Senators slam movie's torture scenes

In the new film "Zero Dark Thirty," Jessica Chastain plays a CIA analyst who is part of the team hunting Osama bin Laden. STORY HIGHLIGHTSSens. Feinstein, McCain, Levin send letter calling new film "grossly inaccurate"Letter adds to controversy over depiction of torture as a key to finding bin Laden, Bergen saysSenate committee has approved 6,000-page classified report on CIA interrogations programBergen...

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One dies in Canadian plane crash

MONTREAL: One person was killed Saturday after a plane en route from Winnipeg to Nunavut in northern Canada crashed, CBC News reported.The Perimeter Aviation plane carrying seven passengers and two crew crashed less than a kilometer (0.6 miles) from the airport in town of Sanikiluaq, a Nunavut official told CBC News.The eight other people on board have survived, the report said.Sanikiluaq...

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Little common ground in debate on guns

STORY HIGHLIGHTSThe NRA wants to staff every school in America with "qualified armed security"Obama, Democrats and others see tougher gun control as the way to limit future massacresWhile both sides want to keep children safe, it seems they are living in two different worldsWashington (CNN) -- For National Rifle Association Vice President Wayne LaPierre and many other pro-gun Americans, the task is...

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Newtown parents reject NRA plan

NEWTOWN, Conn. When Adam Lanza started his lethal attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School, Andrei Nikitchyuk's eight year-old son and another third grader were on their way to the principal's office. It was their turn to bring the daily attendance sheet to the front office, near where principal Dawn Hochsprung and psychologist Mary Sherlach would become the first casualties inside the school. Play...

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Obama, Congress Waving Bye-Bye Lower Taxes?

The first family arrived in the president's idyllic home state of Hawaii early today to celebrate the holidays, but President Obama, who along with Michelle will pay tribute Sunday to the late Sen. Daniel Inouye at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, could be returning home to Washington sooner than he expected.That's because the President didn't get his Christmas...

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Madness in the air in Washington

National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre calls on Congress to pass a law putting armed police officers in every school in America.STORY HIGHLIGHTSDavid Gergen: After election, there were hopes partisan tension would fadeHe says this week we've seen a complete breakdown on the fiscal cliffThe NRA doubled down on its anti-gun-control rhetoric despite Newtown, he saysGergen:...

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Banquets "off the menu" for China military

BEIJING: China's high-ranking military officers will no longer be treated to receptions featuring liquor and luxury banquets, state media reported on Saturday, as the country's new leaders stress austerity to fight corruption.The state-run China Daily newspaper, quoting a dispatch from the official Xinhua news agency, said the Central Military Commission announced the new regulations on...

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3 charged in deadly home explosion

By Logan Burruss, CNNupdated 6:11 PM EST, Fri December 21, 2012Bob Leonard Jr., left, Mark Leonard and Monserrate Shirley are accused in a deadly explosion.STORY HIGHLIGHTSTwo brothers among accused in explosion at that killed couple next door Explosion injured 12 other people and caused $4 million in damageInvestigators found abnormalities in gas line at suspect's home, affidavit says(CNN) -- Three...

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NRA: Guns in schools would protect students

Updated: 6:44 p.m. ETIn a press conference reflecting on last week's massacre in Newtown, Conn., the National Rifle Association's Wayne LaPierre today called on Congress to put armed law enforcement agents in every American school, insisting that guns in schools -- not tougher gun laws -- would most effectively protect children from school shootings. Play VideoA "good guy with a gun" in every school?...

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Obama Still an 'Optimist' on Cliff Deal

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty ImagesWASHINGTON D.C. – Ten days remain before the mandatory spending cuts and tax increases known as the “fiscal cliff” take effect, but President Obama said he is still a “hopeless optimist” that a federal budget deal can be reached before the year-end deadline that economists agree might plunge the country back into recession.“Even though Democrats and Republicans are...

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Goodbye, U.S. Postal Service?

This Christmas could be the Post Office's last, says John Avlon. STORY HIGHLIGHTSThe U.S. Postal Service is bleeding money and heading toward insolvency John Avlon: Congress can save the postal service in deal on the fiscal cliff He says the urgency is clear, let's hope for a Christmas miracle Avlon: But be prepared that Washington dysfunction can doom the postal service Editor's note: John Avlon...

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Madoff's brother sentenced to 10 years for fraud

NEW YORK: Peter Madoff, brother of shamed US financier Bernard Madoff, was sentenced on Thursday to 10 years in prison for cooking the books at the family investment firm.Peter Madoff, 67, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud during his role as book keeper for Bernard Madoff's once widely heralded but in fact fraudulent Wall Street firm.The brother has also been slapped...

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Boehner scraps his fiscal cliff plan after failing to get votes

STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: "The president will work with Congress to get this done," the White House saysThe House Speaker says his Plan B wasn't voted on because it didn't have "sufficient support" A bill to alter cuts did narrowly pass the House; the White House says it would vetoThe fiscal cliff's tax hikes and spending cuts are set to take effect in JanuaryWashington (CNN) -- House Speaker John Boehner's...

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Obama to hold moment of silence for Conn. victims

President Obama speaks at a memorial service for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on December 16, 2012 in Newtown, Conn. / MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images WASHINGTON President Barack Obama plans to observe a moment of silence at the White House on Friday morning in honor of the victims of the Connecticut elementary school massacre. The White House says the president will...

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Fiscal Cliff 'Plan B' Is Dead: Now What?

Dec 20, 2012 11:00pm The defeat of his Plan B — Republicans pulled it when it became clear it would be voted down — is a big defeat for Speaker of the House John Boehner.  It demonstrates definitively that there is no fiscal cliff deal that can pass the House on Republican votes alone.Boehner could not even muster the votes to pass something that would only allow...

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On gun control, look to Biden

Rebecca Puckwalter-Poza says Vice President Joe Biden was a leader on gun control in the Senate.STORY HIGHLIGHTSRebecca Buckwalter-Poza: Obama has apparently tapped Biden as gun control point manShe says he was leader in Senate on issue, shepherding 1994 gun control legislationIt banned manufacture of many semi-automatic guns,criminalized high-capacity magazinesWriter: Biden worked across aisle; he's...

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Mexico empties prison of inmates after deadly riot

DURANGO, Mexico: Officials have removed all of the prisoners -- about 500 inmates -- from a prison in northern Mexico, one day after the facility erupted in violence, leaving 15 inmates and nine guards dead.The prison "has been totally emptied as a preventive measure," Durango public safety spokesman Fernando Rios told AFP, who said the inmates had been distributed to penal facilities...

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Blizzard warning issued for large swath of Midwest

Drivers in Colorado contend with heavy snow Wednesday.STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: 156-mile stretch of freeway closed in Colorado23-car pileup in Texas dust storm kills one, injures 17Heavy snow, high winds stretch from Colorado to Wisconsin in season's first blizzardStorm to crawl from Midwest to New England by Friday(CNN) -- People traveling early for Christmas in the center of the country will be dashing...

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