As China grows in power and influence, few countries are feeling the effects more than neighboring Kazakhstan.

Having broken from its past as a Soviet republic, Kazakhstan now has an up-and-coming economy and a desire to be a player on the world stage. China seems to be offering just what Kazakhstan needs — billions of dollars in foreign investment and deeper political ties with real-world powers.

But many people in Kazakhstan have a plea: not too fast.

The results of Kentucky’s May 17th primary election have been officially certified.  It took the State Board of Elections less than an hour to go over the numbers and certify the primary vote tallies.  Secretary of State Elaine Walker says the only exception to the election night vote count was addressed in a recanvass conducted two weeks ago. 

A Pakistani general being urged to clear out a strategic area along his country's border with Afghanistan says his troops are engaged in active operations in the region, and Pakistan alone shouldn't be blamed for cross-border militancy.

Lt. Gen. Asif Yasin Malik, who commands Pakistan's Eleventh Corps, tells NPR's Steve Inskeep that perceptions his troops can't enter North Waziristan are incorrect.

"We're already there," he says. "I have five brigades over there — about 20,000-25,000 troops."

Later this week, Vice President Biden will host another meeting with Republican and Democratic lawmakers, looking for ways to reduce the federal budget deficit.

The red ink they'll be discussing reflects both government spending and deliberate moves to reduce taxes, including a major round of cuts signed into law by President George W. Bush ten years ago Tuesday.

The signing ceremony was originally going to be outdoors, on the South Lawn of the White House, but rain forced a hasty relocation to the East Room.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates says that pension and health care costs are eating the U.S. military alive. And the Pentagon predicts that the cost of taking care of its troops and retirees will keep growing.

Retired Maj. Gen. Arnold Punaro gets a lot of hate mail, because he's talking about something a whole lot of people don't want to hear about: the rising costs of military health and pension benefits.

"We in the Department of Defense are on the same path that General Motors found itself on," he says.

Former convicts can have a difficult time finding a job, especially when the economy is weak.

But at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, a women's prison in Oregon, inmates can learn how to reverse that trend. A course called Lifelong Information For Entrepreneurs, or LIFE, is designed to provide inmates the skills to start their own small businesses after they are released.

First Lady Michelle Obama received a lot of attention for her vegetable garden on the South Lawn of the White House. The garden, which provides vegetables both for the first family and for state dinners, was also meant to provide Americans with an example of how to eat more healthfully.

As it turns out, Washington has a long tradition of trying to guide the American diet, going back over 200 years. Founding fathers like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin brought plants like rice and olives from their missions abroad to see how they would fare in their own country.

Cash-strapped states are rethinking how much health care coverage they can afford to provide for their neediest residents. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie wants to cut $500 million in Medicaid spending — in part by freezing more than 20,000 state residents out of the program. Critics say the cuts would hurt those who can least afford it.

For years, New Jersey expanded health care coverage for low-income residents — people like Deborah Shupenko of Passaic. But last month, after 10 years of state-funded health insurance, Shupenko got a letter in the mail.

If Rep. Anthony Weiner, the New York congressman who on Monday admitted that he lied when he denied sending lewd photos to and "sexting" with six women over the last three years says he's not resigning.

Maybe he can survive. But events are largely out of his hands now as they have been ever since the scandal broke over the Memorial Day weekend.

Here are some reasons why he could get past this and some reasons why he might not.

Let's start with the reasons he could hang on.

The U.S. Supreme Court is now heading down the stretch toward the end of its current term, with major decisions still outstanding, and 27 cases overall yet to be decided. On Monday, the justices issued a variety of opinions of particular interest to the business community, and left intact a California policy that gives illegal aliens in-state college tuition benefits.

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