Monday, December 3, 2012

GOP issues new 'fiscal cliff' offer to Obama

GOP issues new 'fiscal cliff' offer to Obama

GOP issues new 'fiscal cliff' offer to Obama

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:44 PM PST

FILE - This Nov. 29, 2012 file photo shows House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. House Republicans negotiating with President Barack Obama on avoiding the so-called fiscal cliff are proposing to increase the eligibility age for Medicare and to lower cost-of-living hikes in Social Security benefits. Boehner said the GOP proposal is a "credible plan" for Obama and that he hopes the administration would "respond in a timely and responsible way." (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)House Republicans on Monday proposed a new 10-year, $2.2 trillion blueprint to President Barack Obama that calls for increasing the eligibility age for Medicare and lowering cost-of-living hikes for Social Security benefits.

Obama thanks Bulgaria for Afghanistan efforts

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:38 PM PST

President Barack Obama shakes hands with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov during their meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, Dec. 3, 2012. The two leaders will discuss Bulgaria's role in NATO and its contributions to NATO-led efforts in Afghanistan. They'll also discuss ongoing legal reforms in Bulgaria. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)President Barack Obama is thanking Bulgaria for its contributions and sacrifices in the U.S.-lead war in Afghanistan.

Belcher's family: We're praying for Perkins family

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:37 PM PST

People stand by a small shrine outside the Long Island home of Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher, Monday, Dec. 3, 2012, in West Babylon, N.Y. People living at and visiting the home stopped and recited a prayer at the shrine on Monday. On Saturday, Belcher killed his girlfriend and himself in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Frank Eltman)The family of Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher, who shot and killed his girlfriend before killing himself, says they're having difficulty dealing with the "inconceivable tragedy."

Three Cups of Tea co-author Relin commits suicide

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:37 PM PST

This 2006 photo released by Viking shows Greg Mortenson, left, and David Oliver Relin, co-authors of the best-selling book "Three Cups of Tea." Relin committed suicide in Corbett, Ore., outside Portland, on Nov. 14, said the deputy Multnomah County medical examiner, Peter Bellant, Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. Relin was 49. (AP Photo/Viking, Steven Winslow)David Oliver Relin, co-author of the best-selling book "Three Cups of Tea," said in legal filings about a year before his recent suicide that his career suffered from allegations of lies in the story of a humanitarian who built schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

La. town evacuates; police relocate explosives

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:36 PM PST

Louisiana town evacuated over explosivesA town in northwest Louisiana was being evacuated and state police were starting a criminal investigation of a company after finding about 6 million pounds of explosive material used in howitzers they say was stored illegally.

5 states to increase class time in some schools

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:36 PM PST

FILE - In this Jan. 12, 2012 file photo, Education Secretary Arne Duncan speaks at Lincoln High School in Gahanna, Ohio. School for thousands of public school students is about to get quite a bit longer. Five states announced Monday, Dec. 3, 2012, they will add at least 300 hours of learning time to the calendar in some schools starting in 2013. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete, File)Open your notebooks and sharpen your pencils. School for thousands of public school students is about to get quite a bit longer.

Elizabeth Price wins UK's Turner Prize for arts

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:36 PM PST

Video artist Elizabeth Price, who uses collage and clutter to explore people's relationship to consumer culture, was named the winner of British art's much-coveted — and much-mocked — Turner Prize on Monday.

Oil up as China manufacturing offsets weak US data

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:32 PM PST

In this Friday March 16, 2012 photo, made available March 26, 2012, oil rigs belonging to PetroChina are seen near the banks of a snow covered lake in Daqing in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province. The price of oil rose slightly Monday Dec. 3, 2012, as a strong manufacturing report from China countered a weak one in the U.S. An index measuring manufacturing in China showed expansion in November for the first time in 13 months. China is the world's second-largest economy and a huge consumer of oil. A better economy there suggests that energy consumption is likely to grow, pushing oil prices higher. (AP Photo) CHINA OUTAn early spike in the price of oil was short-lived on Monday, as optimism about a strong manufacturing report from China gave way to worries here at home.

