Boehner says Obama pushing U.S. toward "fiscal cliff"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican House Speaker John Boehner accused President Barack Obama of pushing the country toward the "fiscal cliff" on Friday and of wasting another week without making progress in talks.With three weeks left before a combination of steep tax hikes and deep spending cuts kicks in unless Congress intervenes, Boehner said the administration had adopted a "my way or the highway"...

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Charleston, like many cities, on edge of "fiscal cliff"

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - For 37 years straight, Joseph P. Riley Jr. has sat behind the mayor's desk here, shaping this city and its budget.On a recent afternoon, Riley, 69, reached for a draft copy of next year's spending plan and wondered aloud about what might get cut should politicians in Washington fail to find an agreement this month, unleashing $600 billion worth of spending reductions...

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Surprise: New insurance fee in health overhaul law

WASHINGTON (AP) — Your medical plan is facing an unexpected expense, so you probably are, too. It's a new, $63-per-head fee to cushion the cost of covering people with pre-existing conditions under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.The charge, buried in a recent regulation, works out to tens of millions of dollars for the largest companies, employers say. Most of that is likely to be...

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Study: Talk Therapy May Help Depression when Medications Inadequate

A first-of-its-kind large scale research study concluded that the addition of talk therapy to a medication regimen helps to relieve the symptoms of depression, the leading cause of disability in the United States in those ages 15 years to 44 years, according to the National Institute of Mental Health .Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as an Adjunct to Medication TreatmentOnly one-third of people with...

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More Than Half of Hispanic Coloradans Lack Dental Insurance

The organization Colorado Trust reported on Monday that the results of a new Colorado Health Access Survey shows that more than half of Hispanics in the state do not have dental insurance. The overall number of people in the state without dental insurance grew 17 percent in in two years. Here are the details.* The results of the 2011 Colorado Health Access Survey, released this month, show that 52.8...

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Moving Mali forward

Every year since 2001 the Festival au Desert has been held near Timbuktu, drawing musicians and listeners from around the world – until now. Next year’s event, according to its Website, is planned as a “Festival in Exile” held in stages in various other countries.Mali, long considered an island of stability in a turbulent region, was turned upside down last spring as armed groups overran the north...

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Izhar Gafni invents a cardboard bicycle that may revolutionize transportation

Izhar Gafni  smiles and shakes his head in wonder when asked about the whirlwind of events that have taken place since news of his revolutionary cardboard bicycle first made international headlines a few weeks ago."It's all happened so fast, and we did not expect it at all," exclaims Mr. Gafni, a heavyset man who displays all the qualities of an archetypal inventor – a rapid, if somewhat erratic...

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Colombia: Peace talks resume, but local hope dampens

Negotiators for the government of Colombia and leftist rebels resumed talks in Havana, Cuba this week to try to end this country’s intractable war, but the hopes for peace for Colombians at home have been dampened.An opinion poll published last week showed that support for the talks among Colombians had dropped from 77 percent in September just after President Juan Manuel Santos announced the negotiations,...

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With Hamas's confidence waxing, Khaled Meshaal arrives in Gaza

Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal  is walking on Palestinian territory for the first time in 45 years. He's in town to celebrate his party’s 25th anniversary and the end of a week-long conflagration with Israel last month.But his visit could also signal growing confidence within the Islamist party – which Israel, the United States, and the European Union consider a terrorist organization –...

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Norwegian protesters say EU Nobel Peace Prize win devalues award

Since the decision this October to give the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union, many have questioned its worthiness, given the current social and economic turmoil there. Among the critics who will be booing loudest at the award this coming week will be the Norwegians themselves – including some in government.The Norwegian Peace Council, which oversees several Norwegian peace organizations, plans...

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