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In Afghanistan, a media boom followed the ouster of the Taliban in 2001, but it hasn't been without problems. Watchdog groups report hundreds of cases of violence and intimidation against journalists, including murder. Afghan reporters have learned which topics are off limits, and they take great care to avoid offending the country's most powerful personalities.

Language guru Ben Zimmer has tracked down what he believes to be the source of the phrase. He writes that the term originated in the 1960s in Philadelphia. Traffic was so bad the day after Thanksgiving that police officers had to work 12-hour shifts. So they gave the day a negative — and memorable — name.

Anders Behring Breivik, who has confessed to the gun and bomb attacks that killed 77, many of them teenagers, also asked in court today to be allowed to speak to relatives of the victims. That request was denied.

In Italy, and in Greece, new leaders are trying to show they can tackle the nations' debt problems.

It took more than a decade, Harrisburg's Patriot-News reports, for authorities to believe that former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was abusing young boys — even though there were many clues. Sandusky says he's innocent.

Larry was brought to the prime minister's residence to deal with the rodents. But lately, he seems to have lost interest. According to The Daily Mail, during a dinner last week Prime Minister David Cameron threw a fork at a mouse that scampered by.

As demand for offices and other developments has weakened, rising commodity prices have made farmland more valuable — turning some sites that were planned for buildings back into fields for crops.

Philanthropist Evelyn Lauder died on Saturday. She co-founded the pink ribbon awareness movement to raise knowledge of breast health and cancer, and raised millions of dollars for cancer research.

The decision means it's possible there will be no professional basketball until the 2012-13 season. The sticking point: Sharing of revenue.

Republicans and Democrats alike are focused on one major issue: jobs. But inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen argues they're missing the bigger picture. To bolster the economy, he says, requires passion, innovation and risk.