In a near-simultaneous announcement, a Afghan Taliban pronounced it was suspending nascent assent talks with a United States seen as a clever possibility to finish a country’s decade-long conflict, blaming “shaky, haphazard and vague” U.S. statements.

The Taliban preference to postpone a talks was a blow to NATO hopes of a negotiated allotment to a war, that has cost a United States $510 billion and a lives of over 1,900 soldiers. – Reuters

Afghanistan

Reuters – Taliban Says Suspending Afghan Peace Talks With United States

AFP – Afghanistan Wants Early Takeover of Security: Karzai

TSA Travel Freedom

USA Today – TSA Tries Letting Older Fliers Keep Shoes On during Airports

Medicine and Health

BBC News – Should It Be Legal to Pay For Bone Marrow Donations?

Privacy

The Washington Times – Out of ‘Hobby’ Class, Drones Lifting Off For Personal, Commercial Use

State Department

Washington Post – State Dept. Moves to Fire Peter Van Buren, Author of Book Critical of Iraq Reconstruction Effort    

Federal Reserve

Seattle Times – Fed Now Tweeting, But Keep Expectations in Check

Bloomberg – Tarullo’s Revolution Reprograms Fed’s Regulation of U.S. Banks