Source: Washington Post

U.S. officially hits debt ceiling

By Felicia Sonmez, Published: MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 6:07 PM ET

As promised, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday night formally notified Congress that the United States has reached its $16.4 trillion debt ceiling.

In a letter to lawmakers, Geithner wrote that the government will take extraordinary measures to extend the deadline until Feb. 28, 2013.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2012/12/31/u-s-officially-hits-debt-ceiling

Source: CBS News / Raw Story

@CBSNews: JUST IN: House will not vote tonight; nation will go over fiscal cliff at midnight

@RyanRuggiero: Breaking: CNBC's Harwood: No Vote in the House Tonight -- U.S. Will Go Over the Fiscal Cliff

Update: No settlement on ‘fiscal cliff’ as House declines a vote

By Arturo Garcia
Monday, December 31, 2012 15:26 EST

The Washington Post reported that the House of Representatives will not hold any votes Monday night, ensuring that the country will enter what lawmakers from both major parties have called the “fiscal cliff.”

The House declined to take action citing a lack of action from the Republican-controlled Senate, the newspaper reported.

This contradicts both an earlier report by Politico via Twitter that Vice-President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Vice President Joe Biden had reached an agreement on Monday preventing the various tax increases and spending cuts they had hoped to avoid amid a public squabble.

NBC News had also reported that tax rates will increase for individuals making more than $400,000 a year, and on households making at least a combined $450,000 per year, citing “Republican sources.”


Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/12/31/report-biden-and-mcconnell-agree-to-settlement-preventing-fiscal-cliff

Source: Reuters

@Reuters: FLASH: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent to hospital with blood clot following concussion: State Department spokesman

Secretary of State Clinton hospitalized with blood clot: spokesman

Sun Dec 30, 2012 8:21pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was sent to the hospital on Sunday with a blood clot stemming from a concussion she suffered earlier this month and was being assessed by doctors, a State Department spokesman said.

"In the course of a follow-up exam today, Secretary Clinton's doctors discovered a blood clot had formed, stemming from the concussion she sustained several weeks ago," spokesman Philippe Reines said in a statement.

"She is being treated with anti-coagulants and is at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital so that they can monitor the medication over the next 48 hours," Reines said, adding that doctors would continue to assess her condition.

"They will determine if any further action is required," he said.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE8BU00Z20121231

Source: CBS News

Indian gang rape victim dies in hospital
December 28, 2012

SINGAPORE A young Indian woman who was gang-raped and severely beaten on a bus in New Delhi died early Saturday at a hospital in Singapore, the hospital said.

The 23-year-old victim "died peacefully," according to a statement by Singapore's Mount Elizabeth hospital where she was being treated.

The woman's horrific ordeal galvanized Indians, who have held almost daily demonstrations to demand greater protection from sexual violence, from groping to rape, which impacts thousands of women every day, but which often goes unreported.

She and a male friend were traveling in a public bus on Dec. 16 evening when they were attacked by six men who raped her and beat them both. They also stripped both naked and threw them off the bus on a road.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57561187/indian-gang-rape-victim-dies-in-hospital

Source: Reuters

@BreakingNews: Report: Obama is not making a new offer at 'fiscal cliff' meeting with congressional leaders, source tells @Reuters

Read more: Link to source

Source: Reuters

Indian rape victim's condition deteriorating: Singapore hospital

Fri Dec 28, 2012 10:40am EST

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The condition of the Indian medical student, whose gang rape in New Delhi triggered nationwide protests, has deteriorated and there are signs her vital organs have failed, the Singapore hospital treating her said on Friday.

"As of 9 p.m. Singapore time on Dec. 28 (10.00 a.m. EST), the patient's condition has taken a turn for the worse. Her vital signs are deteriorating with signs of severe organ failure," Mount Elizabeth Hospital Chief Executive Officer Kelvin Loh said in a statement.

"Her family members have been informed that her condition has deteriorated and they are currently by her side to encourage and comfort her," he said.

The 23-year-old woman, who was severely beaten, raped for almost an hour and thrown out of a moving bus on December 16, was airlifted to Singapore on December 26 for specialist treatment.

(Reporting by Kevin Lim Editing by Ross Colvin)


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE8BR03620121228

Source: AP

AP SOURCE: RETIRED GEN. NORMAN SCHWARZKOPF DIES

By LOLITA C. BALDOR
— Dec. 27 7:24 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. official says retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who commanded the U.S.-led international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait in 1991, has died. He was 78.

The official tells The Associated Press that Schwarzkopf died Thursday in Tampa, Fla. The official wasn't authorized to release the information publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

A much-decorated combat soldier in Vietnam, Schwarzkopf was known popularly as "Stormin' Norman" for a notoriously explosive temper.

He lived in retirement in Tampa, where he had served in his last military assignment as commander-in-chief of U.S. Central Command. That is the headquarters responsible for U.S. military and security concerns in nearly 20 countries from the eastern Mediterranean and Africa to Pakistan.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ap-source-retired-gen-norman-schwarzkopf-dies

---

I knew him. I think he owes my Mom $200 from the mid-1970s.

Source: ABC

Actor Jack Klugman dies at age 90
Updated at 04:42 PM today

LOS ANGELES, CA (KTRK) -- There's sad news to report from the entertainment world. Actor Jack Klugman passed has passed away at the age of 90.

The actor's attorney made the announcement Monday. Klugman reportedly died peacefully at his home in Northridge, California with his wife, Peggy, at his side.

Klugman is survived by his sons, David and Adam, and two grandchildren.

Klugman is best known for his role as Oscar Madison in the sitcom The Odd Couple, playing opposite Tony Randall. He also starred as Quincy in the drama Quincy, M.E.

Read more: http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/entertainment&id=8930966

Source: CBS News

Reported Sandy hero apparently drowns
December 24, 2012

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico A tourist from New York has apparently drowned while surfing off a popular beach town in Puerto Rico.

A police statement Sunday has identified the tourist as 23-year-old Dylan Smith, whose body was found floating Sunday morning near his surfboard in waters off Maria's Beach in the western Puerto Rican community of Rincon. The town's beaches attract surfers from across the world.

- snip -

The magazine says Smith, a lifeguard, and another resident of Belle Harbor, in the New York City borough of Queens "ushered six people to safety with a homemade rope bridge and Smith's surfboard" during superstorm Sandy.

People says they did it as a six-foot tidal surge "roared down their block, and a fire from a gas line explosion engulfed houses around them." It quotes one of those rescued as calling Smith an "angel."

Read more: http://m.cbsnews.com/storysynopsis.rbml?&pageType=national&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2F8301-201_162-57560676%2Freported-sandy-hero-apparently-drowns%2F&feed_id=1&videoid=37&catid=57560676&nb_splitPage=0

Source: KING5Seattle

@KING5Seattle: Police are on scene at the Munchbar in Bellevue where multiple people were shot just after 1 a.m. Monday. http://t.co/ICnvoGM7

Read more: https://twitter.com/king5seattle/status/283155773511573504