Christmas Storm Death Toll Up to Six, Half of Americans Confident About Fiscal Cliff Deal, Bashar Assad Looked to Flee to Venezuela: P.M. Links
- A winter storm system ripping through the South has killed six and is now headed for the Northeast.
- A new poll shows 50 percent of Americans still confident Washington will reach a deal on the "fiscal cliff." Starbucks is pitching in by printing "come together" on their coffee cups in DC while the New York Times reports little urgency in the actual negotiations.
- President Obama's second inauguration is going to be a lower key affair, with no more than 800,000 people expected to show up.
- A shooting sport group in Utah is offering free concealed carry training to local teachers while college students in Massachusetts are protesting charges of carrying ammo without a license levied against a classmate with a belt made of bullets. NBC News, meanwhile, is reported to have been denied permission to show the magazine clip David Gregory displayed in an interview with the NRA president.
- The Los Angeles Times is releasing 1,200 files kept by the Boy Scouts related to charges of sex abuse.
- Les Miserables topped Django Unchained in their Christmas openings. Spike Lee says he won't be watching Django because it was disrespectful to his ancestors.
- According to Turkey, Syria's Bashar Assad sought asylum in Venezuela. The head of the military police in Syria, meanwhile, defected in a statement on Al-Arabiya TV.
- Tanzanian police ban disco for kids.
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