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President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner held another closed-door meeting Monday. If that secrecy troubled anyone, you'd expect it to be open-government watchdogs. But they have few objections. "Sometimes compromise has to be reached behind closed doors," says one.

It used to be commonplace for leaders of the two parties to find common ground. But Democrats and Republicans stopped working together partly as a result of one of their greatest collaborations.

A New Jersey teenager who launched a campaign to get Hasbro to make a gender-neutral Easy-Bake Oven is expected to meet with the toy company Monday afternoon. Her campaign seems to be part of heightened gender messaging awareness in toys this holiday season.

Journalist Rob Cox grew up in Newtown, Conn. and moved back after many years abroad. Cox, editor for Thompson Reuters global commentary service Breakingviews, talks about how the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School has transformed his hometown.

"Never before have we seen our babies slaughtered," Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said today on MSNBC. "This has changed the dialogue and it should move beyond dialogue. We need action," he added. Manchin is a member of the National Rifle Association and a hunter.

Secretions from a brown frog's skin contain chemicals that might be useful in fighting bacteria. Russian researchers are cataloging compounds in the slimy goo. Although the odds against them are long, the researchers hope their work will aid the search for new drugs.

Many Russians will join their Georgian neighbors in feasting on Georgian specialties for St. Barbara's Day. But the countries' political relations have led to restrictions on imports of Georgian wine and mineral water. A recent thawing offers hope for a sweeter future.

Ayurveda is a form of traditional medicine that's thousands of years old. But some ayurvedic remedies have harmful heavy metal additives, including lead. And those remedies are finding their way to the U.S., as two recent cases of childhood lead poisoning in New York attest.

In recent years, states have passed a patchwork of immigration laws, at times running afoul of the U.S. Constitution. Advocates for the tough measures say state and local governments should still have a role, even as the debate shifts to the federal level.

Are we getting "Jack'd"? A surge in new caffeine-containing foods leads to new questions about just how much caffeine we're getting in our daily lives. Some advocates are calling for labeling, and they raise concerns about children's and teens' consumption.