They hired an ex-CIA agent to go in and sort of figure out the facts on the ground, and that there's talking about spiriting the boys away to the U.S. and eventually to United Arab Emirates.

NPR: Film Roles Lead to Fear in Afghanistan

So I think this was an opportunity to listen to each other and to figure out where that common ground is.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing

The only other notable figure to have gained ground is Emma Bonino, an unconventional and outgoing (in every sense) European commissioner.

ECONOMIST: Italy: Berlusconi’s back | The

Regulators in the U.S. and Japan, along with engineers at Boeing, have been trying to figure out what caused fires on several Dreamliners, forcing the FAA and other agencies to ground all the operating aircraft indefinitely.

FORBES: With 787 Dreamliners Still Grounded And Few Leads On Battery Fires, Boeing Delivers A Good Q4

This figure includes not just the work on the rocket, but its Orion astronaut capsule and the ground work needed at Kennedy to get the spaceport ready for a new type of launch vehicle.

BBC: SLS: The rocket in need of a destination

Prime Minister GORDON BROWN (United Kingdom): Subject, of course, to conditions on the ground, we plan from next spring to reduce force numbers in Southern Iraq to a figure of two and a half thousand.

NPR: U.K. to Bring More Troops Home