1. House Republicans scrap direct vote on Senate payroll tax plan.
Congress showed little sign Tuesday morning of resolving its partisan standoff over the payroll tax-cut extension as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives refused to hold a vote on a Senate proposal, and leaders in the Democratic-controlled Senate insisted they won't go along with a new House plan. As the clock ticked down on a particularly acrimonious legislative year, nobody seemed to know how to break the logjam. The Senate voted 89-10 in favor of a two-month tax-cut extension on Saturday, but that short-term compromise has slammed into a conservative roadblock in the House, where rank-and-file Republicans are fuming over the short-term nature of the plan, among other things.
2. S. Korea expresses sympathy to N. Korean people.
The South Korean government expressed its sympathy to the people of North Korea following the death of Kim Jong Il, South Korea's unification minister said Tuesday. In a televised press conference, Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik also said Seoul will not send a government delegation to North Korea. However, the South will allow bereaved family members of the late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and the late Hyundai Group Chairman Chung Mong-hun to visit the North in return for a visit by North Korean delegates to the funerals of the two South Korean figures.
3. Women march in Cairo to protest violence.
Egypt's capital remained engulfed in tension on Tuesday, as security forces and protesters clashed and demonstrators at a "Million Women" march railed against the regime and assaults on citizens. Security forces wielding batons, firearms and tear gas attacked defiant protesters Tuesday on the fifth consecutive day of clashes in Cairo's Tahrir Square, witnesses told CNN. Sherif Barakat, a businessman, heard machine gun fire early in the morning and saw the unrest from the balcony of his home above Tahrir Square. He saw security forces charge, firing tear gas and beating people with batons.

1. Deadly Iraq war ends with exit of last U.S. troops.
Early Sunday, as the sun ascended to the winter sky, the very last American convoy made its way down the main highway that connects Iraq and Kuwait. The military called it its final "tactical road march." A series of 110 heavily armored, hulking trucks and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles carrying about 500 soldiers streamed slowly but steadily out of the combat zone. A few minutes before 8 a.m., the metal gate behind the last MRAP closed. With it came to an end a deadly and divisive war that lasted almost nine years, its enormous cost calculated in blood and billions.
2. Blizzard sweeps out of the Southwest.
A powerful blizzard roared out of the southwestern United States early Monday, threatening residents from Arizona to Kansas with a foot or more of snow. Combined with strong winds and icy roads, the snow could make driving during the holidays dangerous across the region. Snow, falling at a rate of up to two inches an hour, is expected in the mountains of Arizona and New Mexico, the National Weather Service said. The snow is forecast to start battering northeast New Mexico on Monday morning. State emergency personnel and transportation crews there are on call, officials say, ready to act if and when the storm hits hard.
3. North Korea's Kim Jong Il dies; South goes on high alert.
Seoul put South Korean forces on high alert and Pyongyang urged an increase in its "military capability" as the death of North Korea's enigmatic leader Kim Jong Il spurred fresh security concerns in the tense region.
The 69-year-old "dear leader" of the reclusive communist state died of a heart attack on Saturday, state news outlets reported Monday. The ruling Worker's Party proclaimed his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, "the great successor," indicating he would assume his father's post. In the South, across one of the world's most heavily fortified borders, President Lee Myung-bak canceled the rest of his Monday schedule and put all members of South Korea's military on "emergency alert," his office said. The two nations never signed a peace treaty following the Korean War of the early 1950s, leaving the two nations technically at war.

