Bare Minimum News

I would make use of a news/current affairs service that feeds you only what you need to know in order to be able to hold a 5 minute conversation (enough time for you to diplomatically steer the conversation elsewhere). Useful for topics that you're not interested in (and therefore do not want to invest time finding out about), but which come up in conversation and about which you don't want to be caught out. Delivered via RSS, SMS, email, etc