President Barack Obama and House Speaker
John Boehner met over the weekend at the White House to discuss the dispute
over the U.S. budget, representatives of both said.
"The president and Speaker Boehner met
at the White House to discuss efforts to resolve the fiscal cliff," Amy
Brundage, a White House spokeswoman, and Michael Steel, a spokesman for
Boehner, said in identical statements. Both said no details of the conversation
would be provided, "but the lines of communication remain open."
Obama and Boehner, an Ohio Republican, are
trying to reach an agreement that would prevent more than $600 billion in
spending cuts and tax increases from taking effect in January.
Rescue mission
U.S. forces save doctors Taliban took
hostage
U.S. special operations forces, including
one who was killed in action, rescued an American doctor Sunday who was being
held hostage by the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan.
The doctor, identified as Dilip Joseph, a
U.S. citizen working for a nonprofit group based in Colorado, was rescued with
two Afghan doctors and an Afghan driver, according to international forces and
local Afghan officials.
The doctors and driver were abducted by
gunmen Wednesday after they had visited a rural clinic in the village of Jad
Dalak in Kabul province, east of the capital, said Hazrat Mohammed Haqbin, the
district governor.
Prison cage awaits
Bullfinches are freed from smuggler's pants
A Miami man faces up to 20 years in prison
for trying to smuggle birds from Cuba into the U.S. in his pants.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said Alberto
Diaz Gonzalez pleaded guilty Thursday to attempting to import undeclared
wildlife. He is to be sentenced in February.
Diaz returned to Miami from Havana on Oct.
20. Court documents show he told U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials
in Miami that he was not carrying any wildlife.
But authorities said when officers searched
Diaz, they found 16 Cuban bullfinches hidden in his pants.
Hugo Chavez
Cancer is back; leader talks of succession
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez headed
back to Cuba on Sunday for more cancer surgery after announcing that the
illness had returned, despite two operations, chemotherapy and radiation
treatment.
Chavez acknowledged the seriousness of his
health situation in a televised address Saturday night, saying for the first
time that if he suffers complications, Vice President Nicolas Maduro should be
elected as Venezuela's leader to continue his socialist movement.
The 58-year-old president is to be sworn in
for a new six-year term Jan. 10.
Ghana election
President called winner but vote is
disputed
The head of Ghana's election commission
announced Sunday that incumbent President John Dramani Mahama won the country's
presidential election with 50.7% of the vote.
Armored tanks surrounded Ghana's electoral
commission and police barricaded the road around the electoral offices as the
results were announced. Earlier Sunday, police dispersed protesters with tear gas.
Protesters wanted the electoral body to delay announcing results until
allegations of vote-rigging had been investigated.
Friday's election was disputed after
biometric machines used to ID voters failed in scores of polling stations.
Radio prank
Show is suspended after nurse found dead
Southern Cross Media Group suspended the
radio show that made a hoax call to a London hospital about the Duchess of
Cambridge and will cooperate with authorities after the nurse who took the call
was found dead.
The company has decided the radio show
won't go ahead "into the future," CEO Rhys Holleran, said on the
company's website.
Two DJs from Sydney's 2Day FM impersonating
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles phoned King Edward VII hospital last
week, seeking details about the pregnant duchess, who was being treating for
acute morning sickness.
Quick hits
Reservation shooting: A man suspected of
fatally shooting three people and wounding three children, including his two
daughters, died Sunday from his injuries in a police shootout, authorities in
Porterville, Calif., said. Deputies were called to a trailer on the Tule Indian
Reservation on Saturday night.
Killing at airport: Authorities in
Cleveland said a man fatally shot his wife, an airport security officer, on Sunday,
fired at a second person and then killed himself at an off-site airport
employee parking lot.
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