Hard questions await Obama at news conference  —  This is not what the White House wanted for President Barack Obama's first news conference of his second term.  —  He won't be able to dwell much on his stronger-than-expected victory or even press his agenda for the next four years.

Jill Kelley requested “diplomatic protection” in 911 call  —  The South Tampa woman connected to the Gen. David Petraeus scandal has called police to her home several times in the last few days, and at least once tried to invoke “diplomatic protection.”  —  Media from around the world …

Look Who's Refusing To Compromise To Avoid The Fiscal Cliff  —  Budget Talks: If President Obama wants to get a deficit deal done to avoid the fiscal cliff, his biggest challenge won't be Republicans, but his own hard-core left-wing supporters.  —  Two days after the election …

Ryan: It ‘Looked Like We Stood A Pretty Good Chance Of Winning’ On Election Day  —  In an interview with WISN 12 News in Milwaukee on Monday, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) admitted that he and Mitt Romney were indeed caught off guard by the results of last week's election, claiming …

Woman ‘denied a termination’ dies in hospital  —  Two investigations are under way into the death of a woman who was 17 weeks pregnant, at University Hospital Galway last month.  —  Savita Halappanavar (31), a dentist, presented with back pain at the hospital on October 21st …

Relationship between Boehner, McConnell faces tough test  —  The relationship between House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) will be tested in the months ahead as political forces pull them in different directions.

Hurricane Sandy: Katrina on the Hudson?  —  Glenn Reynolds notices similarities, in USA Today: … But there is one difference: … It took days for FEMA to hit the ground in hard-hit parts of NYC.  More than a week after the storm, FEMA representatives were just getting on the ground and opening temporary offices in New Jersey.

Colbert's super-PAC files termination paperwork with FEC  —  According to the Federal Election Commission, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow had its termination paperwork scanned onto the commission's website at about 7 p.m.  —  Among it its final disbursements, the committee reports giving the …

Why Obama is more than Bush with a human face |  Slavoj iek  —  Ground-floor thinking can give Obama lift-off.  His reforms have already touched a nerve at the core of the US ideological edifice  —  How did Barack Obama win re-election?  The philosopher Jean-Claude Milner recently proposed …

General Petraeus' fatal flaw: not his affair, but the Afghan surge  —  The CIA director's resignation over a sex scandal has obscured how badly his counterinsurgency strategy failed in Afghanistan  —  More than three years ago, I sat in an overflow room in Washington, DC's Willard Hotel listening …

US deficit was $120 billion in October  —  The U.S. racked up a $120 billion deficit in October, the first month in fiscal 2013, the Treasury Department reported on Tuesday.  —  The government spent $304 billion and collected only $184 billion in revenue.  —  That is a fast start to the new fiscal year.

Accuser Recants Allegation Against Elmo Puppeteer  —  Updated The man who accused Kevin Clash, the voice and puppeteer of the “Sesame Street” character Elmo, of an underage sexual relationship has recanted that claim, his lawyer said on Tuesday, one day after the claim was published by the gossip Web site TMZ.

W.H. Petition Calls for Stripping Citizenship and Exile for Anyone Who Signs Petition to Secede  —  A White House petition gathering force calls for citizenship to be stripped and exile for anyone who signs a petition in favor of a state's secession.  —  “Mr. President, please sign …