Politics

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (right) of Nevada, seen here Thursday with fellow Democratic Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, ridiculed his Republican counterpart for flip-flopping on a measure to give the president more debt-ceiling authority. (Associated Press)

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** FILE ** Russian President Vladimir Putin strips off his shirt while fishing in the Siberian mountains in 2007. (Associated Press)

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An opponent of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi argues Thursday with Morsi supporters, not pictured, as the Egyptian Army deploys tanks outside the presidential palace in Cairo following overnight strife left several people dead. (Associated Press)

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Egyptian tanks help secure the presidential palace in Cairo during a protest Thursday by opponents of President Mohammed Morsi. Egypt has the largest army in Africa and the seventh-largest tank army in the world, in part because of U.S. military aid. (Associated Press)

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U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ricardo Hamer, right, and his coworker U.S. Army civilian Rekisha White, second from right, talks with Washington, D.C. Area Chapter Director Karen Francis with Blue Star Families, a nonprofit that supports, connects, and empowers military families, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Hiring Our Heroes hiring fair at Nationals Park in Washington on Dec. 5, 2012. While Hamer and White were at the fair to get information on joining the job hirers next time for the Army Core of Engineers, Hamer was also there to look for employment ideas for his wife. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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Job seekers listen as U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas J. Donohue welcomes them to the Chamber’s Hiring Our Heroes job fair for veterans Wednesday at Nationals Park in the District. “It’s easier to market military skills here,” said one attendee. “People here know what they’re looking for and speak the same language.” (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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A festive crowd is bundled against a chilly evening Thursday for the annual lighting of the National Christmas Tree just south of the White House. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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** FILE ** Jim DeMint resigned from his U.S. Senate seat representing South Carolina to take leadership at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington-based think tank. (Associated Press)

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Al Gore wants to see more action on climate change from President Obama. “Our democracy has been hacked,” he says.

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President Obama and the first family light the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse south of the White House, Washington, D.C., Thursday, December 6, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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President Obama and the first family take their seats after lighting the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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President Obama and the first family light the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse south of the White House, Washington, D.C., Thursday, December 6, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)