1. Star witness describes Penn State shower scene.
Former Penn State star quarterback and now star witness Mike McQueary testified Friday that he believes he saw Jerry Sandusky molesting a boy in a locker-room shower in 2002. Sandusky, a longtime assistant football coach at the school, has since been accused of more than 50 counts involving sexual acts with 10 boys since 1994. McQueary testified that he walked into a locker room and heard someone in the shower.
2. Thousands of children abused in Dutch churches over 65 years, inquiry says.
Thousands and thousands of children suffered from sexual abuse in the Dutch Roman Catholic Church over more than six decades, and about 800 "possible perpetrators" have been identified, an independent Commission of Inquiry said Friday. "Several tens of thousands of minors have experienced mild, serious and very serious forms of inappropriate sexual behavior. Victims have often suffered for decades from the effects of abuse and have received acknowledgment of the fact," the panel says in its report. "This has caused problems for them, their immediate family and their friends, who require attention and sometimes professional counseling."
3. Russia seizes radioactive objects from flight to Iran.
Russian authorities seized radioactive material from the luggage of a passenger on a flight from Moscow to Tehran on Friday. The luggage, belonging to an Iranian citizen, contained 18 metal objects packed in individual steel cases, Russia's Federal Customs Service said in a statement. The agency said the material, the radioactive isotope sodium-22, can be obtained in a nuclear reactor. Initial tests showed that radiation levels of the objects were 20 times above normal, the customs service said.

1. Paul's serious challenge in Iowa could rock the GOP race.
What if Ron Paul rocked the political establishment, silenced the naysayers and spoiled the party for Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney by winning the Iowa caucuses? "I think I have a good chance," the Republican presidential candidate told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room" on Wednesday. "I'm not saying that I'm not... working on a daily basis, you know, I'm assuming I'm going to win this thing," Paul said. "I'm assuming we're going to do very, very well and have a much better showing than anybody has given us credit for the past year."
2. Syrian defectors tell of orders to kill and torture protesters.
"At one point we killed eight people in 15 minutes. The protesters were unarmed. They didn't even have rocks! That's when I decided to defect. I threw away my gun and ran towards the protesters." "About 1,500 protesters came.....They requested the release of an injured protester who was inside the hospital. They held olive branches. They had no arms. There were 35 army soldiers and about 50 mukhabarat personnel at the checkpoint. We also had a jeep with a mounted machine-gun. When the protesters were less than 100 meters away, we opened fire."
3. Putin points to U.S. role in Gadhafi's killing.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused U.S. drones and special forces of involvement in the death of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in comments Thursday. He also attacked U.S. Sen. John McCain over a warning that Russia might follow the same path as Libya, suggesting McCain was not of sound mind following his time as a prisoner during the Vietnam War. Putin's comments were prompted by a question during his traditional year-end question-and-answer program, broadcast live by state media.

1. CDC: Health reform extends coverage to young Americans.
About 2.5 million young people have received health insurance coverage as a result of health care reform measures that President Barack Obama signed into law last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday. About 2.5 million more people, aged 19 to 25, have health insurance than had it before the law took effect because of a provision that lets young adults remain on their parents' insurance plans through age 26, the agency's National Center for Health Statistics said. "Moms and dads around the country can breathe a little easier knowing their children are covered," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.
2. Google joins fight against slavery.
Google Inc. announced Wednesday that it's providing $11.5 million in grants to 10 organizations working to end modern-day slavery and human trafficking. Gary Haugen, president and CEO of International Justice Mission, one of the grant recipients, called the move a "game-changing investment." IJM is a Washington-based human rights agency that works to rescue victims of slavery and sexual exploitation in about a dozen countries. "This is the largest corporate step up to the challenge that is beginning to apply direct resources to the fight against slavery," Haugen said.
3. Alleged sex abuse victims suing Syracuse, Boeheim.
Two men who accused a former Syracuse University assistant basketball coach of sexual abuse have filed a defamation lawsuit in a New York court against the university and its longtime head basketball coach, Jim Boeheim, their attorney announced Tuesday. Bobby Davis and his stepbrother, Mike Lang, have alleged that Bernie Fine repeatedly abused them when they were children. The former assistant coach has not been charged with a crime and has maintained his innocence, saying the allegations are "patently false in every aspect." Boeheim initially supported Fine, accusing Lang and Davis of fabricating their accusations of Fine's alleged misconduct.