Israel feels heat from allies over settlements

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:31 PM PST

A view of the Jewish West Bank settlement of Maaleh Adumim, with E1, background, near Jerusalem, Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. Israel on Sunday roundly rejected the United Nations' endorsement of an independent state of Palestine, and announced it would withhold more than $100 million owed to the Palestinians in retaliation for their successful statehood bid. Israel has a master plan to build 3,600 apartments and 10 hotels on the section of territory east of Jerusalem known as E1. The Palestinians have warned that such construction would kill any hope for the creation of a viable state of Palestine. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)A defiant Israel rejected a wave of American and European condemnations Monday over plans to build thousands of new homes in West Bank settlements, vowing to press forward with the construction in the face of widespread international opposition.

UK's Duchess of Cambridge expecting a baby

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:29 PM PST

FILE- Britain's Prince William, left, and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, visit a football training pitch at St George's Park near Burton Upon Trent in Staffordshire, England, in this file photo dated Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that the Duchess of Cambridge is expecting a baby, St James's Palace officially announced Monday Dec. 3, 2012.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, FILE)The most widely anticipated pregnancy since Princess Diana's in 1981 is official: Prince William's wife, Kate, is pregnant.

Coast Guardsman dies when boat rammed off Calif

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:27 PM PST

CORRECTS DATE OF CRASH TO SUNDAY, NOT MONDAY - In this Aug. 29, 2011 photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, a Rescue Helicopter from Airs Station Los Angeles conducts a close fly-by of the Coast Guard Cutter Halibut. A smuggler's vessel rammed a small U.S. Coast Guard boat deployed by the cutter Halibut, off the Southern California coast early Sunday Dec. 2, 2012, killing one Coast Guard member and injuring another, authorities said. The cutter was conducting an investigation into suspected smuggling near the Channel Islands west of Malibu. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard/Steve Lee)The commanding officer of the U.S Coast Guard cutter Halibut says he is devastated by death of a crewmember in a collision between a suspected smuggling boat and a small Coast Guard boat off Southern California.

Congo rebels stake out positions near Goma

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:26 PM PST

M23 rebel fighters are seen walking up a hill overlooking Goma, six kilometers from the center of the eastern Congo city, Monday Dec. 3, 2012. Rebels, who finally withdrew from this regional capital over the weekend, said they are waiting for a 48-hour deadline to expire on Monday afternoon, before deciding if they will take back the city. After a nearly two-week occupation, the M23 rebel group agreed to leave Goma on the condition that Congo's government enters into negotiations with them by 2 p.m. Monday. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)Congolese soldiers took control of this strategic city of 1 million on Monday, but rebels staked out positions just 3 kilometers (1.6 miles) away as they waited for the government to respond to an afternoon deadline to start negotiations.

Small-bore proposals to help avert fiscal cliff

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:23 PM PST

FILE - This Nov. 15, 2011 file photo shows Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, a member of last year's failed Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, pursued by reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. Sure, the rich are going to pay higher taxes. But an upcoming budget deal may also mean higher airline ticket prices, phasing out Saturday mail delivery and added prescription drug costs for the military. Negotiators are also looking to claim cuts to farm subsidies and modest curbs to food stamps as they seek to accumulate savings toward a multi-trillion-dollar budget pact. "All this stuff is hard. There's nothing easy here," says Portman, R-Ohio, which sifted through a long roster of often arcane budget cuts and new fees. "But if everybody feels like everybody else is contributing, it makes it easier." (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)Sure the rich may have to pay more in taxes. But a "fiscal cliff" budget deal could mean pain for nearly everyone else, too: higher airline ticket prices, for example, an end to Saturday mail delivery, fewer food stamps and lower farm subsidies.

