Politics

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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 13, 2012. (Associated Press)

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British Prime Minister David Cameron (left) laughs as he speaks with (from right) Finland's Prime Minister Jyrki Tapani Katainen, Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Estonia's Prime Minister Andrus Ansip during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels on Dec. 13, 2012. (Associated Press)

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Syrian men use sledgehammers to break the concrete of a residential building in Maaret Misreen, near Idlib, Syria, on Dec. 12, 2012, while searching for belongings under the rubble. The building was destroyed in a government airstrike. (Associated Press)

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Syrian children who fled their homes gather around a vehicle to get pillows and blankets distributed at a camp for displaced Syrians, in the village of Atmeh, Syria, on Dec. 10, 2012. This tent camp sheltering some of the hundreds of thousands of Syrians uprooted by the country's brutal civil war has lost the race against winter: the ground under white tents is soaked in mud, rain water seeps into thin mattresses and volunteer doctors routinely run out of medicine for coughing, runny-nosed children. (Associated Press)

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Abdullah Ahmed, 10, who suffered burns in a Syrian government airstrike and fled his home with his family, stands outside their tent at a camp for displaced Syrians in the village of Atmeh, Syria, on Dec. 11, 2012. This tent camp sheltering some of the hundreds of thousands of Syrians uprooted by the country's brutal civil war has lost the race against winter: the ground under white tents is soaked in mud, rain water seeps into thin mattresses and volunteer doctors routinely run out of medicine for coughing, runny-nosed children. (Associated Press)

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Syrian children whose families fled their homes stand Dec. 11, 2012, at a camp for displaced Syrians, in the village of Atmeh, Syria. This tent camp sheltering some of the hundreds of thousands of Syrians uprooted by the country's brutal civil war has lost the race against winter: the ground under white tents is soaked in mud, rain water seeps into thin mattresses and volunteer doctors routinely run out of medicine for coughing, runny-nosed children. (Associated Press)

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A Syrian woman who fled her home cries Dec. 10, 2012, while asking for a pillow and a blanket at a distribution at a camp for displaced Syrians, in the village of Atmeh, Syria. This tent camp sheltering some of the hundreds of thousands of Syrians uprooted by the country's brutal civil war has lost the race against winter: the ground under white tents is soaked in mud, rain water seeps into thin mattresses and volunteer doctors routinely run out of medicine for coughing, runny-nosed children. (Associated Press)

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Syrian girls who fled their homes with their families peek out of their makeshift school at a camp for displaced Syrians in the village of Atmeh, Syria, on Dec. 10, 2012. (Associated Press)

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A kitchen damaged by heavy clashes between Free Syrian Army fighters and government forces in Aleppo, Syria, is seen here on Dec. 10, 2012. (Associated Press)

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A Syrian woman and girl carry their belongings Dec. 11, 2012, after their home was damaged due to fighting between Free Syrian Army fighters and government forces in Aleppo, Syria. (Associated Press)

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Syrians who fled their homes struggle to get pillows and blankets distributed at a camp for displaced Syrians, in the village of Atmeh, Syria, on Dec. 10, 2012. This tent camp sheltering some of the hundreds of thousands of Syrians uprooted by the country's brutal civil war has lost the race against winter. (Associated Press)