1. Sandusky prepared to fight child rape charges, attorney says.
Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, who is accused of sexually abusing boys, remains "totally prepared and committed to proving his innocence" after waiving his right to a preliminary hearing Tuesday, his attorney said. "We're ready to defend. We've always been ready to defend," attorney Joe Amendola told reporters outside the Centre County Courthouse after the brief court hearing. "Today's waiver has nothing to do with conceding anything. There have been no plea negotiations. There will be no plea negotiations. This is a fight to the death. This is the fight of Jerry Sandusky's life."
2. Ahmadinejad: Iran has 'been able to control' U.S. drone.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that his country has "been able to control" the U.S. drone that Iran claims it recently brought down, Venezuelan state TV reported. "There are people here who have been able to control this spy plane," Ahmadinejad told VTV. "Those who have been in control of this spy plane surely will analyze the plane's system. Furthermore, the systems of Iran are so advanced also, like the system of this plane." Ahmadinejad did not elaborate or specify what precisely he meant when he referred to people "who have been able to control" the drone. He spoke in Farsi, which VTV translated into Spanish. The Farsi portion of the interview was not audible.
3. Prosecutor considers charges after Xavier-Cincinnati brawl.
Four University of Cincinnati basketball players suspended for their involvement in a nationally televised brawl between the Bearcats and their crosstown rivals at Xavier University apologized Monday to their fans and their community and said they were "embarrassed" by their actions. Athletic Director Whit Babcock and Coach Mick Cronin also apologized. They said the team will work "diligently" to regain the respect and trust of the university.

1. Obama, Iraqi prime minister meet amid U.S. troop withdrawal.
President Barack Obama met Monday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as the United States prepares to complete withdrawing virtually all of its troops from Iraq by the end of the year. The two leaders are expected to discuss cooperation between their countries in the wake of the ongoing troop withdrawal, which is scheduled to be finished by December 31. Some analysts fear violence could spike as groups struggle over power, and that the decreased U.S. presence could allow Iran to increase its influence.
2. Justices accept Arizona's appeal over controversial immigration law.
The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether Arizona can enforce its controversial immigration law, over the strong objections of the Obama administration. The justices made the announcement in a brief order Monday. Federal courts had blocked key parts of the state's Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act, known as SB 1070. Arizona had argued illegal immigration was creating financial hardships and safety concerns for its residents and that the federal government has long failed to control the problem. The administration has countered immigration issues are under its exclusive authority and that state "interference" would only make matters worse.
3. NATO-bound trucks attacked, burned in Pakistan.
Armed militants on motorcycles in southwest Pakistan ambushed and set ablaze a convoy of tankers contracted to NATO forces in Afghanistan on Sunday night, police said. The gunmen opened fire after forcing the convoy of eight oil tankers to stop in an area 90 kilometers (55 miles) southwest of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, police official Abdul Qadir said. The militants killed one of the truck's drivers and set the tankers on fire before they escaped, Qadir said.

1. Euro failure is 'luxury we can't afford,' Sarkozy warns.
European leaders must band together to save the euro this week, the leaders of the eurozone's two biggest economies said Thursday, even as the head of the European Central Bank was warning of more bad economic times ahead. Failure to reach an agreement at a summit in Brussels, Belgium, is a "luxury we cannot afford," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said. "This is our duty. We have no other choice," he said, warning that the European Union would not get a second chance. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said countries had to put their "national egotisms" aside and find a joint solution to the continent's debt crisis.
2. Sandusky remains in jail after arrest on new charges.
Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky remained in jail early Thursday morning on additional child sex charges involving two more alleged victims, bringing the total to 10. Sandusky was arrested Wednesday and charged with four counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and two counts of unlawful contact with a minor, allegedly involving two men who were boys at the time of the encounters. His attorney, Joe Amendola, said his client was unable to post the $250,000 bail before Thursday because he didn't have time to make arrangements ahead of time.
3. Putin accuses U.S. of encouraging Russia election protests.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin blamed the United States Thursday for encouraging opposition protests that have broken out since parliamentary elections Sunday. His accusation followed comments by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week on Russia's election in which she called for a "full investigation" of apparent irregularities. The United States had "serious concerns about the conduct of the election," she said, at a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in Europe Tuesday.

