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The White House announced Thursday that it would close down the two mansions, in Maryland and in New York. Steve Hall, a retired CIA Russian operations officer, says use of the estates — also referred to as dachas, or "country homes" — dates back to the Cold War.

Republicans have agreed to preserve a $250 tax break for teachers when they buy classroom supplies. But teachers tell us that they typically spend a lot more.

If American politicians are going to quarrel like cats and dogs, why not just elect cats and dogs? Yet even pets can't hide from the political caterwauling; attacks against the candidacy of Hank the Cat may have reached a new low.

Sunrise in Luang Prabang brings out a sea of saffron-cloaked monks and the women who feed them. Author Pam Houston, who writes about the American West, says for her it is a must-see place.

If the Annan plan fails, she said, the country could spiral into all-out proxy war that destabilizes the region.

On wooden skis, the Tuvan people of Central Asia have been traversing the snow for at least 4,000 years. Travel writer Mark Jenkins went to the region for National Geographic, where he joined a group of lasso-wielding men on skis tracking elk.

The opposition says the current standoff has led to some of the worst violations of human rights during the rule of the current regime.

Also: a literary missed connection; Danielle Steel on condescending questions; Lewis Carroll on etiquette.

Italy is sending a high-tech espresso machine to the International Space Station. And NASA is worried it might be too popular.

Of the 26 states that adopted the PARCC test, Massachusetts is now the 20th state to drop it. But critics of Common Core say the move doesn't go far enough.