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Government and politics

Fed links interest rates to 6.5 pct. unemployment
The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it plans to keep interest rates ultra-low even after unemployment falls close to a normal level — which it ...
Egypt's opposition urges "no" vote in referendum
Egypt's opposition called on its followers Wednesday to vote "no" in a crucial referendum on a disputed constitution drafted by Islamist supporters ...
Argentines shocked by verdicts in sex slave trial
The acquittal of 13 people accused in the disappearance of a young woman who was allegedly kidnapped and forced into prostitution for "VIP clients" ...
Japan election puts spotlight on reviving economy
It's the $6 trillion question: how to jolt Japan out of its 20-year economic slump. The dozen or so parties vying in a Dec. 16 parliamentary election ...
Right-to-work law gives Michigan unions new task
Now that Michigan has become a right-to-work state, unions in this stronghold of organized labor confront a new and urgent problem: convincing members ...
Colorado River seen as depleting regional resource
The federal government isn't going to tap the Missouri River to slake the thirst of a drought-parched Southwest, the government's top water official ...
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 ...
Shhhh! A new law says TV ads can't blare anymore
TV viewing could soon sound a little calmer. The CALM Act, which limits the volume of TV commercials, goes into effect on Thursday. CALM stands for ...
NOAA chief says she will leave in February
The woman who was a key figure in the federal government's response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 said Wednesday she will leave her ...
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 ...
NJ Gov. Christie: My weight no bar to presidency
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he is "more than a little" overweight — but fit enough to be in the White House. The Republican governor was asked ...
Census: Whites no longer a majority in US by 2043
White people will no longer make up a majority of Americans by 2043, according to new census projections. That's part of a historic shift that already ...
Indy to replace entire fleet with electric, hybrid
Indianapolis is aiming to become the first major U.S. city to replace its entire fleet with environmentally friendly vehicles, in a move the mayor ...
Lawmaker: NFL players 'trying to back out' on HGH
Accusing the NFL players' union of "trying to back out" of an August 2011 agreement to start checking for human growth hormone, a congressman worried ...
Senate intern, a sex offender, faces deportation
Sen. Robert Menendez employed as an unpaid intern in his Senate office an illegal immigrant who was a registered sex offender, now under arrest by ...
US, Syria opposition disagree over terrorist label
The U.S. and the head of the new Syrian opposition coalition being feted at a conference in Morocco Wednesday publicly disagreed over designating a ...
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 ...
New UN, international efforts to engage Iran
International officials pursued a two-pronged effort Wednesday to engage Iran over concerns the country may have worked on nuclear weapons, with a U.N
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 ...
Congress ends second bag checks on some flights
Passengers arriving in the U.S. from international airports who miss connecting flights because their checked bags have to be rescreened could get ...
Iraq stays execution of man allegedly held at 16
Iraq has suspended the execution of a Yemeni prisoner whose family claims was 16 years old when he was taken into custody, an Iraqi official and human ...
Most Googled in 2012: Whitney, PSY, Sandy
The world's attention wavered between the tragic and the silly in 2012, and along the way, millions of people searched the Web to find out about a ...
Bernanke says fiscal cliff already hurting economy
The U.S. economy is already being hurt by the "fiscal cliff" standoff in Washington, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday.
Sawyer interviews women senators, to air Jan. 3
With a record-breaking 20 female senators elected to serve in the next Congress, ABC News' Diane Sawyer gathered 19 of them for an interview that will ...