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U.S. and NATO forces will still be around for about two more years. But some Afghans fear a return of the Taliban, a civil war or economic collapse will follow a pullout by Western forces. Afghanistan also has a presidential election in 2014 that could reshape the country.

A lot of residents in the Rockaway section of Queens walk around wearing surgical masks. The streets are jammed with sanitation trucks, supply trucks and tractors. It looks and sounds like a construction area, but it's not. It's a demolition zone as residents gut their homes to fight mold.

The feud began in 1997 in the letters pages of the Guardian, with Rushdie calling the author of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy "a pompous ass" and Le Carre accusing the author of The Satanic Verses of "self-canonization." Both writers now say they regret the literary war of words, and speak of their mutual admiration.

President Obama is meeting with labor leaders at the White House on Tuesday — the first in a series of meetings aimed at avoiding automatic tax increases and spending cuts in the new year. The newly re-elected president is hoping to translate victory at the ballot box into success in shaping policy.

As the number of shootings goes up, police are making fewer and fewer arrests for those violent crimes, leaving a staggering number of cases unsolved. Police blame a long-standing attitude for the failure to make arrests: you just don't snitch to police.

In Mexico City's most prominent tree-lined park, you can find statues to such international heroes as Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King and now Heydar Aliyev. He's the Soviet-era autocrat of Azerbaijan. Its government paid for the park's latest statue and restoration of a nearby plaza. The gilded gift has upset many in the capital and is causing headaches for Mexico City's outgoing mayor.

Immediately after last week's election, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon announced the state would not be setting up its own health insurance exchange. Next door in Kansas, Gov. Sam Brownback announced that Kansas will have no involvement in running a state exchange either. The moves open the door for increased federal involvement in health care in staunchly Republican territory.

A police officer in Sarasota, Fla., said he was being conscientious when he arrested a homeless man in a park, who was charging a cell phone in a picnic shelter. The officer accused him of theft of city utilities. A judge threw out the case.

Also: Microsoft Windows chief steps down; Sen. Kerry reportedly being considered for defense secretary; last solar eclipse until 2015 will be visible from Australia.

The stunning resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus, a retired 4-star general, has been followed by an investigation into potentially inappropriate communications between Gen. John Allen and a woman in Tampa.