Conservative Republicans booted from House budget panel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two of the most conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives have been kicked off the House Budget Committee, a rare move that could make it easier for the panel to advance a deal with Democrats to cut fiscal deficits. Representatives Tim Huelskamp of Kansas and Justin Amash of Michigan - both favorites of the anti-tax Tea Party movement - are among those Republicans...

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Gunman severely wounds Swedish woman in Pakistan

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A gunman on a motorcycle shot and severely wounded an elderly Swedish woman who worked at a church in eastern Pakistan on Monday, officials said.The woman, who was identified by Pakistani police as Bargetta Emmi, was getting out of her car in front of her home in the city of Lahore when she was shot in the neck by an unknown assailant. Her servants reported the incident to...

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Obama Is Taking Himself and #My2K to Twitter This Afternoon

What a day for Twitter! First the Pope, then the Royal Baby, and now President Obama will come online to answer questions about the fiscal cliff. A @WhiteHouse tweet with the distincitive “-bo” signature, announced not long ago that the big guy himself will be taking questions online, starting at 2:00 p.m. ET.Good to see lots of folks on twitter speaking out on extending middle class tax cuts. I’ll...

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NY Film Critics name 'Zero Dark Thirty' best film

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Film Critics Circle named Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty" the best film of 2012, voicing its strong support for the grimly journalistic Osama bin Laden docudrama.Bigelow, whose "Hurt Locker" won best picture at the Academy Awards in 2010, also won best director in the awards announced Monday, and Greg Fraser won for the film's cinematography."'Zero Dark Thirty' confirms...

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Fossil fuel subsidies in focus at climate talks

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Hassan al-Kubaisi considers it a gift from above that drivers in oil- and gas-rich Qatar only have to pay $1 per gallon at the pump."Thank God that our country is an oil producer and the price of gasoline is one of the lowest," al-Kubaisi said, filling up his Toyota Land Cruiser at a gas station in Doha. "God has given us a blessing."To those looking for a global response to climate...

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Boehner makes counter-offer on debt talks

House Speaker John Boehner today sent President Obama a counter-proposal on how to cut the deficit that he called a "credible plan" to break the stalemate in negotiations to keep the country from going off the "fiscal cliff."In the plan, Republicans offer a total of $2.2 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade. That would give lawmakers enough savings to off-set $1.2 trillion in automatic...

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Pakistani Hindus protest destruction of temple

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani Hindus Sunday protested the destruction of a Hindu temple in the southern port city of Karachi. The temple was razed, along with some nearby homes, by a builder.Minority Hindus have complained of increasing harassment and discrimination in Muslim-dominated Pakistan in recent years, including the destruction or desecration of their places of worship.Residents and...

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Young down by boardwalk for benefit show

NEW YORK (AP) — Neil Young said Sunday that he couldn't see performing in the area devastated by Superstorm Sandy without doing something to help people who were affected by it.Young and his longtime backing band, Crazy Horse, will hold a benefit concert for the American Red Cross' storm relief effort Thursday at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City. The New Jersey coastline areas were...

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Asperger's dropped from revised diagnosis manual

CHICAGO (AP) — The now familiar term "Asperger's disorder" is being dropped. And abnormally bad and frequent temper tantrums will be given a scientific-sounding diagnosis called DMDD. But "dyslexia" and other learning disorders remain.The revisions come in the first major rewrite in nearly 20 years of the diagnostic guide used by the nation's psychiatrists. Changes were approved Saturday.Full details...

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Egypt's top court suspends work indefinitely as situation worsens

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's top court suspended its work indefinitely to protest "psychological and physical pressures" after supporters of the Islamist president prevented judges from entering the courthouse Sunday to rule on the legitimacy of a disputed constitutional assembly.The decision by the Supreme Constitutional Court is the latest twist in a worsening political crisis pitting President Mohammed...

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