NPR News

We don't usually share local crime stories, but two of them stuck out today. And one of them provides some hope. We'll start with the sad one:

Fox 8 Cleveland reports that a burglar has "ruined" Christmas for a Painesville, Ohio family. The burglar allegedly broke into the home, took their TV, an Xbox, a laptop and worst of all perhaps, then took all the newly-bought presents underneath the Christmas tree:

The United States and dozens of other countries convened in Bonn, Germany, Monday to discuss Afghanistan's future. But Pakistan, a key player in any Afghan settlement, boycotted the conference.

Pakistani leaders were deeply angered by the killing of 24 of their soldiers in a NATO airstrike along the Afghan border last month.

Many in Pakistan say relations between the United States and Pakistan have never been worse, though there may be signs of a coming thaw.

Envoys from dozens of countries and international organizations meet in Bonn, Germany, hoping to chart a path to peace for Afghanistan. But the conference has been marred by the absence of Pakistan, furious over NATO airstrikes that left two dozen of its soldiers dead last week.

Robert Siegel speaks with Julia Ioffe, Moscow correspondent for Foreign Policy and The New Yorker, about the riots in Moscow.

The head of the Federal Aviation Administration, who among other duties is in charge of the nation's air traffic controllers, was charged with driving while intoxicated Saturday night in Fairfax, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C.

And Federal News Radio says Jerome "Randy" Babbitt has now been "placed on a leave of absence." The Associated Press reports that the leave was "at Babbitt's request."

Though he was born into a theater family, John Lithgow never intended to become an actor. He dreamed of painting, instead. But he first took the stage as a toddler, and since then, the accolades have poured in.

Actor John Lithgow first took the stage as a toddler. Since then, he's gone on to win numerous awards for his work in television, theater and film.

Over the weekend, the company that runs the Japanese nuclear plant crippled by the earthquake and tsunami in March said they had detected another leak of radioactive water. This time, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) said, 45 tons of contaminated water had been found outside the cooling system and about 300 liters of it had leaked into the Pacific Ocean.

For a long time, most public colleges and universities have gotten their funding based on how many students they enroll. More students mean more money.

But economic pressures have convinced states they should only reward results that help students, and the state's economy.

Tennessee is a leader among states trying to peg funding to the number of students who actually graduate with a degree.

GETTING EDUCATION TO DO MORE FOR THE STATE

In between his speakership and his presidential candidacy, Newt Gingrich built a network of organizations to promote his causes — and himself.

Informally known as Newt Gingrich Inc., those entities have flourished. But questions linger, especially about two of them: the Gingrich Group, a for-profit consulting firm; and a unit of the Gingrich Group called the Center for Health Transformation.