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A pretrial hearing in the Sept. 11 case was suspended briefly last week to investigate allegations of eavesdropping. The commissions' chief prosecutor launched an investigation, and said no one was "listening, monitoring, recording" the proceedings. Defense attorneys seemed to take his word, which given the history of the commissions, is a baby step toward progress.

A massive civil lawsuit over liability for the worst oil disaster in U.S. history goes to trial next week in New Orleans. The U.S. Justice Department and Gulf states say BP was grossly negligent and put profits over safety, leading to the 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon. Eleven rig workers were killed. Settlement talks have continued but states say they are pushing for a trial to make sure BP is held accountable and pays to restore the Gulf Coast environment and economy.

In New Jersey, thousands of discarded Christmas trees have dodged the wood chipper and hit the beach instead. They're being used to jump-start new dunes, but scientists warn that these man-made dunes could be less sturdy than dunes that form naturally.

Since the end of the Cold War, many Americans have largely dismissed the threat of nuclear war. But Paul Bracken warns that Americans feel a misguided sense of calm. In The Second Nuclear Age, he argues that the second age of nuclear politics has arrived and the U.S. must face a new nuclear reality.

Residents of Guam don't get to vote for president. But they do hold a straw poll on election day. Those results are now in: just over 20,000 for President Obama, and some 8,500 for Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Jayne Flores, a contributing reporter to member station KPRG, talks about the poll.

George Entwistle resigned over the weekend as the director general of the BBC. He left following controversy over child sex-abuse reports. He had been on the job for just eight weeks. The BBC was already under fire over a decision to drop an investigation into widespread child abuse allegations about a popular TV host, who died last year.

The alternative minimum tax is looming over about 27 million more taxpayers this year. It's just one part of the so-called fiscal cliff — a big cluster of automatic spending cuts and tax hikes that will occur if Congress does not act. Those taxpayers could end up paying an average of $3,700 more without a fix.

Opponents of gay marriage have long argued that children's best interests require both a mom and a dad. Recently, however, the children of same-sex couples have started speaking for themselves, advocating for gay marriage.

Boris Berezovsky, the Russian oligarch who made headlines in 2000 after falling out with President Vladimir Putin and moving to the U.K., was found dead at his home in England. He was 67. Police are treating his death as unexplained.

Amanda Knox may face a retrial for murder in Italy, but it would very likely be conducted without her. The legal mechanisms that allow for in absentia trials are common practice in courts around the world.