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Colombian drug traffickers have a thing for exotic animals. But what happens when those traffickers are arrested and extradited? In southwestern Colombia, one women has created a refuge for hundreds of abused animals, many of them previously owned by traffickers.

If one word could describe everyday life for Syrians in the country's capital, it is "waiting": waiting to learn who has died, or to replace a bomb-shattered window, or to pass through a checkpoint. There's menace and dread, too, of thuggish militiamen and the unrelenting bombings and shellings.

A coalition of more than 1,400 charities is launching Giving Tuesday to jump-start end-of-year giving. They're taking off on Black Friday and Cyber Monday to motivate donors at a time when the outlook for giving remains lackluster.

For years, colleges have competed to attract diverse student bodies by offering students admission without considering their ability to pay. But as costs rise and student need increases, even schools with big endowments are beginning to acknowledge that their generosity is unsustainable.

It's been almost 18 years since a bomb destroyed the federal building in Oklahoma City. Today, millions of dollars remain unspent in a fund established for blast survivors — and some victims are asking why they've been denied assistance they say they need.

In 1951, Leslie Caron arrived in California a malnourished and anemic ballerina. After spending the war in occupied Paris, Tinseltown was a revelation, and she soon took it by storm, appearing with the likes of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly in more than 40 films.

The tax code has long favored investment income over the money you get in your paycheck. But today's rates on dividends and capital gains are especially low, dating to tax cuts installed under President George W. Bush. And they're one target in the talks to avert a so-called fiscal cliff.

The Pew Research Center reports that the U.S. birth rate has hit its lowest level ever, led by a dramatic decline among the foreign-born. The birth rate for Mexican women fell the most, down a stunning 23 percent since the recent recession began in 2007.

Some scientific research can't be completed in days or months — projects can take years, or even decades or centuries. This poses a challenge for scientists who must make plans for experiments that often outlive the experimenter.

Several top government officials have been caught up in an embarrassing cheating scandal — including the defense minister, who resigned as a result, and the education minster, who is under investigation for her doctoral dissertation. An informal group of "plagiarism police" has undertaken the hunt.