Peru asks UN court to set sea border with Chile

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:22 PM PST

Peru's ambassador Allen Wagner, left, shakes hands with Chile's ambassador Albert van Klaveren Stork, right, prior to the start of hearings in a dispute between Peru and Chile over the two countries' maritime boundary at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Monday Dec. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)Peru asked the U.N.'s highest court Monday to set a maritime border between it and Chile, in a case that could greatly expand the amount of rich seas under Peru's control off the two Andean neighbors' Pacific coasts.

NY's Wang named designer at Paris' Balenciaga

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:21 PM PST

FILE - This Sept. 8, 2012 file photo shows designer Alexander Wang after his Spring 2013 collection was modeled during Fashion Week, in New York. Wang is taking over the creative direction of storied Paris fashion house Balenciaga.The company made the announcement on Monday, Dec. 3, that 28-year-old Wang would fill the spot vacated last month by Nicolas Ghesquiere. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, file)Young downtown designer Alexander Wang is taking over the creative direction of storied Paris fashion label Balenciaga, likely bringing his cool-girl, sporty look to a house made famous by its founder for graceful, fluid lines.

Family of slain girlfriend breaks their silence

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:20 PM PST

Dos investigadores conversan en el exterior de la vivienda en Independence, Misurí, en la que el linebacker Jovan Belcher, de los Chiefs de Kansas City, mató a tiros a su novia antes de suicidarse, el sábado 1 de diciembre de 2012. (Foto AP/Charlie Riedel)The family of the woman shot and killed by Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher this weekend says they are broken-hearted.

NY Film Critics name 'Zero Dark Thirty' best film

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:17 PM PST

This film image released by Columbia Pictures shows a scene from "Zero Dark Thirty," directed by Kathryn Bigelow. On Monday, Dec. 3, 2012, The New York Film Critics Circle announced their picks for best film and the top performances of the year, one of the first major awards in the drumbeat ahead of the Academy Awards. Best cinematography went to Greg Fraser's work on Kathryn Bigelow's The New York Film Critics Circle have named Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty" the best film of 2012.

Alaska suspect linked to Vermont killing, 5 others

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:16 PM PST

FILE - This undated handout photo provided by the Anchorage Police Department shows Israel Keyes. Keyes, charged in the death of an Alaska barista, has killed himself, and authorities say he was linked to at least seven other possible slayings in three other states. Keyes was found dead in his Anchorage jail cell Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. Officials say it was a suicide. (AP Photo/Anchorage Police, file)A man who apparently committed suicide in an Alaska jail while awaiting trial in the death of an Anchorage barista also killed a Vermont couple last year after traveling across the country looking for someone to kidnap and murder, authorities said Monday. He may be linked to five other possible slayings around the country.

Egypt's crisis widens with planned march, strikes

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:14 PM PST

A supporter of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi holds a banner with his picture and Arabic that reads, "yes for the constitutional declaration to stop corruption," during a protest in front of Egypt's top court, in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Dec. 3, 2012. The Egyptian president's top legal adviser says the country's election commission has begun preparations for the referendum on Dec. 15 on a highly contentious draft constitution. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)Egypt's political crisis is widening, with plans for a huge march and a general strike Tuesday to protest the hurried drafting of a new constitution and decrees by President Mohammed Morsi that gave him nearly unrestricted powers.

More street protests rock tiny EU nation Slovenia

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:14 PM PST

President elect, Slovenia's former prime minister Borut Pahor addresses the media in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. Pahor, who has called for unity in the tiny EU nation amid growing discontent with government tax hikes and spending cuts, won the presidential election. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)Slovenia's prime minister is on trial accused of involvement in a bribery scandal. The main opposition leader — who is also mayor of the capital — is under investigation for alleged corruption. So is the mayor of the EU nation's second-largest city.

High court delays action on same-sex marriage cases

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:13 PM PST

People relax on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court in WashingtonWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday put off deciding whether to enter the legal fray over same-sex marriage - at least until Friday when it could agree to hear one of several pending appeals on the issue. The court's nine justices met in private last Friday to consider whether to review challenges to the U.S. Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal benefits to married same-sex couples, and to California's gay marriage ban, known as Proposition 8. In an "orders list" issued early on Monday, the court made no mention of any of the same-sex marriage cases. ...

