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National governments

'Fiscal cliff' talks vexing official Washington
Five weeks after President Barack Obama won re-election and gained more leverage to make GOP conservatives bend on taxes, the new balance of power is ...
Oil slips on US talks impasse, weak demand outlook
The price of oil fell to near $86 a barrel on Thursday after critical budget negotiations in Washington reached an apparent impasse. By early ...
Chicago vows to fight concealed carry ruling
With parts of the city in the grip of gang warfare and spiking homicide rates, Chicago aldermen urged state officials to appeal an appellate court's ...
Russia acknowledges Assad losing control
Syria's most powerful ally, Russia, said for the first time Thursday that President Bashar Assad is losing control of his country and the rebels might ...
Market enthusiasm over Fed stimulus fades
Any enthusiasm over another monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve faded Thursday as investors monitored the progress of budget discussions in the ...
Pennies over patriotism? Stars move to tax havens
France's Socialist government is introducing a 75-percent income tax on those earning over €1 million ($1.3 million), leading some of the country's ...
Aides: Chavez in tough fight, may miss swearing-in
Somber confidants of President Hugo Chavez say he is going through a difficult recovery after cancer surgery in Cuba, and one close ally is warning ...
Government: Chavez may not be well by inauguration
The government warned Venezuelans on Wednesday that ailing President Hugo Chavez may not be well enough after his fourth cancer-related surgery in ...
Court ruling on Ill. gun ban sets stage for fight
Backers of Illinois' ban on concealed weapons vowed Wednesday to fight for continued controls on gun possession, a day after a federal appeals court ...
Goodell: Bounty players should be punished
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he "fundamentally disagrees" with former league boss Paul Tagliabue's decision not to discipline players in the ...
Mali gets new prime minister after forced ouster
Mali's interim president has named a replacement prime minister after soldiers behind a coup earlier this year forced out his predecessor and placed ...
Senate Dems offer Sandy disaster aid package
Senate Democrats on Wednesday finished cobbling together a $60.4 billion disaster aid package for New York, New Jersey and other states hit by ...
Honduran congress dismisses Supreme Court justices
Honduras' political standoff escalated Wednesday as legal officials debated whether a congressional vote to remove four Supreme Court justices ...
Why it's so hard to step back from 'fiscal cliff'
The "fiscal cliff" crisis bundles together some of Washington's toughest decisions — the ones lawmakers have dodged for years — and says settle them ...
Fed projects high unemployment for next 3 years
The Federal Reserve projects the unemployment rate will stay elevated until late 2015, suggesting it will keep short-term interest rates low for the ...
Stocks end little changed after Fed rally fizzles
Stocks ended the day little changed Wednesday after a rally prompted by the Federal Reserve's latest economic stimulus program fizzled out. The Dow ...
Report: Most Pakistani lawmakers do not file taxes
The majority of Pakistani lawmakers do not file tax returns despite a legal requirement to do, a report said Wednesday, reinforcing concerns about the ...
US budget deficit reaches $172B in November
The U.S. federal government's budget deficit widened in November compared to October, a sign that the nation is on a path to its fifth straight $1 ...
Obama to match FDR's record of 4 swearing-ins
President Barack Obama is poised to match Franklin Roosevelt's record of being sworn in as the nation's leader four times. While FDR served four ...
Obama's fiscal cliff strategy is tricky balance
Playing both sides, President Barack Obama is trying to balance his public pressure campaign on Republicans over the looming "fiscal cliff" with his ...
Putin rejects foreign advice on democracy
President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday angrily rejected what he described as attempts to enforce foreign patterns of democracy on Russia and vowed to ...
US economy could withstand brief fall off 'cliff'
It's the scenario that's been spooking employers and investors and slowing the U.S. economy: Congress and the White House fail to strike a budget deal ...
Uruguay's lower house approves gay marriage law
Lawmakers in taboo-breaking Uruguay voted to legalize gay marriage late Tuesday night, approving a single law governing marriage for heterosexuals and ...
'Cliff' movement? Obama, Boehner trade proposals
In a test of divided government, President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner sought an elusive compromise Tuesday to prevent ...