In what Israel's Haaretz.com is referring to as a "rare move" by longtime supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, Russia and China today joined other members of the U.N. Security Council in calling on Syria to let U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos see what's happening inside that nation.

Syria so far has not allowed Amos to visit.

Transcript

JOHN DONVAN, HOST:

When we speak to one another, word order counts. For example, I'm speaking to you right now in pretty conventional word order - subject before verb before object. But what if I took what I just said and I moved the words around like this: For example, now speaking pretty, I'm conventional, verb, object before, and now you order before subject to word. Maybe you followed that. But is the concept really different when it comes to spelling? Recently, a debate broke out between Wired columnist Anne Trubek and Lee Simmons, a copy editor there.

Google combined more than 60 privacy policies in order to streamline the information that it collects about its users. Google says it hopes to create a "beautifully simple, intuitive user experience across Google." Critics say the new policy digs deeper into users' lives.

After undergoing surgery for a lesion on his pelvis, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez made his first public comments on Thursday.

"I am fine, my recovery is accelerating," he said via phone to Venezuelan state TV, according the AP. "A greeting, a hug to you all!"

By a 51-48 vote, the Senate just set aside an effort to reverse the Obama administration's policy requiring most employers to provide health insurance plans that cover the cost of women's contraception methods.

According to activists inside and outside Syria, the government's 27-day siege against the opposition stronghold of Baba Amr has now succeeded. Initial reports suggest that forces are entering this neighborhood in the city of Homs, but details are sketchy at best because most of the reporters and citizen journalists covering the story have either fled or died.

Legislation cracking down on unlicensed day care providers evoked emotional testimony in a House committee hearing.