President Obama’s remarks on the fiscal cliff negotiations, Dec. 28, 2012 (Transcript)

Here’s a running transcript of President Obama’s remarks on the status of the fiscal cliff negotiations after meeting with congressional leaders during the afternoon on Dec. 28, 2012. Remarks are being updated as they unfold. More Coverage: Senate leaders pledge to work through weekend to avert ‘cliff,’ PRESIDENT OBAMA: Good afternoon everybody. For the past few months, I’ve been...

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'Cliff' pessimism delivers US stocks another loss

NEW YORK: US stocks sank for a fifth straight day Friday, showing more doubts that politicians will be able to agree a deal to fix the fiscal cliff with only days before the year-end deadline.Shares were cautiously lower for most of the day after President Barack Obama returned from his vacation early to try to broker a deal with Democrat and Republican congressional leaders in the White...

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Women suffer big in India's state vs rebels war

NEW DELHI: * Soni Sori, a tribal teacher in a government school in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh, was arrested in October last year on charges of being a courier between the Maoists and Essar Group which has mining interests in the region. She alleged that she had been sexually assaulted by the Chhattisgarh police and a Kolkata hospital that examined her had found stones in her private parts and rectum....

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Body Under British Parking Lot May Be King Richard III

For centuries, William Shakespeare seemed to have the last word. His Richard III glowered and leered from the stage, a monster in human form and a character so repugnant "that dogs bark at me as I halt by them." In Shakespeare's famous play, the hunchbacked king claws his way to the throne and methodically murders most of his immediate family—his wife, older brother, and two young nephews—until...

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Woman Tied to Gun in NY Firefighter Ambush

Authorities have charged a woman for allegedly providing a convicted killer with the Bushmaster AR-15 assault rifle he used when he ambushed four volunteer firefighters and an off-duty cop at a fire scene in upstate New York on Christmas Eve, federal prosecutors said.Dawn Nguyen, 24, was arrested today after allegedly making an illegal purchase of the weapon used by William...

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US stocks down as "fiscal cliff" deadline nears

NEW YORK: US stocks dipped Thursday in the absence of a deal to avert a "fiscal cliff" crisis as an end-of-year deadline crept closer.The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the session down 18.28 points (0.14 percent) at 13,096.31.The broad-market S&P 500 slipped 1.73 points (0.12 percent) at 1,418.10 while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite shed 4.25 points (0.14 percent) at 2,985.91.Washington...

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Nirbhaya’s will power pulling her through: Amar Singh

NEW DELHI: It is Nirbhaya's sheer will power that she has pulled through this critical state, said Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh who is recuperating in Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore where she was flown to on Wednesday night. Singh said Nirbhaya was "as stable as she was in Delhi" which is an "achievement", raising hopes amid grim signals over what the future holds for the tenacious girl....

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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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Utah Teachers Flock to Gun Training

The perception of schools as sanctuaries from violence has been "blown up" by recent events and some believe it's time for educators to literally take the situation into their own hands and carry guns."We've had this unwritten code, even among criminals, that schools are off limits. Those are our kids. You don't mess with that," Utah Shooting Sports Council (USSC) Chairman Clark...

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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 stocks dip in absence of 'fiscal cliff' deal

NEW YORK: US stocks fell Wednesday amid uncertainty about whether a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" could be reached by an end-of-year deadline.The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 24.49 points (0.19 percent) to finish the session at 13,114.59.The broad-market S&P 500 lost 6.83 points (0.48 percent) at 1,419.83, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite shed 22.44 points (0.74 percent)...

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Manmohan congratulates Japan's new PM Shinzo Abe

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday congratulated Shinzo Abe, the new PM of Japan, on the victory of his Liberal Democratic Party in the general elections recently held in Japan. The PM underlined the importance of the strategic and global partnership between India and Japan and noted that Abe has been a key architect of this partnership, sources said. He emphasized that the bilateral...

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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 an agreement can 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 said previously...

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Federal workers feel unease over potential layoffs, furloughs unleashed by ‘fiscal cliff’

Federal employees have been skeptical for months that the biggest cuts to government spending in history could really happen. But with the “fiscal cliff” a week away, workers are now growing increasingly alarmed that their jobs and their missions could be on the line. President Obama and members of Congress headed out of town late last week for a Christmas break without reaching a deal...

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Hawkish Abe to be named Japan's next prime minister

TOKYO: Japan's conservative leader Shinzo Abe is to be named as the country's new prime minister Wednesday, after he swept to power on a hawkish platform of getting tough on diplomacy while fixing the economy.The powerful lower house will name the 58-year-old as leader in an extraordinary session Wednesday afternoon, following a resounding national election victory for his Liberal Democratic...

