Politics

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President Obama responds to a reporter's question regarding the criticism of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice and the terrorist attacks in Benghazi during a Nov. 14, 2012, press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

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In this file photo made June 3, 2010, a brown pelican covered in oil sits on the beach at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast in the wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon rig explosion. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the disaster, said Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010, BP's well "is effectively dead." A permanent cement plug sealed BP's well nearly 2.5 miles below the sea floor in the Gulf of Mexico, five agonizing months after an explosion sank a drilling rig and led to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

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From left, members of the new Politburo Standing Committee Zhang Dejiang, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang meet journalists in Beijing's Great Hall of the People Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012. The seven-member Standing Committee, the inner circle of Chinese political power, was paraded in front of assembled media on the first day following the end of the 18th Communist Party Congress. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

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Explosion and smoke rise following an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip, seen from the Israel Gaza Border, southern Israel, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

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New General Secretary of Communist Party of China Xi Jinping's press conference is telecast live on a mall screen, center, in Beijing, China, Thursday Nov. 15, 2012. Xi became leader of China on Thursday, securing the Communist Party's top spot and oversight of the military in a political transition upset by scandals that have added fuel to public demands for change as the country faces slower economic growth. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

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Columns of smoke rise in Gaza City from a series of airstrikes that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls a clear message to Hamas and other terrorist organizations.” Hamas security officials said two of the organization’s training facilities were among the 20 sites hit. (Associated Press)