Obama says ‘fiscal cliff’ deal is within sight but some issues still unresolved

President Obama said Monday that an agreement to avoid the worst effects of the year-end fiscal cliff is “within sight,” but he stressed that a deal is “not done yet,” and House Republican leaders announced they would hold no votes Monday night, ensuring that the nation would go over the “fiscal cliff” for at least a day. The Senate was moving, however, toward a late-night or early-morning...

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No House vote before US 'fiscal cliff' deadline

WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives will not vote on Monday on an 11th-hour proposal to prevent the country from tottering over the so-called "fiscal cliff," a senior Republican source told AFP.US markets will not immediately feel the shock of the failure as January 1 is a public holiday, giving lawmakers a short breathing space in which to hammer out a stop-gap deal and pass it...

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Global rights bodies slam India for 'weak' rape laws

NEW DELHI: The Indian government has come under attack from global human rights bodies for its inadequate laws against sexual violence or treatment of survivors.Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said, "The government needs to act now to prevent sexual assault, aggressively investigate and prosecute perpetrators, and ensure the dignified treatment of survivors."The US embassy,...

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Space Pictures This Week: Ice “Broccoli,” Solar Storm

Happy TrailsPhotograph by Alex Cherney, TWANAmateur astronomer Alex Cherney captured these star trails as they blazed above Lake Tyrrell, a salt lake in Victoria, Australia in...

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Clinton's Blood Clot Could've Been Life Threatening

Hillary Clinton's latest health update -- cerebral venous thrombosis -- is a rare and potentially "life-threatening" condition, according to medical experts, but one from which the globe-trotting secretary of state is likely to recover from.In an update from her doctors, Clinton's brain scans revealed a clot had formed in the right transverse venous sinus, and she was being...

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NRA fingerprints in landmark health-care law

The words were tucked deep into the sprawling text of President Obama’s signature health-care overhaul. Under the headline, “Protection of Second Amendment Gun Rights,” was a brief provision restricting the ability of doctors to gather data about their patients’ gun use — a largely overlooked but significant challenge to a movement in American medicine to treat firearms as a matter of public...

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Football: Evra vows to banish United's Wigan ghosts

WIGAN, United Kingdom: Manchester United defender Patrice Evra has promised there will be no repeat of last season's debilitating defeat at Wigan Athletic when the sides meet again on New Year's Day.Alex Ferguson's side were beaten 1-0 at the DW Stadium at the start of a run of just one win in four matches that led to Manchester City regaining control of the title race on the way to winning...

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Castrate all rapists, says Zubin Mehta

BEIJING: World famous composer of Indian origin, Zubin Mehta, called for castration of all accused in the Delhi gang-rape case and others found committing the rape in India. He expressed excitement about the protests against the gang-rape of Nirbhaya and expects positive changes to come out of it. "I am fuming, but I see a very healthy sign of public objection, public demonstration. I hope it will...

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How to Banish That New Year's Eve Hangover

For those of us who enjoy the occasional cocktail, the holiday season would be incomplete without certain treats of the liquid variety. Some look forward to the creamy charms of rum-laced eggnog; others anticipate cupfuls of high-octane punch or mugs of warm, spiced wine.No matter what's in your glass, raising one as the year winds down is tradition. What could be more festive? The problem...

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Fiscal Cliff-Hanger: No Vote Tonight, Reid Says

With less than two days remaining for Congress to reach a budget agreement that would avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff," a senior White House official tells ABC News that President Obama is still "modestly optimistic" that a deal can be struck to prevent middle class taxes from increasing on New Year's Day.But a resolution to the ordeal won't come tonight.Senate Majority Leader...

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Yen rebounds slightly against dollar

NEW YORK: The yen edged higher against the dollar Friday after days of declines on expectations Japan would implement more monetary easing under its new prime minister.The dollar stood at 85.98 yen around 2200 GMT, down from 86.09 late Thursday.In Asian trade earlier in the day, the yen sat at more than two-year lows against the greenback.Investors have been selling the yen on expectations...

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C-form mandatory even for non-commercial homes

MANALI: Befriending foreign nationals and offering them one-night accommodations in houses can put owners in trouble as Himachal Police is keeping a close watch over people to check if they are filling the C-form, a registration form for foreigners, to collect information about guest from abroad.As the number of foreigners visiting Himachal is increasing every year, police have taken this safety...