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i-age protests rob govt comfort zone

NEW DELHI: Frequent street mobilization with participation of politically non-aligned public has left parties and governments bereft of the comfort of not being seriously questioned or held to account in between elections when voters express their anger through the ballot. Activists and opposition leaders argue that the response of the government to a swiftly developing situation like the one that...

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Photos: Humboldt Squid Have a Bad Day at the Beach

Photograph by Chris Elmenhurst, Surf the Spot Photography“Strandings have been taking place with increased frequency along the west coast over the past ten years,” noted NOAA’s Field, “as this population of squid seems to be expanding its range—likely a consequence of climate change—and can be very abundant at times.” (Learn about other jumbo squid strandings.)Humboldt squid are typically found in...

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Gunman Killed Firemen With Bushmaster, Left Note

A convicted killer, who shot dead two firefighters with a Bushmaster assault rifle after leading them into an ambush when they responded to a house fire he set in Western New York, left behind a typewritten note saying he wanted to "do what I like doing best, killing people," police said.William Spengler, 62, set his home and a car on fire early Monday morning with the intention...

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Son of late icon Kennedy rules out US Senate run

WASHINGTON: A son of late political icon Edward Kennedy said Monday he will not run for the US Senate in Massachusetts -- the same state his father represented for nearly five decades -- US media reported.Edward Kennedy Jr's brother, former US representative Patrick Kennedy, had said over the weekend that the health care lawyer was seriously considering running for the US Senate seat that...

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Govt draws up plan to revamp cyber security of critical sectors

NEW DELHI: In its bid to meet the challenge of ever increasing cyber attacks and security in the virtual world, the government has set in motion a five-year project to revamp the entire cyber security apparatus of critical sectors in the country. In the past one year, India has suffered 13,000 cyber incidents. The responsibility for the job has been vested in National Critical Information Infrastructure...

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Pictures: Fungi Get Into the Holiday Spirit

Photograph courtesy Stephanie Mounaud, J. Craig Venter InstituteMounaud combined different fungi to create a Santa hat and spell out a holiday message.Different fungal grow at different rates, so Mounaud's artwork rarely lasts for long. There's only a short window of time when they actually look like what they're suppose to."You do have to keep that in perspective when you're making these creations,"...

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4 Firefighters Shot, 2 Killed in NY 'Trap'

A man who served nearly 17 years in jail for killing his grandmother set a house and car on fire this morning in upstate New York and then began shooting at emergency personnel who showed up, killing two firefighters, police said.In all, William Spengler, 62, shot four firefighters, killing two and severely injuring two more after setting his "trap," police said.An off-duty...

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Obama’s impact on federal judiciary

It takes a calculator and perhaps the rigor of Sherlock Holmes to cut through the partisan rhetoric about President Obama’s first-term record on judicial nominations. But the bottom line is clear enough. There are more vacancies on the federal courts now than when Obama took office nearly four years ago. And he is the first president in generations to fail to put a nominee on the U.S....

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Israel's Lieberman may face tougher charges: ministry

JERUSALEM: Israel's ex-foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, who quit this month after being charged with breach of trust five weeks ahead of a general election, may have the charges against him toughened, the justice ministry said Sunday.Media reports said police will question Lieberman, head of the ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, this week in an inquiry relating to the promotion...

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BJP seeks all-party meet, BSP wants special session to enact law for crimes against women

NEW DELHI: Bahajan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Sunday joined BJP in demanding a special session of Parliament to enact a stringent law for rape and crimes against women. Mayawati also demanded passage of the bill on quota in promotions for SCs/STs in the same session. In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the BSP chief sought a special session to amend laws relating to crime against...

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Pictures: Fungi Get Into the Holiday Spirit

Photograph courtesy Stephanie Mounaud, J. Craig Venter InstituteMounaud combined different fungi to create a Santa hat and spell out a holiday message.Different fungal grow at different rates, so Mounaud's artwork rarely lasts for long. There's only a short window of time when they actually look like what they're suppose to."You do have to keep that in perspective when you're making these creations,"...

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NRA Chief LaPierre: 'Call Me Crazy'

National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre fired back at his critics today, defending his proposal to put armed guards in every school in the country as a way to prevent future tragedies like the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that took the lives of 20 children and six adults."If it's crazy to call for armed officers in our schools to protect our children, then call...

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