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The Archdiocese of Boston is taking a business approach to its problem of too many parishes, too few priests and not enough parishioners. It plans to merge parishes into clusters and placing them under one pastor. It will eliminate dozens of parish jobs for lay people and take away local control of a church's budget and religious education program. The plan is being met with considerable pushback from priests and parishioners. Monica Brady-Myerov of member station WBUR reports.

Egypt has faced deteriorating security and a surge in crime since the popular uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak a year ago. The country's military rulers have yet to transfer power to civilian rule, and though many are proud of the revolution, some argue Egypt is not much better off than it was under Mubarak.

Bu the GOP presidential hopeful walked away without delegates in the nonbinding caucuses and tallied fewer votes in the state than he did four years ago. This time, he barely beat rival Ron Paul.

The country is a major stop for drug traffickers and corruption is rampant. Many experts say things got markedly worse after democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya was ousted by the military in 2009.

Last month, scientists around the world agreed to temporarily halt controversial scientific research with bird flu viruses. Some experts say too little is known about how infectious this virus could be to humans, but other experts think those risks have been blown a bit out of proportion.

Xi Jinping, expected to become China's next president, begins highly anticipated meetings in Washington on Tuesday. The trip comes as the Obama administration seeks to shift the emphasis of its U.S. strategy toward the Asia-Pacific region — including changes the Chinese aren't sure they like.

For the past decade, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with the terror threat from al-Qaida, have been the focus of U.S. security officials. Now the debate is shifting, and planners are trying to figure out what comes next.

Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin says the U.S. economic outlook is the most "uncertain" he has seen in his lifetime. Given that he was born during the Great Depression and lived through the Cold War, the 1970s' inflation, and a brutal 1980-82 recession, that may be saying a lot.

Audits of working conditions are under way at Foxconn's manufacturing plants in China, a key link in Apple's supply chain of iPhones, iPads and other devices. The effort will include visits to at least three sites, "each with more than 100,000 workers," says Auret Van Heerden of the Fair Labor Association.

The good news for doctors: a nearly 28 percent cut in Medicare reimbursements likely won't take effect March 1. The bad news: the deal isn't permanent and a cut could be about 32 percent next year. That's leaving doctors who treat medicare patients in a continued state of uncertainty.