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Volunteers in more than 20 countries this weekend shot free, studio-quality portraits of more than 16,000 people who otherwise couldn't have afforded them. Getting people in one Shanghai neighborhood to smile wasn't easy. Some had never had portraits taken before.

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel returned to the Mideast on Monday after a weekend tour of Afghanistan and a stop in Pakistan. The trip focused on a planned security deal with Afghanistan and concerns among Gulf allies about a nuclear deal with Iran.

North Carolina is expected to host one of the nation's toughest U.S. Senate races next year. First-term Democrat Kay Hagan is seeking re-election, but recent polls show that even though her GOP opponent won't be known until the spring, her support for President Obama and the Affordable Care Act have already hurt her standing with state voters. She's also being targeted by outside groups, who are spending millions of dollars in hopes of unseating her.

The Senate is back from vacation and trying to get a budget deal completed. The House plans to leave town for the year at the end of the week, which means the heat is on to settle on spending levels for 2014 and 2015. Democrats would also like to insert money for extended unemployment benefits, which expire at the end of December. If nothing else, negotiators want to agree on a "topline" spending amount to avoid another government shutdown when the current stopgap spending measure expires Jan. 15.

Wreaths are made from greens collected by "tippers," who snip about 14 or 15 inches off the limbs of fir trees. But Christmas wreaths are valuable enough to attract tree poachers, who cut limbs and even whole trees on private land. That means the wreath on your front door could contain stolen goods.

BP is challenging hundreds of millions of dollars in claims that were filed after the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, saying some have no connection to the spill. But legal experts say the claims don't have to be spill-related and BP is relying on a friendly court to limit how much it will pay.

South Africans paused Tuesday to bid farewell to the country's first black president, but there was nothing somber about it. They sang and shouted and ululated, with some making themselves hoarse even before a memorial service at the country's biggest stadium.

For years, a car accident has been blamed in the 1976 death of former Brazilian President Juscelino Kubitschek. But a new inquiry has found the politician was murdered by the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil for 21 years.

Organic milk contains about 62 percent more omega-3s than milk from cows on conventional dairy farms, a new U.S.-based study finds. To get the full boost of these healthful fatty acids, you'll need to drink whole milk.

The pipeline's fate looms large in Washington. But for people living in Keystone XL's proposed path, the project will alter livelihoods and legacies — for better or worse, depending on whom you ask.