Topic: New Year's

Ivory Coast stampede survivors blame barricades for deaths (+video)

The nation's president has ordered three days of national mourning to commemorate the 61 people killed in Monday night's tragedy.

Fiscal deal will cost you: 8 tax changes

[Editor's note: This story was updated on Jan. 2 at 10:00 am ET.]

Congress has passed a fiscal deal that averts the worst of the tax increases under the "fiscal cliff." But most Americans will still end up paying more in federal taxes. Here are eight tax changes under the fiscal deal that may hit your pocketbook:   

The Vote
Dancing troupe of middle-class taxpayers: Obama's 'fiscal cliff' trump card?

President Obama took to the stage Monday to press Congress not to allow taxes to go up on middle-class taxpayers – and he had a rambunctious group of them on hand to support him.

3 outstanding 2012 novels

Three outstanding novels about protagonists who travel far to fight for those they love.

Ranger tumbles to his death after rescuing Mt. Rainier hikers (+video)

Mount Rainier park ranger Nick Hall helped rescue three climbers before he fell Thursday. Hall was the second Mount Rainier ranger to die this year.

Vidal Sassoon remembered for pioneering women's hairstyles

Vidal Sassoon, who passed away Wednesday, was a veteran of Israel's 1948 war for independence and opened hair salons and styling academies on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

Dick Clark remembered as 'American Bandstand' host, TV & radio impresario

Dick Clark, the longtime host of ABC's 'American Bandstand,' TV game shows, and radio programs, died Wednesday near Los Angeles.

'Paris in Love': 8 stories of life in Paris

After moving her family to Paris for a year, author Eloisa James shares 8 stories of life in France.

Good news on jobs fails to lift stocks

Despite a strong jobs report, the Dow lost 55 points to close at 12359 amid continued concern over Europe's financial problems

Murder at Queen Elizabeth's country estate in England?

Call Sherlock Holmes? A woman's body was found on the rural estate where Queen Elizabeth II and the British royal family celebrated New Year's eve.

NASA Grail probes circling the moon on New Year's Day

After a 3½-month journey, a NASA spacecraft flew over the moon's south pole, fired its engine and dropped into orbit in the first of two back-to-back arrivals over the New Year's weekend.

With 2012, state laws kick in on everything from immigration to shark fins

State legislatures passed close to 40,000 new laws in 2011, and a number of those measures take effect on Jan. 1. On some issues, like immigration, state laws are taking markedly different stands.

The New Economy
New Year's resolution (and modern fable): Spend more!

In Aesop's ancient Greek fable of the ant and the grasshopper, the ant was right: Save for a rainy day. New Year's resolution for America in 2012: We need more grasshoppers. 

Global News Blog
Corruption in India: I was approached for a bribe

Our correspondent learns first-hand the mechanics of petty bribery in India. Meanwhile, corruption fighter Anna Hazare called off his hunger strike today.

Payroll tax bill: Impasse angers workers who could lose $20 a week or more

Payroll tax bill would allow $50,000 a year earner to continue saving $1,000 in taxes annually. Americans are frustrated at the lack of compromise over a payroll tax bill.

Questions abound after fatal shooting is captured by cops' own camera

A camera on the chest of an Oakland, Calif., police officer recorded the officer's fatal encounter with a suspect. The incident highlights the rising use of police chest-cams – and the legal and ethical questions surrounding them.

The Vote
With 2012 primary calendar in chaos, what does Iowa do now?

Florida set its presidential primary for Jan. 31, leapfrogging the designated early states. To restore order to the 2012 primary calendar, Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada are weighing moves, too.

Stir It Up!
Meatless Monday: Stuffed grape leaves

Stuffed grape leaves are a popular appetizer across Europe and the Middle East.

Terrorism & Security
Bin Laden considered 9/11 anniversary attack on US rail system

The potential plot, sketched out in a vague note last year, was more significant in that it showed that bin Laden was not just a figurehead of Al Qaeda but an active leader.

Egypt government bears brunt of Coptic Christian anger

As protests continue in the wake of a Jan. 1 church bombing, the fault lines are growing between the Egypt's Copts and its secular regime.

Blackbirds fall from sky, fish die off: What's a conspiracy theorist to think?

Absent a final explanation, wild theories abound concerning reasons Arkansans' saw blackbirds fall from sky and fish die off en masse. The event revives superstitions about birds as omens.

Search for clues is on after birds fall from sky in Arkansas

Dead red-winged blackbirds, starlings, and grackles rained down on Beebe, Ark., on New Year's Eve, freaking out local residents. After 3,000 birds fall from sky, state biologists look for answers.

Large swath of Queensland, Australia inundated by floodwaters

Floodwaters covering an area in Queensland, Australia almost as large as Mexico have been described as a disaster of "biblical proportions."

Opinion: Tired of failed New Year's resolutions? Use the Z-effect to your advantage.

The Zeignarik effect explains that we remember undone tasks better than those we've accomplished. This can stall progress by keeping us unfulfilled or mired in regret. If we let the Z-effect motivate us instead, our unfinished business can catapult us into meaningful steps forward.