1. Questions raised about Romney's disposal of records.
New questions are being raised about Mitt Romney's last days as governor of Massachusetts and the way he handled records of his administration. Those same questions are following Romney on the campaign trail, raising concerns by some about how transparent he would be if elected president. The office of Romney's successor, Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick, sent CNN documents showing that Romney's administration spent nearly $100,000 in state funds to completely replace computers in his office, just before Patrick assumed the governorship in January of 2007. The documents are two lease agreements for the computers. The first one, from 2005, shows the state paid just over $107,000 for the computers. That agreement was supposed to last three years.
2. European nations could lose powers, EC head's memo says.
European nations could be penalized by being stripped of some powers if they fail to manage their budgets, according to a memo from European Commission President Herman Van Rompuy leaked Tuesday. The confidential memo, sent out to leaders ahead of the final European Council meeting of the year at the end of the week, comes only a day after the leaders of Germany and France agreed in Paris on a new fiscal pact they say will help prevent another debt crisis. But Van Rompuy's proposals, details of which were obtained by CNN, are perhaps even stricter than those of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
3. Gorbachev calls for new Russian elections.
Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, called Wednesday for new parliamentary elections in Russia over concerns about vote fraud. "Mikhail Gorbachev is very concerned about how the situation in Russia is developing," spokesman Pavel Palezhchenko told CNN. "People don't believe that the will of the people is reflected in the results." He confirmed a report by the Russian news agency Interfax, which quoted the former Communist party general secretary as saying the elections were unfair and new elections were needed.

1. Dozens killed in rare Afghanistan attack.
Twin suicide bombings killed dozens Tuesday in Afghanistan, most of them in a mass-scale sectarian attack on Shiite worshippers unlike anything the country has seen in its decade-long war. The terrorist attacks in the cities of Kabul and Mazar-e Sharif killed 58 people and wounded scores of others, officials said. A suicide bomber detonated a device at a Shiite shrine in Kabul as worshippers were marking the Shiite holy day of Ashura, Afghan Health Ministry spokesman Kargar Norughli said. Fifty-four people were killed and 150 were wounded, said Afghan Health Ministry spokesman Kargar Norughli.
2. Two black holes most massive ever found, astronomers say.

Black holes: They're the most destructive monsters in the universe. We already knew they can be powerfully massive. Now scientists say they've found the most massive ones yet, as reported in the journal Nature.

How big? The mass of each is about 10 billion times the mass of our sun. The previous black hole record holder, first measured in 1977, has a mass of about 6 billion suns. And for each black hole, the "event horizon" – basically areas from which nothing can escape their gravity – is about five times the distance between our sun and Pluto.
3. Family mourns death of 7-year-old Georgia girl.
Relatives mourned Tuesday the death of a 7-year-old girl whose body was found in a Dumpster outside her Georgia apartment building three days after she went missing. Police believe Jorelys Rivera was abducted, sexually assaulted and murdered at the apartment complex in Canton, about 40 miles north of Atlanta, Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Director Vernon Keenan said Monday. "My world collapsed. I couldn't believed that they robbed her from me," her father, Ricardo Galarza, told CNN affiliate WAPA in Puerto Rico. "They destroyed my soul. They took a piece of my heart," her grandmother, Wanda Ivette Rivera, told the same network.

1. 10 injured after Oklahoma State beats Sooners.
A raucous on-field celebration following Oklahoma State's trouncing of football rival Oklahoma left 10 people injured, including an OSU student who remained hospitalized Sunday night. The melee occurred after Oklahoma State beat Oklahoma 44-10 at home in Stillwater on Saturday night to clinch the Big 12 conference title and a possible shot at the college football national championship. The crowd filled the field and tore down a goalpost at the stadium at the game's end, but several people were hurt as they jumped onto the field, university officials said.
2. USPS wants to limit next-day service.
"This isn't a change we're happy about," said Art Sackler, executive director of the National Postal Policy Council, a trade group for large mailers. "But if they don't cut somewhere and substantially, they're going to run out of cash next summer. It's one of the lesser evils." Right now, customers on average receive mail the day after it was mailed, according the postal service. That may still happen, but a lot less frequently under the proposed rules, say the insiders who were briefed on the proposal.
3.Trending: Sen. McCain: Arizona could be 'up for grabs'.
Republican Sen. John McCain said Sunday that his home state of Arizona could be won by President Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election. The 2008 GOP presidential nominee told CNN Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley that Arizona and other southwest states “can be up for grabs” due to the growing Hispanic vote.

