Graders

Credit Chris Hondros / Getty Images
A student reads at a public elementary charter school in New York City. Educators like to say third grade is when students go from learning to read, to reading to learn.

There's little dispute among educators that kids are not reading as well as they should be, but there's endless debate over what to do about it. Now, a growing number of states are taking a hard-line approach through mandatory retentions — meaning third-graders who can't read at grade level will automatically get held back.

To those pushing the idea, it's equal doses of tough and love: You are not doing kids any favors, they say, by waiving them on to fourth grade if they aren't up to snuff on their reading.

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It's All Politics
10:56 am
Mon March 5, 2012

Pollster: Romney Surges Despite More GOP Ohioans Agreeing With Santorum

Credit Gerald Herbert / AP
Mitt Romney greets supporters in Youngstown, Ohio, Monday, March 5, 2012.

Suffolk University has a new poll out of Ohio that reminds us that in politics as in life, timing is everything; Rick Santorum would have been much better off if Super Tuesday had been two weeks ago.

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