The meeting is preparing for a summit of Nato heads of state being held in Chicago next month, where a final commitment on funding Afghan security is expected to be announced
The recording, which I still have, begins rather grandly: "This is Carol Zall interviewing Ray Zall, my grandmother, or 'Bobe' in Yiddish. Now Mrs Zall, could you tell me about your childhood
On Saturday morning, the married father of two set out in a kayak across a pond at a residential complex in Des Plaines, just outside Chicago, where he was tending the birds.
The birds are one of the largest waterfowl in North America and Europe, weighing up to 13kg (28lbs) and with a wing span of up to 2.4m (7.9ft). They are among the heaviest flying birds in the UK.
In this case in Chicago, he says, it's understandable that someone in a river with their clothes and shoes on was unable to overpower a swan and swim to shore.
Poland has the fastest-growing economy in the European Union and the power that drives it comes from the dirtiest of fossil fuels, coal. How can the country cut its dependence on this polluting source of energy?
It is Europe's largest thermal power plant and its biggest polluter, emitting the equivalent of close to 39 million tonnes of CO2 last year, a rise of 31% from 2010 thanks to the commissioning of a new unit in September
RisinRising temperatures in Antarctica are having an impact on the continent's many colonies of penguins - some are flourishing while others have undergone a significant population fall.
New ways of checking-in and monitoring luggage are being developed in an effort to make flying easier for passengers and end the misery of lost luggage.
Among the innovators, Australian airline Qantas says its technology can track luggage anywhere in the world while a new check-in process could take less than a minute.
