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Fighting continued in the Syrian capital of Damascus and its suburbs on Thursday. There are also reports of another major government offensive in northwestern Syria, near President Bashar Assad's hometown.

Livestock and chicken farmers say the government's ethanol policy inflates fuel prices and forces them to compete with fuel companies for corn the fuel companies don't even want. This year, gas companies are required to buy 13 billion gallons of ethanol.

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is the son of a truck driver, an evangelical Christian, a former presidential candidate, and for months now a loyal surrogate for Republican Mitt Romney. He's also considered a top contender to become Romney's pick for vice president.

In The Well-Digger's Daughter, an irascible peasant is forced to confront changing times when his daughter unexpectedly becomes pregnant. Critic Ella Taylor says the film offers beautiful images of southern France — and a simple but wonderful tale of fall and redemption. (Recommended)

David and Jackie Siegel were set to build their dream house, the largest in America, when the recession collapsed their finances. Critic Scott Tobias says The Queen of Versailles is a nonjudgmental portrayal of the 0.001 percent who fell victim to the crisis along with the rest of the country. (Recommended)

The Dark Knight Rises places Batman in contemporary New York amid familiar economic and social unrest. NPR's Bob Mondello says the film is as big and loud as expected. The biggest surprise is how satisfying an end it provides to Christopher Nolan's trilogy.

Saxophonist and composer Ravi Coltrane — son of John and Alice — says his mother's love of symphonic music provided a childhood soundtrack for him and his siblings.

Content in the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia can be generated and edited by anyone. But the power to delete or lock those entries lies in the hands of the site's "administrators." A rigorous screening process for new administrators has partly led to a drop in site participation. Now, Wikipedia is struggling to find new editors.

Numbers from state and local governments suggest their public pension plans are underfunded by about $1 trillion. New accounting rules are about to make that gap between what they owe and what they have on hand look bigger — much bigger, in some cases.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is an Indian-American with a compelling life story. At 41, he's already had a successful political career. He could also add some buzz to the GOP ticket. But his 2009 moment in the spotlight has some Republicans worrying whether he's ready to be vice president.