Citizen Cartwright

Eurozone crisis 'worsening by the day'

Finance ministers from the 17 countries that use the euro approved on Tuesday more loans to prevent Greece from defaulting and agreed to boost their bailout fund.

But the finance ministers' talks were just another example of the disconnect between "Europe’s tortuous decision-making and the breakneck speed with which financial markets have been pushing the currency zone toward a moment of truth," The New York Times says.

Earmarking 'by another name'

Lawmakers tried to add hundreds of pet projects to at least 10 bills this summer and fall, despite an earmark moratorium declared by House and Senate leaders, The Washington Post reports.

So Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., are expected to introduce on Wednesday legislation to bar earmarks.

“I have heard too many appropriators say informally that they are very hopeful that we can get back to earmarking in the future with few restrictions,” says McCaskill.

GOP gets on board payroll tax cut

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday, "In all likelihood we will agree to continue the current payroll tax relief for another year."

That means the disagreement now is over paying for the cut. Democrats want a surtax on people making more than $1 million, a nonstarter for Republicans.

Senate ignores veto threat over terror detainees

The Tuesday vote was 61 to 37 to keep provisions in a military bill to require the government to place suspected al Qaeda plotters — including people arrested in the United States — in military custody.

Another provision would create a federal law saying the government has the authority to keep people suspected of terrorism in military custody indefinitely and without trial.

The Obama administration says the language “would raise serious and unsettled legal questions and would be inconsistent with the fundamental American principle that our military does not patrol our streets.”

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British diplomats withdrawn from Iran after embassy attack

Ex-Ivory Coast president is first head of state in ICC custody

In Britain, biggest strike of public workers in a generation

Environmentalists criticize U.S. position in climate talks

Hillary Clinton tells developing world to be wary of donors

S&P, using new criteria, downgrades dozens of world's banks

SEC's Schapiro asks for tougher penalty authority

American Airlines had been the last holdout against bankruptcy

Facebook settles privacy case with Federal Trade Commission

Transparency as a presidential campaign issue

Police evict Occupy Los Angeles, Philadelphia protesters

Lipitor goes generic Wednesday, saving patients money

Doctors' financial ties may lead to unneeded MRIs

Climate catastrophe predicted

Fatih Birol, chief economist for the International Energy Agency, said on Monday that current global energy consumption levels mean the Earth is on track to heat up 10.8 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels by 2100 — what he called “a catastrophe for all of us.”

States facing 'dire' fiscal straits

While things have improved for them since the worst of the recession, states are caught between declining federal help and increasing appeals from local governments, according to a report to be released Tuesday by the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers.

Secret Fed loans helped biggest banks get bigger

The banks took in an estimated $13 billion of income by taking advantage of the Federal Reserve's below-market interest rates, Bloomberg Markets magazine is reporting in its January issue.

Retirement of Barney Frank, 'the mouth that roared'

A top liberal in the House, the Massachusetts Democrat was "usually the smartest man in the room, and the funniest."

Frank's likely most famous one-liner, according to The Boston Globe, wasn't funny but it's one that I, too, still remember. He said the concern for life of conservative opponents of abortion rights “begins with conception and ends with birth.’’

Also in the news

Eurozone ministers meeting amid fears of breakup

Report: S&P may cut France's outlook within 10 days

U.N.: A quarter of the world's land is highly degraded

China is preparing for big entry into vaccine market

Climate talks open with funding for poor countries at issue

Fitch warns of U.S. downgrade if no budget deficit deal in 2013

Judge blocks $285 million settlement between Citigroup, SEC

Safety oversight of government aircraft is lacking

Gumby-like flexible robot wiggles through tight spaces

Altered-image ratings tell you how retouched photos are

Steady-handed robot developed for brain surgery