In the news

The Duchess of Cambridge , the former Kate Middleton who married Britain’s Prince William last year, has accepted honorary positions with charities that deal with a range of issues, including drug addiction and helping young people, St. James’s Palace said.

Bobby Joe Rogers , 41, was arrested on federal charges of setting a New Year’s fire that gutted American Family Planning, a Florida Panhandle abortion clinic long targeted by violence and protests.

Joseph P. Kennedy III , 31, a grandson of the late Robert F. Kennedy, announced he was leaving his job as a prosecutor to explore running for Congress as a Democrat in Massachusetts’ 4th District, which has been represented for 30 years by outgoing Democrat Barney Frank.

Gal Ilan , spokesman for Israel’s Ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs, said an initiative encouraging minority groups and members of the homosexual community to step forward and speak about Israel around the world was meant to highlight the nation’s diversity.

Ehud Barak , Israeli defense minister, said the Jewish state, which recently traded 1,027 Palestinian prisoners for one soldier held by Hamas, is planning to establish rules that will bar it from making such a lopsided exchange in the future.

Warren Buffett , the billionaire investor, will play guitar and sing in a video celebrating the Jan. 23 Lunar New Year, to be broadcast by a website owned by China Central Television, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Kyle Bower , 19, was sworn in as the newest member of the Borough Council in Alburtis, Pa., hours after pleading guilty to stalking and escape charges, and being sentenced to probation.

Rachelle Atkinson and her husband, Scott, of Albuquerque, N.M., hunted everywhere they could think of for her lost $4,500 wedding ring before suspicions turned to their 10-monthold basset hound, Coraline, who received a trip to the veterinarian where X-rays confirmed that the ring was lodged in her stomach and the vet had to fish it out.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz., who has built a national reputation for his hard-line attitude toward illegal immigration and been accused by the U.S. Department of Justice of discriminating against Hispanics, said he will seek a sixth four-year term.