The tax initiative ultimately failed when a broader measure that it was part of didn't pass, and now it is essentially dead because of GOP control of the House.

WSJ: Financiers Switch to GOP

But the batteries were dead on this remote control.

FORBES: Briefly, things I hate

Chris Gratton, an employee of Poulin's Pest Control in Edmonton, says officers stopped by the shop with a dead rat two years ago to demonstrate what to look for.

WSJ: In Alberta, Citizens Smell a Rat After Long-Banned Rodents Appear

And in Arizona, a staunchly pro-gun state where the 2011 assassination attempt of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson left six dead and 13 wounded, the drive for gun control following Newtown has been a non-starter.

WSJ: Few states find narrow route to gun control laws

The president of the Shia Conference, Syed Dawood Agha, told the BBC that his community would not bury its dead till the army had given an assurance it would take administrative control of the city.

BBC: Pakistan blasts: Shia refuse to bury Quetta bomb dead

Indian security forces shot dead 12 militants in the Saujian area of Poonch district, near the Line of Control which divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

BBC: Kashmir killings rock hopes for peace