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How to Banish That New Year's Eve Hangover

For those of us who enjoy the occasional cocktail, the holiday season would be incomplete without certain treats of the liquid variety. Some look forward to the creamy charms of rum-laced eggnog; others anticipate cupfuls of high-octane punch or mugs of warm, spiced wine.No matter what's in your glass, raising one as the year winds down is tradition. What could be more festive? The problem...

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'Cliff' Summit Brings Hope for a Deal

Political brinkmanship appears to have created a last minute chance for the White House and Congress to agree on a plan to avoid sending the country over the fiscal cliff.President Obama emerged from an Oval Office meeting with Congressional leaders this evening to say "we had a constructive meeting today" and that he was "moderately optimistic" that they could devise a federal...

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Egypt's Mubarak back in hospital as health worsens

CAIRO: Egypt's state prosecutor on Thursday ordered imprisoned former dictator Hosni Mubarak transferred to a military hospital after his health deteriorated, a source at the prosecutor's office said.Mubarak, serving a life sentence over the killings of protesters, was briefly taken to hospital on December 19 for scans after he fell in his prison bathroom and hurt his head.Mubarak, 84,...

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Varun Gandhi likely to contest Lok Sabha 2014 from Sultanpur

LUCKNOW: Pilibhit MP of the Bharatiya Janata Party Varun Gandhi might contest 2014 Lok Sabha election from Sultanpur-the constituency adjoining Amethi represented by his cousin Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi. Congress' Sanjay Singh is the sitting MP from Sultanpur.So far, two things have actually given credence to the speculation that Varun might contest from Sultanpur. A team of around...

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How to Live to a Ripe Old Age

Cento di questi giorni. May you have a hundred birthdays, the Italians say, and some of them do. So do other people in various spots around the world—in Blue Zones, so named by National Geographic Fellow Dan Buettner for the blue ink that outlines these special areas on maps developed over more than a decade. (National Geographic News is part of the National Geographic Society.)In his...

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Retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf Dead at 78

Retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who topped an illustrious military career by commanding the U.S.-led international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait in 1991 but kept a low public profile in controversies over the second Gulf War against Iraq, died Thursday. He was 78.Schwarzkopf died in Tampa, Fla., where he had lived in retirement, according to...

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U.S. will hit debt limit on Dec. 31, Treasury Department says

The U.S. government will hit the $16.4 trillion federal debt limit on Monday and turn to “extraordinary measures” to continue borrowing, the Treasury Department said Wednesday, beginning a countdown until Congress either passes legislation to allow for more borrowing or the government defaults on its debt. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said in a letter to senior lawmakers that...

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US to reach debt limit on New Years Eve

WASHINGTON: The United States government will reach its statutory 16.39-trillion-dollar debt limit -- a ceiling imposed by Congress -- on Monday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said.In a letter Wednesday to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Geithner said the treasury would take "extraordinary measures" to postpone the day the US could default on its liabilities, but could not say...

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Delhi gang rape case: Witnesses stick to stand, say constable Subhash Tomar wasn’t hit

NEW DELHI: The two eyewitnesses, a young man and woman, who had first extended their help to Delhi Police constable Subhash Tomar stuck to their claim on Wednesday that when they found the cop at Tilak Marg, neither had he been attacked by anyone, nor did he have any external injury. The woman, Paulene, was at India Gate since Saturday. On Sunday, when protesters began to throw stones, she pleaded...

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Space Pictures This Week: Green Lantern, Supersonic Star

Green LanternImage courtesy Caltech/SSI/NASAAnother glorious, backlit view of the planet Saturn and its rings has been captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, as seen in a picture...

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WH Lashes Out at 'Congressional Stupidity'

With only days to come up with a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, the White House said “congressional stupidity” was damaging the economy but that an agreement could be reached if Republican leaders don’t get in the way.President Obama cut his Hawaiian vacation short and headed back to Washington today while the Senate is scheduled to reconvene on Thursday. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said...

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FreedomWorks tea party group nearly falls apart in fight between old and new guard

The day after Labor Day, just as campaign season was entering its final frenzy, FreedomWorks, the Washington-based tea party organization, went into free fall. Richard K. Armey, the group’s chairman and a former House majority leader, walked into the group’s Capitol Hill offices with his wife, Susan, and an aide holstering a handgun at his waist. The aim was to seize control of the group...

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Dollar hits new 20-month high, tops 85 yen

TOKYO: The dollar rose past 85.00 yen in early Asian trade on Wednesday on expectations that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) would take more monetary easing steps under pressure from the incoming government.The greenback was at 85.10 yen shortly after 0000 GMT, the first time above 85.00 yen since April 2011 and up from 84.78 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade on Tuesday.The Japanese currency has been...

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