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4:48 pm
Thu January 12, 2012

Heavy Lobbying Before Keystone Oil Pipeline Decision

Credit Todd Korol / Reuters/Landov
The Syncrude tar sands mine north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, is seen in November. Alberta's tar sands would supply the oil for the prospective Keystone XL pipeline.

The oil industry and environmentalists are fighting over the Keystone XL pipeline, and in this election year, President Obama is caught in the middle.

The industry says the pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast, would create jobs. Environmentalists worry it will lead to more pollution. Obama has until next month to make a decision, and that has both sides lobbying heavily.

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The Two-Way
4:38 pm
Thu January 12, 2012

With New Platform, Putin Presents Himself As A Reformer

Credit Yana Lapikova / AFP/Getty Images
Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin speaks during a Government Presidium meeting in Moscow on Jan. 12.

Russia's Vladimir Putin took to the Internet to present the platform he would persue should he be elected president on March 4.

It was a bold platform, considering that it would walk back policies he helped institute. As The Telegraph puts it, it was Putin remaking himself into a "liberal reformer."

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Afghanistan
4:26 pm
Thu January 12, 2012

Viral Images, The Military's Recurring Nightmare

Credit YouTube
A still frame taken from a YouTube video purportedly shows Marines who desecrated three dead men thought to be members of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The U.S. military says it's investigating a video that appears to show Marines desecrating the corpses of Taliban fighters killed in Afghanistan. Regardless of those findings, the outrage in the Islamic world is likely to be severe, as with other disturbing images that have surfaced during U.S. wars in Muslim countries over the past decade.

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Shots - Health Blog
4:19 pm
Thu January 12, 2012

UConn Claims Resveratrol Researcher Falsified Work

The already shaky case for the anti-aging powers of resveratrol, a substance in red wine, is looking a little shakier.

After a three-year investigation, the University of Connecticut Health Center has told 11 scientific journals that studies they published by resveratrol researcher Dipak K. Das may not be trustworthy.

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The Salt
4:08 pm
Thu January 12, 2012

Could A Soda Tax Prevent 26,000 Deaths Per Year?

Credit Joel Saget / AFP/Getty Images
Researchers say that if the price of soda gets higher, people will drink less of it, which will lead to fewer deaths.

A new study in the journal Health Affairs estimates that a penny-per-ounce tax on soft drinks and other sugary beverages could prevent about 240,000 cases of diabetes, 8,000 strokes, and 26,000 premature deaths per year.

Yes, death by soda.

So the analysis got me thinking: Our behavior is hard to predict, right? I know mine is.

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