GOP proposes new 'fiscal cliff' offer to Obama

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:12 PM PST

House Speaker House John Boehner of Ohio, center, leaves a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, after reporting on his private talks with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on the fiscal cliff negotiations. "No substantive progress has been made between the White House and the House" in the past two weeks, Boehner said. The House Republicans negotiating with President Barack Obama on avoiding the so-called fiscal cliff are proposing to increase the eligibility age for Medicare and to lower cost-of-living hikes in Social Security benefits.

Fed's Bullard urges smaller bond buys to replace Twist

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:08 PM PST

President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis James Bullard poses during an interview at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. LouisLITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve could replace its expiring Operation Twist with a smaller program of outright Treasury purchases and still give the same boost to the economy, a senior U.S. central bank said on Monday. St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said simply replacing the scale of Twist, under which the Fed buys $45 billion in long-term Treasuries each month, and sells a like amount of short-term Treasuries, could stoke inflation. ...

Fed's Bullard: watching recent signs of economic weakness closely

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:08 PM PST

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) - St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said on Monday that he was still forecasting 3.5 percent economic growth next year, but acknowledged that recent signals of activity had been weak. "I am concerned about it and we are watching the data very carefully," Bullard told reporters after delivering remarks here. "Some of the tracking estimates of Q4 (fourth quarter) GDP (gross domestic product) are declining." He said the estimate for 3.5 percent growth in 2013 was based upon U.S. ...

Mitt Romney rejoins Marriott board

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:07 PM PST

Former presidential candidate and Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is getting a new job title: member of Marriott International's board of directors.

Med tech in hepatitis C case pleads not guilty

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:07 PM PST

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Hampshire shows David Kwiatkowski, a former lab technician at Exeter, N.H., Hospital. Kwiatkowski, accused of stealing drugs and infecting patients with hepatitis C through contaminated syringes, is scheduled for arraignment in federal court in Concord, N.H., Monday, Dec. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/U.S. Attorney's Office, File)A traveling hospital worker accused of stealing drugs and infecting patients with hepatitis C through contaminated syringes pleaded not guilty to the charges in federal court on Monday.

Mars rover Curiosity: No surprise in 1st soil test

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:06 PM PST

The Mars rover Curiosity has completed its first chemical test of soil from the red planet, and scientists say there are no surprises so far.

Life in prison for Detroit dad in daughter's death

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:05 PM PST

FILE - In this Dec. 6, 2011 file photo, D'Andre Lane speaks during a news conference at his attorney's office in Detroit. D'Andre Lane, who inspired dozens of people to look for his missing daughter has been sentenced to life in prison without parole Monday, Dec. 3, 2012, for her murder, a year after claiming she was abducted during a carjacking. The 2-year-old girl's body still has not been found. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)A Detroit father who inspired dozens of people to look for his missing 2-year-old daughter was sentenced to life in prison for her murder Monday while repeatedly insisting that she's still alive.

Official: Syria moving chemical weapons components

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:01 PM PST

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney gestures during his daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, Monday, Dec., 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)U.S. and allied intelligence have detected Syrian movement of chemical weapons components in recent days, a senior U.S. defense official said Monday, as the Obama administration strongly warned the Assad regime against using them.

Syrian government spokesman flees country, diplomat says

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:00 PM PST

CAIRO/BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Syrian foreign ministry spokesman, who was the most public face of Bashar al-Assad's government as it battled a 20-month-old uprising, has defected and fled the country, a diplomat in the region said on Monday. Jihad al-Makdissi, who is in his 40s, previously worked at the Syrian embassy in London and returned to Damascus a year ago to serve as spokesman for the ministry, defending the government's crackdown on the revolt against Assad's rule. He had little influence in a system largely run by the security apparatus and the military. ...

More storms with heavy rain to hit drenched Calif.

