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We had a complicated problem on our kitchen table in Jerusalem. A stack of homemade birthday thank-you notes, tucked in brightly colored envelopes, ready to be whisked off to friends in the U.S. And a commemorative packet of Israeli stamps in all sorts of different denominations, none of which added up to the 6.20 NIS (6 New Israeli Shekels, 20 agorot, or $1.74) it took to mail a letter or postcard from here to the States.

Postage Around The World

In the U.S., it costs $1.10 to send an overseas letter weighing up to 3.5 ounces (or approximately 100 grams). How does the rest of the world compare? Here's a roundup of what it costs for a U.S.-bound missive.

South Africa: 66 cents (up to 50 grams)

Russia: 88 cents (20g ); $2.19 (100g)

Brazil: 95 cents (50g)

Saudi Arabia: $1.07 (50g)

U.S.: $1.10 (approx. 100g)

Jamaica: $1.15 (15g, Caribbean, North and South America), $1.35 (Europe), $1.74 (rest of the world)

Ireland: $1.22 (50g)

Mauritania: $1.23 (100g)

Great Britain: $1.41 (10g); $5.59 (100g)

China: $1.63 (50g)

France: $1.90 (50g)

Japan: $1.96 (50g)

Australia: $2.46 (50g)

Denmark: $2.64 (50g)

Argentina: $2.75 (20g, within the Americas); $2.92 (outside the Americas)

Note: Converted to U.S. dollars on Oct. 8 and 9, 2013

Sachin Tendulkar, the man who is to Indian cricket what Babe Ruth is to baseball, says he'll retire in November after his 200th test match, ending a more than two-decade-long career in which he broke many of the sport's batting records.

"All my life, I have had a dream of playing cricket for India. I have been living this dream every day for the last 24 years," Tendulkar said in a statement Thursday. "It's hard for me to imagine a life without playing cricket because it's all I have ever done since I was 11 years old. It's been a huge honor to have represented my country and played all over the world. I look forward to playing my 200th Test Match on home soil, as I call it a day."

The announcement, which was expected, marks the end of an era for Indian cricket. Tendulkar, along with the West Indies' Brian Lara, entertained the sport's fans with his batting prowess through much of the 1990s and 2000s. And though his powers waned slightly, his zeal for the game and his fans' enthusiasm for him did not.

For an excellent summary of Tendulkar's 24-year career, visit ESPNCricinfo. In this video, the website also chronicles why Tendulkar is so beloved in the cricketing world:

As the federal government shutdown drags on, a potentially pivotal group of House Republicans has entered the spotlight: the roughly 20 or so members who have publicly signaled their support for a so-called "clean" spending bill that would provide the funding necessary to reopen the government without strings attached.

There are various tallies of how many members fall into this camp. Our best estimate, based on recent statements and the lists compiled by several media outlets [here, here and here] is 21.

So what unites the 21 congressmen who are willing to break with GOP leadership?

First, there's a regional connection: most hail from either the Northeast, Virginia or Florida — in other words, some of the more politically competitive (or least Republican) turf in the nation.

In addition, more than half of these congressional Republicans represent districts with above-average percentages of government employees.

The recent electoral history in many of these seats suggests they're the kinds of places where a tough primary challenge is less of a threat than a tough general election fight — which isn't the case for the bulk of the House GOP.

All of the congressmen advanced through their primary elections comfortably in 2012 — in fact, more than half had no primary opposition at all.

Here's a list of the Republicans who would support a "clean" spending bill, and some background on how their congressional districts voted in recent elections:

Rep. Tim Griffin (Ark. 2)

2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 55%
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 55%
Percentage of Government Workers: 20%

Rep. Mike Coffman (Colo. 6)

2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 49%
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Obama 52%
Percentage of Government Workers: 12%

Rep. Bill Young (Fla. 13)

2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 58%
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: 69%
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Obama 50%
Percentage of Government Workers: 11%

Rep. Dennis Ross (Fla. 15)

2012 General Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 53%
Percentage of Government Workers: 14%

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (Fla. 25)

2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 76%
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 51%
Percentage of Government Workers: 10%

Rep. Erik Paulsen (Minn. 3)

2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 58%
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: 90%
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Obama 50%
Percentage of Government Workers: 9%

Rep. Frank LoBiondo (N.J. 2)

2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 58%
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: 87%
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Obama 54%
Percentage of Government Workers: 17%

Rep. Jon Runyan (N.J. 3)

2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 54%
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Obama 52%
Percentage of Government Workers: 19%

Rep. Peter King (N.Y. 2)

2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 59%
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Obama 52%
Percentage of Government Workers: 17%

Rep. Mike Grimm (N.Y. 11)

2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 53%
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Obama 52%
Percentage of Government Workers: 19%

Rep. Richard Hanna (N.Y. 22)

2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 61%
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: 71%
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 49%
Percentage of Government Workers: 20%

Rep. Walter Jones (N.C. 3)

2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 63%
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: 69%
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 58%
Percentage of Government Workers: 22%

Rep. Tom Cole (Okla. 4)

2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 68%
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: 88%
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 67%
Percentage of Government Workers: 22%

Rep. Jim Gerlach (Pa. 6)

2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 57%
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 51%
Percentage of Government Workers: 9%

Rep. Patrick Meehan (Pa. 7)

2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 59%
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 50%
Percentage of Government Workers: 10%

Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (Pa. 8)

2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 57%
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 49%
Percentage of Government Workers: 9%

Rep. Charles Dent (Pa. 15)

2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 57%
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 51%
Percentage of Government Workers: 10%

Rep. Rob Wittman (Va. 1)

2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 56%
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 49%
Percentage of Government Workers: 24%

Rep. Scott Rigell (Va. 2)

2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 54%
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Obama 50%
Percentage of Government Workers: 22%

Rep. Frank Wolf (Va. 10)

2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 59%
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: Unopposed
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Romney 50%
Percentage of Government Workers: 19%

Rep. Dave Reichert (Wash. 8)

2012 General Election Winning Percentage: 60%
2012 Primary Election Winning Percentage: 51%
2012 Presidential Election Winner: Obama 50%
Percentage of Government Workers: 16%

Election data from the CQ Voting and Elections Collection. Government worker data from the 2011 U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey.

CBGB

Director: Randall Miller

Genre: Comedy, drama, musical

Running Time: 103 minutes

Rated R for language throughout, some sexual content, drug use, and a scene of violence.

With: Alan Rickman, Malin Akerman, Stana Katic, Rupert Grint