National News

Groupon co-founder Andrew Mason has been fired as the daily-deal company's CEO, one day after Groupon posted financial results that showed it lost $67.4 million during 2012. Board chairmen Eric Lefkofsky and Ted Leonsis will jointly fill the CEO post on an interim basis.

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Groupon co-founder Andrew Mason has been fired as the daily-deal company's CEO, one day after Groupon posted financial results that showed it lost $67.4 million during 2012. Board chairmen Eric Lefkofsky and Ted Leonsis will jointly fill the CEO post on an interim basis.

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If New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was hoping for a return invite to the big CPAC convention this year, he probably should have thought of that before he bad-mouthed House Speaker John Boehner a couple of months back.

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A new study of the Barnett Shale formation in Texas shows that the natural gas reservoir there will last for at least another two decades. "Turns out, what we learned is that there's a lot of good rock left to drill," says geology professor Scott Tinker, the study's author.

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Conservative groups backed by wealthy industrialists David and Charles Koch spent millions but fared badly in the 2012 elections. Now they're assessing how they can get more for their money in 2014 and beyond.

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The government is drafting plans to ban pornography both online and in print. It's an attempt, supporters say, to shield children from harm. But critics say the Nordic nation "should not serve as a role model for Internet censorship."

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Advocates were heartened by the House of Representatives' reauthorizaton of the Violence Against Women Act. The legislation contains provisions that could help reduce sexual assaults and dating violence at schools.

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Along with giving up the chair of St. Peter, Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI gave up his stylish red shoes. Now, he's wearing shoes made by a man in Leon, Mexico.

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Along with giving up the chair of St. Peter, Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI gave up his stylish red shoes. Now, he's wearing shoes made by a man in Leon, Mexico.

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The measure's reauthorization showed us again that as much as the two sides of the aisle in the House often can't seem to stand each other, they remain lashed together when it comes to issues that divide Republicans but unite Democrats.

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The Obama administration warns that the situation looks ugly for the department under the sequester. But for now, the most alarming claims — that prosecutors will drop cases and criminals will walk free — seem to be just that: alarms.

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Every year about 300,000 babies in sub-Saharan Africa are born with HIV. A new strategy aims to reduce these infections by putting every pregnant woman with HIV on drug treatment for the rest of her life. The approach has worked well, so far, in the small country of Malawi.

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This final note as we leave off today. The end of the beginning, perhaps, at the once-charmed daily discounter Groupon.

It's been a rough ride for the company almost since the day it went public. Shares are down 75 percent over the past year. 24 percent just today.

Which will make what I'm about to tell you completely predictable. Founder and CEO Andrew Mason is leaving the company. The best part was his farewell email. "After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I've decided that I'd like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding -- I was fired today. If you're wondering why... you haven't been paying attention."

Many young Pakistanis have grown up in the grip of religious extremism. But Saeed Malik is trying to reverse that trend, starting at the most basic level. He has created a bookmobile that offers English and Urdu books to underprivileged children, in hopes of broadening their minds and fostering tolerance.

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Gambling kept Rose out of baseball's Hall of Fame, and years later, the fallout continues. Topps baseball cards has quietly removed his name from the backs of cards that note major achievements. But is it time to re-evaluate Rose's singular status as a Major League Baseball pariah?

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Poutine, at its simplest, is french fries, cheese curds and gravy. In Chicago, 11 restaurants recently pitted their own variations on the Canadian late-night dish against one another.

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Manning pleaded guilty to 10 smaller charges. He is still expected to be tried for the charge of aiding the enemy. During the hearing, the Army private also provided the first detailed explanation of why he perpetrated the biggest leak of classified information in U.S. history.

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For Coca-Cola, it was both a PR move and a social experiment. The company set up an ATM that gave out 100 euros ($131) and asked only that recipients share the money. A video of the campaign has gone viral.

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This may not come as a huge surprise to most of you, but a study out of Oxford University last month found that vegetarians are 32 percent less likely to be hospitalized, or die, from heart disease than are meat-eaters.

In fact, Americans are eating less beef, chicken and pork than in the past. Some of it might be the rising cost of meat, but it's also likely that news of the downsides to a carnivorous diet are getting to us. We are realizing that veggies and grains are better for you.

Thus the relatively quick success of the Santa Monica, Calif.-based fast food chain Veggie Grill. It serves up what the industry calls a plant-based diet. That means no animal fat -- no butter, no milk, no eggs. Its burgers and chicken sandwiches are made from soy, and the flavor is catching on.

There are 16 outlets on the West Coast, including a handful in Oregon and Washington. Greg Dollarhyde is the CEO and, buoyed by healthy sales and $20 million in financing, he plans to double the number of restaurants in the next 18 months.

"The plan is to go up and down the West Coast because it's the same time zone and easy to get to," said Dollarhyde. "But we get all sorts of emails of 'When are you coming to New York? When are you coming to Boston? When are you coming to Dallas?'"

But how do take a plant-based diet to, say, Chicago -- home of the deep dish pizza and the Union Stock Yards? Dollarhyde has one word: taste. As long as the food tastes good and familiar, people will come.

But he will make sure not to grow too fast. "The biggest concern is when you change time zones," Dollarhyde explained. "If you are on the West Coast and you go to the East Coast, you are just getting up and they are at lunch. Then when you are at lunch, they can't find you. And if something goes wrong, that is a long plane ride to fix it."

That said, however, he does hope to have a Veggie Grill in New York sometime next year.

The former NBA star known as "The Worm" is in the Stalinist state to be part of an HBO series exploring cultures around the world.

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