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Friday's deadline looms and "oh, it's gonna happen," says one Republican congressman. We continue to scour news outlets for stories that help make sense of the sequester.

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Also: Medicare paid billions for poor nursing home care; Boeing proposes fix for 787 Dreamliner's lithium-ion batteries.

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"President Assad is out of time and must be out of power," the new secretary of state says. The assistance is for basic goods and services in areas under rebel control.

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Also: DC Comics kills off Batman's legendary sidekick; Jesse Jackson Jr. is reportedly writing a memoir; and banned performance enhancing drugs in literary competitions.

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The first pope in about 600 years to voluntarily step down is headed to a life out of the public's eye. Now, the church's cardinals turn to the task of selecting a successor.

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Yahoo touched off a debate about the effectiveness of telecommuting when it told employees last week that they may no longer work from home. The policy change was made, according to the company's internal email, to enhance workplace collaboration.

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Three years after an earthquake destroyed much of Haiti's capital, it's clear that only a fraction of the $9 billion pledged in international relief reached the country. Most of what did arrive went to short-term relief, instead of rebuilding people's homes.

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The Army private is accused of leaking an unprecedented amount of classified materials. He was arrested in 2010 and is awaiting trial.

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Ad man David Neevel's quest to rid himself of his unwanted crème drives him to create a robotic Oreo separator machine, in this charming satirical video in celebration of the snack cookie.

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Before he was White House chief of staff, Lew was Obama's budget director — a job he'd also held in the Clinton White House.

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New Jersey is the newest state to make online gambling legal. Its law limits participation to state residents, but how will that be enforced? And groups that help compulsive gamblers are worried that gamblers won't have to go to casinos to feed their addiction.

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Mead announced his retirement just two days after Immigration and Customs Enforcement released hundreds of illegal immigrants, citing budget cuts. ICE said the retirement had nothing to do with the release.

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Class-action lawsuits accuse Anheuser-Busch of watering down Budweiser and other beers and then misleading consumers about their alcohol content. The company denies the claims; in tests commissioned by NPR, samples of Budweiser were found to be in line with their advertised alcohol content.

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Class-action lawsuits accuse Anheuser-Busch of watering down Budweiser and other beers and then misleading consumers about their alcohol content. The company denies the claims; in tests commissioned by NPR, samples of Budweiser were found to be in line with their advertised alcohol content.

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Marissa Mayer's decision to ban working from home at Yahoo has sparked a debate about the effectiveness of teleworking. NPR's Steve Henn, who works a fragmented schedule from his Silicon Valley home, says research on what works is mixed, but success largely depends on the job and whom you're collaborating with.

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Lawsuits filed in several federal courts allege Anheuser-Busch waters down Budweiser and other beers and then misrepresents their final alcohol content. The brewer says the claims have no merit. Here's a twist: Industry insiders tell us water does get added to beer before it's packaged.

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While many Republicans are actively looking for ways to expand the party by reaching out to a wider audience, the conservative Club for Growth is looking for ways to rid the party of those it believes have strayed too far. And it has a new website to target what it calls "Republicans In Name Only."

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Autistic children may find it easier to socialize with other people in the presence of animals. An Australian study suggests that animals could help autistic children connect with therapists, teachers and their peers.

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Most public schools are unlikely to feel the effects of the sequester before September. But educators and administrators nationwide are worried they may be forced to cut Head Start enrollment, after-school programs, reading coaches and even teachers when those budget reductions hit.

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The victory of the candidate backed by Michael Bloomberg's anti-gun superPAC in an Illinois primary was more than just another achievement on the gun control front. It was one more win in Bloomberg's unique assault on what he views as the public health problems of our time.

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