Sunday, December 9, 2012

Obama, Boehner work to hash out a budget deal


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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