In the movie "The Myths of LIberal Media" Herman and Chomsky both agreed that the "liberal media" was heavily biased but they failed to recognize the whole other side of the topic. They explain their views by describing the five filters of media which are ownership, funding, sourcing, flak, and anit-communism and fear. Others talk about how liberal media is not biased though and there is nothing wrong with it.

1. November jobs report: Hiring up, unemployment down.
Hiring accelerated in November, and the unemployment rate unexpectedly plummeted to its lowest rate in nearly three years. Employers added 120,000 jobs in November, the Labor Department reported Friday, marking a pick-up in hiring from October. It's too early to bust out the champagne though. The unemployment rate fell for two reasons: yes, more Americans got jobs, but at the same time, even more people gave up on their job searches altogether. Men were the biggest group to benefit from a stronger labor market, as the unemployment rate for those over age 20 fell to 8.3% from 8.8% in October, primarily because they landed jobs. The women's unemployment rate however, experienced a much smaller dip, mostly because more women had left the labor force.
2. Senate passes defense bill with detainee policy compromise.
The Senate on Thursday passed a giant defense bill that includes a new policy for detaining and trying suspected al Qaeda terrorists -- a policy that attracted controversy during the debate and may draw a presidential veto. The defense authorization bill passed by a vote of 93-7. In keeping with budget cuts across the government, the $662 billion bill shrinks Pentagon spending by $43 billion from last year. It includes funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and sets policies for the various weapons systems and personnel programs at the Defense Department.
3. 'Emergency' order issued to pick up country singer McCready's son.
A Florida judge has signed an emergency "pickup order" authorizing law enforcement officers to get the 5-year-old son of country singer Mindy McCready, a court spokeswoman said Thursday. Earlier this week, McCready was told in a different court order to return the child -- of whom she does not have legal custody -- to authorities. The child was not brought in, prompting Judge James H. Seals to sign the emergency order around 4 p.m. Thursday , said Sheila Mann, a spokeswoman for Florida's 20th Judicial Circuit court.

1. At least 20 dead in Iraq violence.
At least 20 people were killed and dozens more were wounded in a number of attacks and shootings in Iraq on Thursday, government officials said. In Khalis, about 75 kilometers (46 miles) north of Baghdad, at least 13 people died and 31 others were wounded when a car bomb exploded at an outdoor vegetable and fruit market Thursday morning, Mayor Odai al-Khadran told CNN. The predominantly Shiite town is in Diyala province. In the small, predominantly Sunni town of al-Jeel, about 40 kilometers (24 miles) north of Baghdad, gunmen stormed three separate houses, opening fire randomly while residents slept. Seven people were killed, including two women and a child, police officials in Baquba told CNN. Five other people, including three women, were wounded.
2. Van der Sloot sues Chile over his extradition to Peru for murder trial.
The Dutch man suspected in the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway has sued the Chilean government for more than $13 million, alleging his human rights were violated when Chile extradited him last year to Peru to face charges in the death of a Peruvian woman. Lawyer alleges violations of Joran van der Sloot's civil rights. The 24-year-old Dutch man face murder trial next year in Peru. He is also a suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
3. Sandusky lawyer: Alleged shower victim said there was no sexual contact.
Jerry Sandusky's attorney said Wednesday that a young man at the heart of cover-up allegations against Penn State University officials told him he was not a victim and had no sexual contact with the former assistant football coach. Defense lawyer Joseph Amendola told CNN contributor Sara Ganim that the young man, who was described in a grand jury report as being about 10 years old in March 2002, was in Amendola's office several weeks ago and said he believed he was the boy called "Victim 2." The young man said nothing sexual occurred with Sandusky in the shower, according to Amendola.