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START. The top two Senate Republicans declared Sunday that they would vote against President Obama’s nuclear treaty with Russia as the bipartisan spirit of last week’s tax-cut deal devolved into a sharp battle over national security in the waning days of the session.

DREAM Act Blocked.The vote by the Senate on Saturday to block a bill to grant legal status to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrant students was a painful setback to an emerging movement of immigrants and also appeared to leave the immigration policy of the Obama administration, which has supported the bill and the movement, in disarray.

Darfur Fighting. As many as 12,000 people have fled following fresh fighting between army and Darfur rebels in Sudan, according to the United Nations.

Quote of the Day. "Because it is an overtly religious place, it's not strange or weird to care about your religion here, to pray and make God a priority. They have the same values we do." Reef Al-Shabnan, a Saudi Arabian student at Catholic University, explaining why Muslim students are increasingly enrolling at Catholic schools. (Washington Post)