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:58 AM PST

Traffic moves west along Interstate 80 west of Reno, Nev., as a heavy, wet storm hits Northern Nevada on Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. A powerful storm delivered more snow and less rainfall Sunday to the Sierra than forecast, blunting the flooding danger on the Truckee River in California and Nevada, forecasters said. (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison)Northern California residents recovering from a series of wet, windy storms won't get much of a break.

Storm delays lift already strong US auto sales

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:58 AM PST

In this Thursday, Nov. 8, 2012, photo, a Toyota dealership signs glows over a car lot in Tustin Calif. A better economy and extra demand after Superstorm Sandy lifted U.S. auto sales in November. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)Superstorm Sandy gave an extra boost to already strong U.S. auto sales last month, although carmakers warned that uncertainty over the "fiscal cliff" could undo some of those gains.

US slams Israel on new settlement plan

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:55 AM PST

The Obama administration on Monday harshly criticized its top Mideast ally, Israel, over new settlement construction plans in areas the Palestinians claim for a future state and urged it to rethink them.

Israel arrests settlers suspected of West Bank attacks

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:54 AM PST

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli police arrested three Jewish settlers on Monday whom they suspect of arson and other attacks on Palestinian property in the occupied West Bank. At a time of heightened diplomatic tension over claims to the land, the men were found carrying fuel and spikes shortly after a car was torched in a Palestinian village near Hebron. A police spokesman said they had appeared to be about to conduct a second attack in another village nearby when they were detained. ...

Tagliabue, Saints continue bounty hearings

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:51 AM PST

FILE - This Feb. 4, 2012 file photo shows former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue in Indianapolis. Tagliabue and lawyers for the league and the players' union have arrived in Washington, Thursday for a hearing in the Saints bounties case. Tagliabue is overseeing the latest round of player appeals in Washington. (AP Photo/David Stluka, File)Hearings in the NFL bounty probe of the Saints have resumed with witness appearances by former Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress, Saints assistant head coach Joe Vitt and linebacker Jonathan Vilma.

New EPA rule could upend high court runoff case

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:49 AM PST

Wearing his gray morning coat and striped trousers, Justice Department lawyer Malcolm Stewart was the very picture of Supreme Court propriety Monday as he sought to placate the frustrated Chief Justice John Roberts. The bounds of lawyerly good sense, however, meant Stewart could not utter these four apt words: "I told you so."

Colombia bombs rebel camps, 6 bodies recovered

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:42 AM PST

Colombia's military said Monday that it killed at least 20 Revolutionary Armed Forces insurgents in a weekend air raid on a cluster of guerrilla camps in its most deadly attack on the country's main leftist rebel group since March.

Police: Man shot ex as she played organ at church

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:42 AM PST

An elementary school music teacher shot his ex-wife while she played the organ during a Sunday church service, then returned minutes later to shoot her again and ensure she was dead before congregants stopped and grabbed him, police said.

A bachelorette no more: Ashley Hebert weds beau

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:41 AM PST

FILE - In this publicity file photo provided by ABC, Ashley Hebert, left, kisses J.P. Rosenbaum on the season finale of "The Bachelorette" in Fiji. Hebert got hitched over the weekend in California to J.P. Rosenbaum of Long Island, who proposed to her on the seventh season of the ABC dating reality show. Natalia Desrosiers, spokeswoman for Warner Bros. Television, which produces the show, said the wedding will be aired on Dec. 16 on ABC. (AP Photo/ABC, Matt Klitscher, File)Ashley Hebert (AY'-behr) is no longer a "Bachelorette."

UN pulling staff from Syria, violence near capital

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:38 AM PST

In this Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012 photo, smoke rises from buildings due to heavy fighting between Free Syrian Army fighters and government forces in Aleppo, Syria. (AP Photo/Narciso Contreras)Fighting between rebels and government forces raged near the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday, forcing an inbound commercial jet to turn back while the U.N. said it was withdrawing staff because of deteriorating security conditions.
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